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2024, SEPTEMBER 01

Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR

The New Apostolic Reformation movement, a term coined by one of the early influencers of the group, C. Peter Wagner, is a militant yet covert breed of Christians with strong roots in everything from religion to politics. Wagner taught members to believe that a “reformation” was possible through “spiritual warfare.” Some early proponents of the movement mistakenly assumed that “spiritual warfare” simply meant engaging in prayer for a positive outcome. However, as the movement continued to polarize its views of outsiders, the meaning of the word "warfare" became more and more obscure. Converts to the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) included a wide variety of groups, some of which leaned heavily towards extremism. From Christian Identity and Christian Nationalist groups to Health and Prosperity Gospel televangelists and their cult followers, the NAR suddenly emerged as a network of vastly different people. Yet when compared to traditional Christianity, all of them could be considered extremist. Eventually, the NAR network was branded “The Christian Taliban.