Matthew D. Taylor

If you don’t know why Johnson said this, it’s past time to read/follow/listen
@matthewdtaylor.bsky.social @kkdumez.bsky.social @jeffsharlet.bsky.social @straightwhitejc.bsky.social @katherinestewart.bsky.social

A list 1/

www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...

Pastoral Leadership in a Time of Christian Nationalism The Pastoral Leadership in a Time of Christian Nationalism Conference will be held September 23-26, 2025 at Candler School of Theology.

Grateful @candlertheology.bsky.social is hosting a forum on Christian Nationalism. Incredible group of scholars & writers presenting.

Link to the *free* two-day event below:

candler.emory.edu/about-candle...

@kkdumez.bsky.social @katherinestewart.bsky.social
@matthewdtaylor.bsky.social

"The Violent Take it by Force" by Matthew Taylor is another, released before the 2024 election. These books and articles written over many years by different authors have significant alignment. It also is one thing that makes sense in an insane political environment. @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social

Link to register- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYlDvhSt6-Qj2buEQSkbOD5KH8AB9O8_LryagGQdunDzeLaw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100248061387188854096 805 SpeakEasy Presents An Evening With MATTHEW BOEDY JOIN US AS WE DISCUSS DR. BOEDY'S NEW BOOK "THE SEVEN MOUNTAIN MANDATE: EXPOSING THE DANGEROUS PLAN TO CHRISTIANIZE AMERICA AND DESTROY DEMOCRACY" THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS MANDATE EXPOSING THE DANGEROUS PLAN TO CHRISTIANIZE AMERICA AND DESTROY DEMOCRACY MATTHEW BOEDY WEDNESDAY 6TH AUGUST, 2025 6PM-7:30PM An Online EVENT REGISTER NOW Matthew Body's new book, coming out September 30th, explores how a decades-long network of prosperity preachers, right-wing operatives, and leaders like Charlie Kirk have sought to seize control of seven key societal pillars to advance Christian nationalist aims. He traces the evolution of this movement from its evangelical origins into mainstream influence, arguing it laid the groundwork for Trump's presidencies and now threatens democratic institutions under the banner of divine dominion.

We are thrilled to be hosting @matthewboedy.bsky.social for a virtual event Book Q&A August 6th at 6pm PST.
His new book “The Seven Mountain Mandate” is out September 30th.
Register now!
Link in Alt.

The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy When charismatic believers wage spiritual battles, ideas can take tangible form. With scholarly precision and narrative force, religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor makes intelligible the language, leade...

Just finished @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social's book. It's seriously good and well written. Read it.

www.broadleafbooks.com/store/produc...

@matthewdtaylor.bsky.social Realized that I've become a sweating, shaking, terrified yet angry mess as the intro to "The Violent Take it by Force" plays on my phone in the background, putting a name and visibility into the inexplicable rise of radical Christianity in our government today.

This is an interview I did with @ardenthistorian.bsky.social about the alleged MN assassin Vance Boelter, the impact of spiritual warfare language in politics, and Christian radicalization in Europe and around the world.

Some of Annika's prefatory remarks are in German, but the rest is English.

As a mostly outsider (in terms of experience), that was one of the things that most surprised me in the charismatic world. Evangelicals tend to already be eclectic / devotional / experiential in their theology, but the Independent Charismatics are off the charts eclectic. Very few boundaries.

For those who speak German.

I was explaining to a reporter just last week, much of the mainstream press writes an over-simplified narrative when it comes to xians/end times/Israel and such. It's so much more complicated that how it's often presented. I'm grateful for scholars like Matthew out there to explain it.

Trump himself is dialing up the God-talk, & even said, "We love you God" in his announcement about the Iran bombing raid.

We should all be very concerned about the relig advisers around Trump & how they are using God-talk to frame this moment. 19/

www.instagram.com/p/DLL5YZkI6Cj/

Evidence Strongly Suggests Trump Was Collaborating with Christian Nationalist Leaders Before January 6th On December 22, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol Riot released its report, reopening the question of what forces and figures incited the insurrection as we observe its ...

The charismatic leaders around Trump know & trust Sheets & listen to him. They brought him into the White House & invited him to lead major prayer initiatives for them.

They see Trump fulfilling a divine mandate & mission to defeat Satan & bring dominion. 18/

religiondispatches.org/evidence-str...

TL;DR: Evangelical theology is undergoing a major charismatic turn & this brings a new politics of Israel & the Middle East.

Dispensationalism, for all its ills (& they are many), was at least predictable. This is something far more flexible, leader-driven, violent, & accelerationist. 17/

Sheets even served as executive director for CFNI in the early 2010s, & it was from there that he launched his massively influential "Appeal to Heaven" Christian nationalist campaign built around the Revolutionary War flag. 16/

www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/the...

Vance Boelter and the Rise of “Spiritual Warfare” The accused assassin in Minnesota may have seen himself as an entrepreneurial missionary, influenced by a theology of “violent prayer” and spiritual war.

Not for nothing: Sheets may have also played a role in helping radicalize Vance Boelter, the MN legislators' assassin.

Boelter attended Christ for the Nations Institute, where Sheets was a fellow alum who taught classes there while Boelter was a student. 15/

newrepublic.com/article/1969...

This is not Dispensationalism!

This is a discourse of modern prophecy that can be as slippery as the prophets want it to be.

They see God fulfilling THEIR prophecies through Trump & Netanyahu, & they are urging them on because it's a spiritual war against Iran/the Middle Eastern demons. 14/

Sheets goes on to speculate about Iranian sleeper-cell terrorists who may have come thru the US border.

"We've obeyed all God's instructions to secure our borders [i.e., Trump is fulfilling their prophecies through ICE & DHS]..." so now they need to pray against Satan's use of such terrorists. 13/

Matthew D. Taylor on X: "The entire day was framed around the Esther story, w/ all the women being called "Esthers" & all the men "Mordecais." I'd estimate the crowd was about 60% women, & there were lots of messages of empowering women but also bad-talking feminism as a demonic, false liberation. 10/ https://t.co/H918fkUlly" / X The entire day was framed around the Esther story, w/ all the women being called "Esthers" & all the men "Mordecais." I'd estimate the crowd was about 60% women, & there were lots of messages of empowering women but also bad-talking feminism as a demonic, false liberation. 10/ https://t.co/H918fkUlly

Sheets then prophetically connects the Hebrew calendar on the bombing day w/ the story of Esther & Mordecai (leading to the preemptory slaughter of Persians by ancient Jews).

The Esther narrative has been a key "prophecy" passage charismatics have used to frame Trump. 12/

x.com/TaylorMatthe...

Sheets (cont.): "We are entering THIS TIME. What is happening in Iran is part of this process... Millions of them will come to Christ. Be assured: GOD IS INVOLVED IN THIS WAR."

[In NAR theology, when "territorial spirits" like the PoP are removed, then Xns can spiritually conquer territory.] 11/

Sheets (cont.): "I have actually been prophesying for years that, in the coming revival, regions of the world that have been under the control of demonic principalities for millennia would be delivered from this control & experience great revival."

["Revival" here leads to Christian dominion.] 10/

Sheets (after caveating that he can't foresee what's next):

"I DO know what is coming spiritually. I've been saying for months God was going to remove the stronghold of the Prince of Persia in the Middle East."

[In NAR theology the PoP is a high-level demon in power over the Middle East.] 9/

YouTube video by Dutch Sheets Peace Through Strength - My Response to the Strike on Iran | Give Him 15 | June 23, 2025

So let's unpack this video to get a sense of this new theology vis à vis Iran.

Sheets is not waiting for "the Rapture." He's an anti-Dispensationalist who believes Christians need to take dominion.

Here he's reacting to Trump's bombing of Iran's nuclear sites. 8/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3rk...

The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy When charismatic believers wage spiritual battles, ideas can take tangible form. With scholarly precision and narrative force, religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor makes intelligible the language, leade...

My recent book, The Violent Take It by Force, describes the rise of the NAR, how they became spiritually entwined with Trump, & how they served as the theological architects of January 6th.

I have a whole chapter on Dutch Sheets and his theology. 7/

www.broadleafbooks.com/store/produc...

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a network of charismatic leaders who have been the most effective spiritual propagandists for Donald Trump, has helped to forge this new style of Christian Zionism, & it even played a little-known role in January 6th. 6/

muse.jhu.edu/article/9405...

Dispensationalists hope to bring about & protect a modern state of Israel to fulfill biblical prophecy, but this new charismatic breed of Christian Zionism is much more chaotic & accelerationist.

It blends together prosperity theology, Messianic Judaism, spiritual warfare, & Dominion theology. 5/

The second coming of Donald J. Trump To many evangelicals, Trump is not just a president but a messiah. How did he gain such mythic power, and where will it lead?

The Christian leaders & advisers around Trump are overwhelmingly rooted in these new charismatic theologies.

They believe not only in biblical prophecy (Dispensationalism's basis) but also in MODERN prophecy. Many of them claim to be prophets themselves. 4/

newhumanist.org.uk/articles/638...

But over the last 50 years, we've seen a massive shift within Christian Zionism that one scholar has called "The Pentecostalization of Christian Zionism." An apt phrase.

Basically, more Pentecostal-charismatic leaders & theologies have supplanted Dispensationalism. 3/

www.jstor.org/stable/24537...

YouTube video by Institute for Islamic, Christian, & Jewish Studies Class 2—Messianic Judaism and Christian Zionism: Christians and the State of Israel

A bit of background: Popular evangelical theology in the 20th century was shaped by "Dispensationalism."

Most 20th-cent American Christian Zionism is rooted in Dispensational views of the Rapture & Israel.

Here's a 5-minute briefing I did about it. 2/

youtu.be/uUucp7rMlfE?...

YouTube video by Dutch Sheets Peace Through Strength - My Response to the Strike on Iran | Give Him 15 | June 23, 2025

What's the evangelical theology behind Trump's Israel (& Iran) strategy?

Many analysts & pundits are pointing to "Dispensationalism" (a.k.a. Rapture theology), but it's actually much weirder & more alarming than that.

Here's a sample from Dutch Sheets... 1/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3rk...

YouTube video by The Dismantling Doctrine Podcast Trump's Evangelical Advisers: The Untold Story!

@matthewdtaylor.bsky.social explains the origin story of Trump's evangelical advisory board. One almost literally couldn't make this stuff up, but there it is.

youtube.com/shorts/pNyw_...