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THE GENESIS OF CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM  
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Phoebe Petrovic
October 26, 2024
ProPublica [[link removed]]

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_ Christian nationalism represents the culmination of various
movements with roots that trace back decades. The more extreme
elements didn’t just materialize a few years ago. They’ve been
there from the start. _

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This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network
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In recent years, the Christian right has become an increasingly
powerful force in American politics. The belief that God has called on
conservative Christians to rule over society has extended into all
levels of government, from school boards to the White House.

Many pundits call this movement Christian nationalism. But while it
may seem like a phenomenon born out of our current political moment,
it represents the culmination of various movements with roots that
trace back decades. The more extreme elements didn’t just
materialize a few years ago. They’ve been there from the start.

The New Christian Right

In the beginning — in this case, the 1970s — some Christians
feared their influence in society was waning. The Supreme Court had
outlawed school-sponsored prayer and Bible readings and had legalized
abortion.

In response, religious figures began to organize around the idea that
they had a duty to bring Christianity back into public life. Several
Christian-influenced organizations, including Jerry
Falwell’s Moral Majority and James Dobson’s Family Research
Council, were soon formed and went on to shape Republican policies for
decades to come. Evangelical Protestants of different denominations
joined forces and united with conservative Catholics, like Paul
Weyrich, the founder of the think tank the Heritage Foundation, to
advance their shared political goals. Under the banner of
“pro-family politics,” the New Christian Right movement fought
against abortion access, feminism and gay rights as attacks on
traditional family values.

JERRY FALWELL Televangelist who founded the Moral Majority, which
mobilized conservative Christian voters for the Republican Party.
Falwell, who died in 2007, also founded Liberty University.

JAMES DOBSON Prominent evangelical leader and founder of Focus on the
Family and the Family Research Council, which helped shape the
politics of family values. Dobson is 88.

PAUL WEYRICH Founder of several organizations in addition to the
Heritage Foundation, Weyrich helped craft a coalition between
conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants that would extend
into the present. Weyrich died in 2008.

Evangelicals Become a Voting Bloc

The National Affairs Briefing Conference, Dallas, Texas, Aug. 22, 1980

Inside a red-rimmed sports arena, more than 15,000 evangelicals
gathered with conservative activists to discuss how to get Christians
more involved in politics.

They had come to an event known as the National Affairs Briefing
because the evangelists Billy Graham and Bill Bright reported that
God had issued each of them the same warning: America had only 1,000
more days of freedom. After speaking with the pair, televangelist
James Robison said God had urged him to host a conference that would
“refocus the direction of America.”

The sea of believers roared as Republican presidential candidate
Ronald Reagan took the podium.

“This is a nonpartisan gathering, and so I know that you can’t
endorse me,” Reagan said. “I want you to know that I endorse you
and what you are doing.”

The moment underscored an important shift in American politics,
helping to cement evangelical Christians as a reliable conservative
voting bloc.

But while Reagan took the spotlight, backstage in Dallas, Robert
Billings, a Reagan campaign adviser who had helped found the Moral
Majority, nodded to a less prominent visionary: R.J. Rushdoony, the
father of a more extreme movement known as Christian
Reconstructionism.

“If it weren’t for his books, none of us would be here,”
Billings remarked, as recalled in an essay by Gary North, an economic
historian and Rushdoony’s son-in-law.

“Nobody in the audience understands that,” replied North.

“True,” said Billings. “But we do.”

BILLY GRAHAM A pioneer in televangelism who met with every president
from 1950 to 2010, but later said pastors shouldn’t get too close to
politicians. Graham died in 2018. His son Franklin Graham is an ardent
supporter of former President Donald Trump and spoke at the 2024
Republican National Convention.

The New Christian Right Today

The conversation at the National Affairs Briefing shows the early
influence of previously obscure elements of the Christian right that
have surfaced in recent years. Other groups and figures that emerged
in that period remain influential. Robison and Dobson became spiritual
advisers to former President Donald Trump, helping him gain support
among religious voters. The Heritage Foundation recently crafted
Project 2025, a plan to concentrate executive power and promote
far-right policies should Trump win the presidential election. Trump
has disavowed the plan
[[link removed]],
though some members of his administration worked on it.

The idea that Christians should be in power has become a central
mission of today’s Christian right, but the idea was taking root
decades ago. In remarks strikingly similar to today’s rhetoric, Bob
Weiner, founder of a major ministry focused on college campuses, said
in 1985, “We should be the head of our school board. We should be
the head of our nation. We should be the senators and the congressmen.
We should be the editors of our newspapers. We should be taking over
every area of life.”

JAMES ROBISON A televangelist and key organizer of the National
Affairs Briefing, which came to symbolize evangelical Christians’
uniting into a political force. Robison is 81.

Christian Reconstructionism

As Billings and North noted backstage at the National Affairs
Briefing, the New Christian Right owed a lot to another movement,
known as Christian Reconstructionism. The fundamentalist movement held
that all aspects of society, including government, education,
economics and culture, should conform to a strict interpretation of
the OId Testament. Though less recognized, Reconstructionism heavily
influenced the more mainstream New Christian Right and its aspirations
for Christians to infiltrate systems of power.

Up until the 1970s, the way many evangelicals believed the world would
end gave them little incentive to get involved in politics. When the
rapture came, the faithful would ascend to heaven, leaving the
troubled world behind. That sense of remove began to fade due to the
influence of Reconstructionists, who, by contrast, believed they had
to build God’s kingdom before Christ would return — which required
political action.

The movement’s founder, Rushdoony, received less acknowledgement
from politicians, in part because of his extreme views, which included
justifying slavery, denying the Holocaust and endorsing the death
penalty for homosexuality and adultery. But with Reconstructionists’
prolific writings about what Bible-centered institutions should look
like, including Rushdoony’s 1973 book, “The Institutes of Biblical
Law,” adherents provided instruction manuals for the modern
Christian right. Reconstructionists wanted to eliminate public
education by slowly dismantling it, and they led the way in developing
Christian schools and promoting homeschooling. Thanks in large part to
that leadership, their principles spread.

R.J. RUSHDOONY The founder of Christian Reconstructionism who also
launched the Christian schooling movement. Rushdoony’s writings,
describing a society based on biblical law, shaped evangelical culture
and the Christian right. He died in 2001.

Reconstructionists Join Forces With Other Evangelicals

Lincoln Memorial, July 4, 1986

Amid the swampy summer air, scores of evangelical preachers and
Christian leaders crowded onto the stone steps of the Lincoln Memorial
to sign “A Manifesto of the Christian Church.”
[[link removed]] The document
detailed their beliefs and the policies they would promote, such as
fighting abortion, homosexuality and the teaching of evolution as a
“monopoly viewpoint in public schools.”

A group called the Coalition on Revival had brought representatives
from many denominations to the memorial. Its mission: to “rebuild
civilization on the principles of the Bible.” Founder Jay Grimstead
anticipated they’d have more political success by uniting
evangelicals across denominations and persuasions.

“Christians are everywhere, and we’re going to exert our influence
in all walks of life,” Grimstead bellowed to the crowd.

The Coalition on Revival helped evangelicals set aside their differing
end-times beliefs and move toward political action by focusing on
Reconstructionists’ ideas for reshaping society. Positions
articulated in the manifesto, such as denouncing the “state
usurpation of parental rights,” foreshadowed some of today’s
policy debates.

JAY GRIMSTEAD A leader on the Christian right thanks to his efforts,
via the Coalition on Revival, to unite various types of Christians to
rebuild civilization on biblical principles. Though not himself a
Reconstructionist, Grimstead said he was influenced by the
movement’s ideas. He died in 2024.

Christian Reconstructionism Today

Reconstructionism developed two related concepts that spread beyond
their movement and that influence many Republican leaders today:
dominionism and a “biblical worldview.” Dominionism holds that God
calls Christians to rule over all aspects of society. A biblical
worldview is a theocratic framework for seeing all of the Bible as a
strict blueprint for structuring society, as opposed to merely guiding
individuals.

Today, Reconstructionism’s influence is evident in assertions that
the government should fall under biblical law, blurring the lines
between church and state. It continues to drive Protestant Christian
education and anti-abortion activism
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including efforts to criminalize getting or performing an abortion.

New Apostolic Reformation

In the 1980s, as evangelicals became more active in politics and
megachurches sprang up across the country, some charismatic Christians
— a subset of Protestants who incorporate supernatural elements like
faith healing and prophecies — were increasingly moving away from
traditional denominations and into independent churches. Those
churches were connected by informal networks in which some leaders
were considered apostles and prophets. The shift captivated C. Peter
Wagner, a seminary professor who specialized in helping churches grow.
He considered it the biggest change in Christianity in centuries,
called it the New Apostolic Reformation and helped it flourish.

Starting in the late 1990s, Wagner held seminars to shape its tenets
and cultivate new leaders. Key to his success was his partnership with
Cindy Jacobs, a spiritual leader considered a prophet by some, who
helped Wagner understand the world of charismatics.

NAR leaders adopted dominionism and promoted it to their followers.
They also advanced the idea of “strategic spiritual warfare,” in
which church leaders directed prayers to battle demons they believe
control physical territory and influence world affairs. The rapid
growth in independent charismatic churches has helped NAR become a
formidable political force on the right. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin, the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee in 2008, attended
a church that frequently welcomed NAR leaders to give guest sermons
[[link removed]]. But the NAR rose to
national prominence in 2016 after their leaders united behind Trump.

C. PETER WAGNER A longtime professor at the evangelical Fuller
Theological Seminary. He’s considered by religion scholars to be the
“intellectual godfather” of the New Apostolic Reformation. Wagner
died in 2016.

CINDY JACOBS A leader in charismatic Christianity who helped Wagner
develop the NAR. Jacobs, 73, led prayers on the grounds of the Capitol
during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

A Prayer Call at the Capitol Insurrection

United States Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021

The mob stormed the Capitol. They beat police officers, smashed
windows and flooded inside, disrupting the certification of the 2020
presidential election. Outside, on the steps and the scaffolding set
up for the inauguration, the crowd seethed. The air filled with tear
gas and shouts of “1776” and “Hang Mike Pence.” A gallows
loomed on the lawn.

And on a stage by the southeast corner of the Capitol, a group of
people looked on, blowing shofars and speaking in tongues. They raised
their hands toward the sky as they prayed. While some of their
followers joined the assault on the building, these leaders of the NAR
stayed put, battling in the spiritual realm. One man intoned that he
saw a massive serpent with its tail over the Senate and asked God to
dispatch angels to yank the demon out.

Flags rippled throughout the crowd: U.S., Confederate, Gadsden,
militia and Trump flags — and one used by the NAR. White with a
green pine tree and the words “An Appeal to Heaven,” the flag
became associated with the movement thanks to Dutch Sheets, an NAR
leader known as an apostle, who began promoting it in 2013. Colonists
had flown the flag during the American Revolution. The NAR sees it as
a symbol of spiritual revolution, a visual prayer for God to create a
truly Christian nation. One rioter used the flag to push past police.
Another entered the Capitol wearing the flag as a cape. Police later
recovered it, soiled with blood and mace.

Sheets had not traveled to Washington, but as the riot raged on, he
led a prayer call online with several thousand people listening.
Someone held a phone to a microphone so Sheets’ words could ring out
at the Capitol.

“We ask you, by your spirit, to hover over the Capitol now and bring
order from the chaos,” he said. “This violence, and the spirit of
violence and the spirit of wrath, does not produce righteousness. We
take authority over it now.”

Jacobs later posted on social media that she condemned “what
happened inside the Capitol.” In a statement provided by his
ministry, Sheets said, “Those conducting the gathering were
concerned when the unrest began. They asked me to join them in praying
for peace and protection for all present.”

The NAR Today

In the United States, the NAR has become a driver for pro-Trump,
far-right policies that promote a Christian worldview in government.
Although not an NAR leader herself, Paula White-Cain, Trump’s
personal pastor of over 20 years, has been instrumental in connecting
NAR leaders to Trump through her roles in his campaign and
administration.

Just as Reagan recognized the political possibility of evangelical
voters in the 1980s, powerful Republicans like House Speaker Mike
Johnson of Louisiana and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have
aligned themselves with the NAR today. Supreme Court Justice Samuel
Alito flew the Appeal to Heaven Flag at his beach house, and Johnson
displayed it outside his office. In September, Johnson joined
White-Cain on a prayer call
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told the audience that God had chosen Trump to be president a second
time.

DUTCH SHEETS A pastor who popularized the NAR’s use of the
“Appeal to Heaven” flag, which appears with him in this
promotional image that he posted on social media. Sheets, along with
C. Peter Wagner and Cindy Jacobs, has built a network that hosts
prayer sessions over conference calls, providing structure for the
NAR.

Seven Mountain Mandate

The NAR helped popularize the concept that Christians should conquer
the seven spheres of society: family, religion, government, arts and
entertainment, business, education and media. The idea took off in the
2010s when Lance Wallnau, a pastor considered an NAR prophet,
repackaged the concept as the Seven Mountain Mandate. Wallnau wrote he
learned about the concept when Loren Cunningham, an evangelical
leader, told him that God had separately given Cunningham and Bright
the same seven arenas
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a message decades before. It was an evolution of Reconstructionists’
dominion theology.

Wallnau has popularized the mandate into a powerful framework for
conservative evangelicals to influence all aspects of society by
taking “territory” and, as he told an audience in September
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systems and the culture and the organizational environment of what’s
around you in a community.” The mandate has guided some Christians
as they built media empires, Christian schools and businesses, and as
they sought elected office.

LANCE WALLNAU A Christian right influencer credited with coining the
term “Seven Mountain Mandate.” Today, Wallnau, 68, is traveling
the country encouraging Christians to vote for Trump and become poll
workers so they can be a “spy in the camp
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BILL BRIGHT The founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (today called
Cru). Bright, who died in 2003, helped inspire the National Affairs
Briefing and reframe dominion theology, leading to the Seven Mountain
Mandate.

Wallnau Gets Out the Vote for Trump

Monroeville, Pennsylvania, Sept. 28, 2024

On a hot fall day, a couple hundred evangelical Christians sporting
shirts and hats with Trump slogans and Bible verses gathered on the
outskirts of Pittsburgh. For hours, they communed inside a cavernous
convention center. They worshiped. They sang. They swayed and spoke in
tongues. They listened as speakers shared prophecies and conspiracy
theories about election integrity. They spoke of the devil and demons
and their individual mandate to cast out the forces of evil by voting
for Trump. At midday, the Republican nominee for vice president, JD
Vance, graced the stage
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lending the event the campaign’s imprimatur.

It was the fifth stop of Wallnau’s swing-state Courage Tour, which
blended charismatic Christianity, conspiracy theories and conservative
politics in an effort to deliver Trump back to the White House.

Years earlier, during the 2016 campaign, Wallnau visited the
then-candidate at Trump Tower. He claimed that after he left, God told
him to read Isaiah 45: “Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed,
whose right hand I have held — to subdue nations before him.”

Just as God had chosen the heathen Persian emperor Cyrus to restore
the Jewish people from exile, Wallnau wrote in an October 2016 op-ed,
God had chosen Trump to restore conservative Christians’ cultural
power.

“I believe the 45th president is meant to be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus,”
he wrote.

Wallnau and others saw it as a prophecy that justified evangelicals’
support for Trump, a twice-divorced man with a history of adultery,
who bragged about sexual assault and whom hundreds of people
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had cheated them in business dealings. Wallnau’s prophecy played a
critical role in coalescing evangelical voters behind Trump.

The Seven Mountain Mandate Today

Wallnau has advised a Christian-right charity called Ziklag
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whose 2024 objectives include mobilizing Republican-leaning voters in
swing states. Ziklag, whose members are influential and wealthy
Christian families, has a long-term goal of elevating conservative
Christians into positions of power so they can radically change
American society. In the education mountain, for instance, Ziklag
wants to “take down the education system as we know it today,” one
official said, according to records obtained by the news outlet
Documented, and a document obtained by ProPublica and Documented says
the group would promote homeschooling as a “fundamental right.”

The New Apostolic Reformation opposes transgender rights and views
abortion as a form of child sacrifice that empowers demons. When
Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered
children, Chief Justice Tom Parker, who has expressed support for the
Seven Mountain framework, issued a concurring opinion citing the
Bible.

Leading up to the 2024 election, Wallnau has held tent revivals in
swing states aimed at registering and mobilizing conservative
Christians to vote and to serve as poll workers.

Sources: “Building God’s Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian
Reconstruction” by Julie J. Ingersoll; “Eternal Hostility: The
Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy” by Frederick Clarkson;
“The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is
Threatening Our Democracy” by Matthew D. Taylor; “The Radical
Mind: The Origins of Right-Wing Catholic and Protestant Coalition
Building” by Chelsea Ebin; “Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the
Christian Right” by Sara Diamond; “Invading Babylon: The 7
Mountain Mandate” by Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson; original
interviews with many of these authors.

_Phoebe Petrovic ([email protected]
[[link removed]],
Twitter/X [[link removed]]) is an investigative
reporter on a two-year fellowship with ProPublica’s Local Reporting
Network. She previously covered disinformation and democracy at
Wisconsin Watch and was a 2022-2023 Law & Justice Journalism Project
fellow. As a Report for America corps member from 2019 to 2022,
Petrovic reported, produced and hosted “Open and Shut,” a podcast
series co-published with Wisconsin Public Radio examining the power of
prosecutors. Petrovic previously worked at WPR as a Lee Ester News
Fellow, “Reveal” from the Center for Investigative Reporting as an
editorial intern and NPR’s “Here & Now” as a temporary producer.
Her work has aired nationally on all of NPR’s flagship news
magazines. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from
Yale University._

_Mollie Simon
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research._

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