Pulse
5 Oct 2026
Over the years, I have written several articles on the heretical and dangerous movement called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). I have also discussed one of the fundamental tenets of the movement which clearly reveals its political agenda, namely, the Seven Mountains Mandate, or, Dominion Theology.
Writers such as Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné are not wrong in asserting that ‘The New Apostolic Reformation is one of the most important Christian religious and political movements in our time.’
Therefore, it would be a grave mistake indeed for pastors and Christian leaders to think that this movement and its leaders simply lie at the fringe of contemporary evangelical Christianity. It would be equally dangerous to think that the excesses associated with the movement – both its theology and practice – are minor and tolerable departures from orthodoxy.
Hiding in plain sight is one of the most important features of the NAR, namely, its political agenda and vision. As I have alluded to above, this agenda is evident in the movement’s political theology, which has been aptly described as Dominionism.
I will not discuss Dominion Theology is detail in this article as I have treated the subject quite comprehensively elsewhere. But very briefly, Dominion Theology insists that Christians should actively shape culture and society. To do this, Christians should take control of (exercise dominion over) institutions (‘mountains’) such as education, media, business, and the arts. The most important ‘mountain’ of this mandate is the government because it controls many aspects of public life.
The clearest instantiation of the NAR’s influence in politics is, of course, found in America – the birthplace of the movement. One example is the prominent role that NAR leaders played in the electoral campaigns of Donald Trump. Another is the NAR’s endorsement and support of the many politicians and public figures involved in school boards and state-wide elected offices who favour Trump and are aligned with his ideas.
Mainstream news media have repeatedly noted areas of overlap between some of the views of House Speaker Mike Johnson and Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker and themes promoted by NAR leaders.
Johnson’s links to the movement are also evidenced by his strange allegiance to the ‘Appeal to Heaven Flag’ (also known as the ‘Heaven’s Flag’) which originated in 1775 during the American Revolution, and was recently repurposed by the prominent NAR leader, Dutch Sheets. Johnson posted the flag outside his office in the Capitol.
The flag is the unofficial battle flag of the NAR, which caught the attention of the public when it was used during the January 6, 2021, insurrection at Capitol Hill.
The extent of the involvement of these prominent public figures with the NAR is of course hard to know with any degree of certainty. However, they can be said to be at least sympathetic to some of the ideological commitments of the movement.
One of the ideas that the NAR has promoted is that President Donald Trump is God’s specially chosen leader who will fight a spiritual warfare against the demonic forces at work within the United States. Trump himself took advantage of this rhetoric. The Conversation reports that in his acceptance speech of November 6, 2024, Trump said that the reason ‘God spared my life’ was to ‘restore America to greatness.’
Paula White-Cain, a longtime spiritual advisor to Trump, has repeatedly described the president as God’s anointed leader for this crucial period in American history. In 2019, she famously declared, ‘To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God.’ White, who promotes the Seven Mountain Mandate, participated in the rally and offered prayers before the events that culminated in the Capitol riots.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, the NAR organised the ‘Million Women’ worship rally on October 12 in Washington D.C. The purpose was to encourage women associated with the movement to pray, protest and support Trump’s campaign. The movement was founded by Jenny Donnelly and NAR prophet Lou Engle. Its mission is to transform women into warriors to advance the Kingdom of God on Earth.
As an article published in The Conversation puts it:
For NAR evangelicals, the presidential election is interpreted through a Christian apocalyptic rhetoric. In this rhetoric one candidate is a force for good, a warrior for God – Trump – and the other is led by demonic forces such as Harris. Trump’s 2024 win is seen as a critical moment of spiritual warfare where the forces of God defeat the forces of evil.
NAR leaders such as Abby Abildness and Lance Wallnau, divide the nations of the world into the binary categories of ‘sheep’ nations and ‘goat’ nations, extrapolating from Matthew 25:31-46. According to Wallnau, a sheep nation ‘protects or keeps malicious forces from devouring the Christian and Jewish people.’ The goat nation ‘has failed to show mercy’ to Christians and Jews.
Most NAR leaders are Zionists, as Abildness’ prayer in 2022, after the electoral win by Benjamin Netanyahu, makes plainly evident: ‘we are in a season of aligning with political comebacks in the nations, and we align in these networks with Israel, with Netanyahu who just had a wonderful victory …’
NAR leaders envision a theocracy in which God rules over the nations through the Church, especially her apostles and prophets. At the very least, they are promoting a kind of Christian supremacy in cultural and governmental spheres. It is this militant theocracy that has earned the NAR the unsavoury reputation of being ‘America’s Taliban.’
Needless to say, Christians must be very critical of the miscegenation of religion and politics that we find in America today, exemplified by the NAR and other extreme Christian Right movements. While Christians may have different views on questions of public policy, they must never allow their differences to result in the unhealthy identification of a political movement, nation or leader as God’s chosen instrument.
The NAR’s insistence that Christians must ‘take dominion’ of society’s institutions (the Seven Mountain Mandate) in order to establish God’s kingdom on earth must be roundly rejected. This approach is based on an erroneous understanding of Christian witness and a dangerously erroneous theology of the kingdom of God.
Christians who are commanded to be salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16) are called to do so as faithful witnesses of God’s grace and truth in government, education, business, medicine, the arts, etc. As God’s witnesses and Christ’s ambassadors, Christians embody the Gospel by faithful engagement, not institutional domination.
Christians must reject all attempts to attribute quasi-messianic significance to political leaders. There can be no doubt that throughout church history, God has used many political rulers for his purposes. However, the recognition of God’s providential grace in this aspect is profoundly different from declaring a particular political leader as God’s uniquely anointed instrument for national salvation.
Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ (John 18:36). Only God can bring his kingdom, which was inaugurated by Jesus, to full consummation as the petition ‘Thy kingdom come’ in the Lord’s Prayer underscores.
This, of course, does not suggest that the Church should passively acquiesce to the tempers of the prevailing culture. Addressing his American context, Justin Poythress writes:
This doesn’t mean Christian political savvy is thrown aside while we lie down and float away with the cultural tide. It does mean American evangelicals have a golden opportunity, even in years when it seems the sun is setting on our influence, to prove our hope is vested beyond the material and visible. We can chart for the next generation a trail of faithfulness that avoids bitter and reclusive cultural withdrawal on the one hand and vengeful scorched-earth behaviour on the other.
This surely is good counsel for Christians everywhere.
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor at Trinity Theological College (Singapore).