Matthew D. Taylor
@TaylorMatthewD
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senior scholar at @ICJSBaltimore | https://t.co/yPy5hp1mq4 | author of "Scripture People" (2023) & "The Violent Take It by Force" (Oct 2024)
Baltimore, MD
Joined October 2012
This is the first piece I've written since the 2024 election. It is published in a UK outlet (@NewHumanist) and tries to make sense of many Christians' messianic attachments to Trump.
✨A must-read from @TaylorMatthewD of @ICJSBaltimore:. To many evangelicals, Trump is not just a president but a messiah. How did he gain such mythic power, and where will it lead?.
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The charismatic leaders around Trump know & trust Sheets & listen to him. They've brought him into the White House & invited him to lead major prayer initiatives for them. They see Trump fulfilling a divine mandate to defeat Satan & bring dominion. 18/.
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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 far more flexible, leader-driven, violent, & accelerationist. 17/.
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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/.
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Not for nothing: Sheets may have 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/.
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This is not Dispensationalism!. This is a discourse of modern prophecy that can be as slippery as the prophets make it. They see God fulfilling THEIR prophecies thru Trump & Netanyahu, & they're urging more b/c it's a spiritual war against Iran/the Middle Eastern demons. 14/.
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Sheets also speculates about 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 fulfilling their prophecies thru ICE & DHS]. " so now they need to pray against Satan's use of such terrorists. 13/.
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Sheets prophetically connects the Hebrew calendar on the bombing day w/ the story of Esther & Mordecai (& the preemptory slaughter of Persians by ancient Jews). Esther has been a key "prophecy" figure charismatics have used to frame Trump & MAGA. 12/.
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/
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Sheets (cont.): "We are entering THIS TIME. What's 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 PoP are removed, then Xns can conquer territory.] 11/.
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Sheets (cont.): "I've been prophesying for yrs that, in the coming revival, regions of the world that've been under the control of demonic principalities for millennia would be delivered from this control & experience great revival.". ["Revival" leads to Christian dominion.] 10/.
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Sheets (caveating that he can't foresee all future events):. "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.". [NAR translator: PoP is a commander demon in power over Iran.] 9/.
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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. His reaction to Trump bombing Iran's nuclear sites: 8/.
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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/.
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The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a network of charismatic leaders who've been the most effective spiritual propagandists for Donald Trump, has helped to forge this new style of Christian Zionism. CZ even played a little-known role in January 6th. 6/.
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Dispensationalists hope to protect a modern state of Israel to fulfill their reading of the Bible. This new charismatic breed of Christian Zionism is more chaotic & accelerationist. It blends together prosperity theology, Messianic Judaism, spir. warfare, & Dominion theology. 5/.
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The Christian leaders & advisers around Trump are overwhelmingly rooted in these new charismatic theologies. They believe not only in biblical prophecy (as in Dispensationalism) but also in MODERN prophecy. Many of them claim to be prophets themselves. 4/.
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But over the last 50 yrs, we've seen a massive shift within Christian Zionism that one scholar has titled "The Pentecostalization of Christian Zionism." . Basically, more Pentecostal-charismatic leaders & theologies have supplanted Dispensationalism. 3/.
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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/.
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What's the evangelical theology behind Trump's Israel (& Iran) strategy?. Many analysts & pundits point 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/.
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RT @JaredHuffman: Context for Sec. Hegseth's statement that "we give glory to God" after Trump's unilateral and illegal act of war against….
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RT @MindShift2018: @TaylorMatthewD explains the origins of Trump’s evangelical advisory board. The truth is stranger than fiction! . Find o….
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