Molly Olmstead

It's civil war among American charismatics and Pentecostals, but few reporters are covering it

It's civil war among American charismatics and Pentecostals, but few reporters are covering it

Last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol has ignited a civil war among many Christians.

Whereas white evangelicals are being creamed in the media for their (nearly) unwavering support of President Donald Trump, their Pentecostal/charismatic cousins have hardly been mentioned. The latter is an evangelical subset little known to the media, and many of its adherents remain fiercely pro-Trump.

Why is this important, besides the fact that Pentecostalism is the fast growing form of Christian faith in the world? Well, for starter’s its most famous leader here in America, the Rev. Paula White-Cain, is Trump’s personal pastor.

Some have said that these charismatic and Pentecostal leaders are part of a New Apostolic Reformation, described in Holly Pivec’s and Douglas Geivett’s 2014 book. It’s not a creedal movement, but its basic tenet is that God has restored a cadre of apostles and prophets to lead worldwide Christianity in the 21st century.

Things are rocky, right now, among the NAR crowd. There’s a war going on in that group concerning the “prophets” who have set the tone for much of Pentecostal America. These are individuals who claim to have foretold Trump’s 2016 victory. For the past few years, almost to a person, their prophets said God had planned a 2020 repeat victory for Trump.

If you’ve not heard of those prophecies, that’s because you’re not monitoring their YouTube channels, Twitter and Facebook feeds or personal web sites. Their conversations generally are not available in the secular media, which they detest. There are ways to cover them, but you have to know the players.


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