Tim Alberta's book provides a deep dive into the complexities of American evangelicalism, highlighting its moral failures and the challenges of integrating faith with politics. The book is particularly strong in its exploration of how evangelicals navigate their relationship with politics, often leading to division and destruction within churches.
Tim Alberta's book, 'The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism,' offers a comprehensive look at the state of American evangelicalism. The book delves into the moral failures within the community, such as the issues at Liberty University and the Southern Baptist Convention's handling of sexual abuse. Alberta's account is particularly poignant in its exploration of how evangelicals have struggled to balance their faith with political engagement. The book highlights the destructive impact of politicized Christianity, where pastors and congregants often clash over political orthodoxy, leading to divisions and mass exoduses from churches. Alberta also traces the history of the Religious Right, questioning the effectiveness of leveraging political power to uphold Christian values. The book suggests that while politicized Christianity has won some battles, it has ultimately lost the war, diminishing the church's moral witness and contributing to the erosion of American Christianity.
Quick quotes
The book is at its best in shedding light on how American evangelicals have confronted — and continue to navigate — the relationship between faith and politics.
Alberta tells the stories of numerous pastors struggling to cope with a vocal minority of congregants aggressively pushing back on any perceived departure from conservative — or all too often, Trumpian — political orthodoxy.
The first is the closing words of the book, a verse from Second Corinthians: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.