What is the New Apostolic Reformation?
The #NewApostolicReformation (AKA the NAR) is a significant zealous religious movement within American Christianity that has shifted from infiltrating Pentecostal churches to being influential in the highest places of American power. It is one of the most important and dangerous Christian nationalist movements in the United States that has helped bring Trump into office for his current term.
The New Apostolic Reformation is a highly networked but loosely affiliated group of charismatic preachers, pastors, celebrities, nonprofit leaders, and international entrepreneurs and it has taken over the televangelist world that we know of today. The NAR grows in membership easily because its not only non-denominational, but it's also unstructured. Using this framework, churches that are NAR affiliated have few boundaries, overarching institutions, and are fast-paced, which help get past legalistic red-tape to promote entrepreneurial and ethnically diverse ideas and assimilation of cultures into the movement itself. This segment of Christianity is the fastest-growing in America, Canada, and globally it is exploding, even in underground churches in places like China.
The core of the NAR's ideological stool is formed by three main pillars:
- Apostolic and Prophetic Governance: This is the central idea of the NAR, where leaders believe that God is bringing back early-church roles of apostles and prophets to lead the modern church. They believe that the church hasn't been relevant outside its walls because it lacked this restored leadership. The leadership model is often referred to as a "spiritual oligarchy," where a select group of apostles and prophets rule its territories, unlike traditional democracies or dictatorships in churches. This system prioritises supernatural gifting and divine inspiration over bureaucratic processes or congregational consent, with authority taking a "top-down" approach. Key figures like C. Peter Wagner, Ché Ahn, Cindy Jacobs, and Dutch Sheets exemplify these roles, seeing themselves as divinely commissioned by Christ himself.
- Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare (or for the non-religious reading this "Misappropriated Shamanism"): The NAR teaches that Christians are engaged in a "cosmic spiritual war against the forces of darkness". This goes beyond individual spiritual battles to include combating "territorial spirits" (high-level demonic entities believed to control geographical areas or human institutions. Take a look into the concept of the 10-40 window which is a whole other rabbit-hole). Leaders like Cindy Jacobs and Dutch Sheets have been instrumental in popularizing this aggressive form of spiritual combat, often involving coordinated prayer campaigns, "spiritual mapping" (where they find demonic strongholds), and militaristic language. They interpret Matthew 11:12 ("the violent take it by force") as a mandate for Christians to use spiritual violence to advance God's kingdom on Earth.
- Dominion Theology (The Seven Mountain Mandate): The NAR believe that God has given its believers "dominion" over creation (Genesis 1:28), which is interpreted as a present-day requirement for Christians to "influence the marketplace" according to God's reign. Lance Wallnau, a key NAR figure, popularized this through a framework called the "Seven Mountain Mandate," which outlines seven spheres of societal influence (government, education, media, arts, business, family, religion) that Christians are to conquer and colonize. This vision aims to build the kingdom of God on Earth now instead of waiting to get to heaven after preaching the gospel to friends and family.
I did mention some celebrities in the ideological pillars, so lets go over who the founder of the New Apostolic Reformation is. The late C. Peter Wagner is the "intellectual godfather" of the NAR. He moved from mainstream evangelicalism to becoming an evangelist for charismatic practices which lead him to forming this new apostolic "post-denominational church" model. Wagner somehow built and administered various "flawless" institutions, such as the Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI), the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA), and the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE), which ironically provided structure and networking opportunities for emerging leaders for new churches around the world.
And fun fact: before he died, wrote a viral post in 2016 declaring that Trump was appointed to be the president who God will use for the NAR's building of a spiritual kingdom in the US.
Near the end of his first term, after being prayed over by a prophet in the NAR, Donald Trump publically renounced his Presbyterian roots and became a "non-denominational Christian." This transformation is central to the NAR's recent rise in public prominence after Joe Biden won the 2021 presidential election. NAR leaders, including Lance Wallnau (who articulated the "Cyrus Anointing" prophecy about Trump being a divinely appointed, albeit imperfect, leader for conservative Christians) and Paula White (who became Trump's spiritual advisor and a bridge to the Independent Charismatic world), actively supporting and fervently backing Trump while developing goal-post-moving theological rationales for his presidency. This led to remarkable integrations of NAR leaders into massive influential areas of the religious right along with direct coordination with the White House.
Christians, progressive, liberal, and even conservative, need to understand the dangers posed by the New Apostolic Reformation because of how influencial it is for both religious life and democratic society:
The NAR's core dogma centres around "strategic-level spiritual warfare" and its interpretation of "the violent take it by force."
These ideas drive culture of spiritual violence and aggression and by literally demonizing political opponents and societal institutions, this theology frames dissent as a battle against evil forces. These ideas add gasoline to the wildfires of political polarization and cause real-world political violence, as seen on January 6th, even though its membership claim "the battle is not of flesh and blood."
"You can only proclaim that a group of people or a political party is filled with demons for so long before someone decides that those demonic vessels must actually be physically attacked" Matt Taylor wrote in his book "The Violent Take It by Force."
The NAR's model of "spiritual oligarchy" for church governance is also problematic. The ideas of unelected apostles and prophets wielding supreme authority contrast democratic principles not just within churches but society as well. Their pursuit of the "Seven Mountain Mandate" is an explicit program for Christians to gain power over all aspects of society which isn't just governing, it's Christian-supremacist rulership. This idea spits upon the foundational principle of American democracy; the separation of church and state.
The NAR places a heavy emphasis on personal revelation, dreams, and prophecies as authoritative truth (see the book of Acts), often bypassing rational argument, scholarly biblical interpretation, or democratic deliberation (things that I do still admire theologically speaking as an agnostic). This "epistemic confidence" makes discourse in the public square a joke since claiming divine authority can be invulnerable to argument. The belief in prophecies, particularly political outcomes (like Trump being chosen by God as winner of the 2020 election), can lead followers to ignore and even "pray away" verifiable facts while chanting a battlecry against working democratic processes.
The NAR is also the source of almost all worship music (outside of Hillsong). Conservative politics in the United States has increasingly transformed worship music and traditional spiritual practices into tools for political mobilization and warfare, especially during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Events like Sean Feucht's "Let Us Worship" tour and Dutch Sheets's "Jericho Marches" and "Appeal to Heaven" campaigns explicitly used worship, prayer, and symbols to defy public health orders, protest election results, and rally support for partisan political ends. This blurs the lines between religious devotion and partisan activism, leveraging deep spiritual experiences for political aims. As soon as NAR churches put politics before Christ, those churches grow dramatically in attendance with gun-owning members who are ready for the next physical (not just spiritual) American civil war.
The NAR contributes to a "persecution neurosis" among American evangelicals, fostering a belief I used to have where Christians are oppressed despite being a majority, and that their religious freedom is under attack. This narrative often serves as a justification for aggressive political action and assertions of Christian privilege and dominance, rather than genuine appeals for religious liberty.
The New Apostolic Reformation's blending of charismatic spirituality, a top-down leadership model, aggressive spiritual warfare, and a dominionist political theology creates a compelling spiritual ideology that is highly susceptible to radicalization which has always opposed pluralism and democracy. Normally I don't ask people to boost posts, but this post needs to go viral. Knowing this information will be instrumental in ending this very dark time we're living in.
#ChristoFascism #Christianity #politics
R.L. Dane 
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Nonilex
Michaela Molthagen
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