The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory ~ a book review

 

The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory by Tim Alberta is a book my son had mentioned to me, and it spiked my interest.  The subtitle, "American Evangelicals In An Age Of Extremism", along with the discussion that my son and I had, gave me an insight as to what the book was going to delve into.  

A while ago, you may remember that I did a review on The Violent Take It By Force by Matthew D. Taylor, which dealt with how our culture had changed to the point that something like January 6, 2021 could happen in America.

While that book did reference some denominations who were influential in attributing to the storm on our nation's capital, the focus was mainly on the events of January 6.

In The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory you will find something quite different, yet similar.  This book, well written and based on facts from interviews that this journalist (Tim Alberta ~ who is a Christian) did with a myriad of people from pastors to students in Christian institutions, to professors, to Christian college leadership, backs up the theme of the book dealing with American Evangelicals.

He deals with how politics has come into the Church through pastors who have given way to leading their congregants in the path of associating Christianity with one particular political party to the point that Politics has replaced Jesus in their churches.  He gives results of interviews that he has had with people who either were or are currently students in some of the high-profile Christian institutions, along with some of the professors who taught in these Christian colleges.  Tim Alberta also focused on the pressure that came down to these students and professors from the political leadership heads on these college campuses.  Many of them (both professors and students) were forced out because they refused to bow to the political power within the leadership.  The author does make it clear that there are still a lot of pastors who are dedicated to the preaching of the Truth and who put Jesus above politics, and he gives credit where credit is due.

If you choose to read this book, you will find at the core of the book's existence are two things, with the first being that politics is replacing Jesus in churches and Christian institutions and colleges all across America.  

Secondly, you will find that the main focus is that in many churches across America people who profess to be Christians are no longer willing to "love thy neighbor as thyself", as Christ commands us in the New Testament.  Rather, it is all about striking fear in people by putting a political party above the Lord Jesus Christ...the One Who suffered and died for our sins, rose again on the third day.

Would I recommend the book?  Yes, I would.  

Why would I recommend the book?  As I read through the 425 pages of the book, there were many things that brought back memories of experiences that our two children went through when they were in Christian colleges...especially our son.  Trust me, my friends, the things cited in this book are real.  Strong Heart and I left one of these types of churches three and a half years ago to worship in a totally different denomination...one where we hear the Gospel preached and see our church family living out the commands of Christ.  We once again love and look forward to our opportunities to worship in God's house with like-minded Christians.