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Lots of Christians supported Donald Trump, for many different reasons. \u00a0Some didn\u2019t approve of him, but thought that he would be better than Hillary Clinton. \u00a0Some thought Trump would be more favorable to the pro-life cause. \u00a0Some thought he would be better on religious liberty. \u00a0Some thought Trump would bring more jobs, shake up the status quo, and make America great again. \u00a0Most Christians who supported him probably did so for various of these reasons. \u00a0But some apparently supported him for theological reasons.<\/p>\nDid you notice how a number of Pentecostal<\/a> groups, particularly those influenced\u00a0by TV preachers, were with Trump from the beginning and expressed\u00a0no qualms about some of his questionable behavior?<\/p>\n According to a recent\u00a0book on the subject<\/a>\u00a0by Brad Christerson and Richard Flory (published by Oxford University Press), there is\u00a0\u00a0a new movement within Pentecostal and charismatic circles. \u00a0The authors call it \u201cIndependent Network Charismatic\u201d\u2013or \u201cINC\u201d\u2013Christianity. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t focus on evangelism or building congregations, nor speaking in tongues<\/a> or performing miracles. \u00a0Though of course Pentecostalists and charismatics continue to care about and to practice such things, this particular strain is solely about acquiring influence. \u00a0And it is based not at all on a church, but on independent networks of leaders known as \u201cApostles.\u201d<\/p>\n INC Christianity teaches that there are \u201cseven mountains of culture\u201d: \u00a0business, government, media, arts & entertainment, education, family, and religion. \u00a0The idea is that if Christians \u201ccapture\u201d\u00a0each of these mountains\u2013that is, assume leadership in these fields\u2013the nation\u2019s problems will be solved and they will \u201cbring heaven to earth.\u201d<\/p>\n These Network Christians still believe in signs and wonders: \u00a0They are convinced that one of them was the election of Donald Trump, whom they consider to be God\u2019s chosen agent to bring in the kingdom of Heaven on earth.<\/p>\n These are not to be confused with Dominionists or Theonomists, who are Calvinists. \u00a0Nor do they seem to be millennialists, either pre- or post-, though I could be wrong about that. \u00a0(Please enlighten me if you know.) \u00a0They are charismatics, seeing leadership in all of these areas as a sort of spiritual gift. UPDATE: \u00a0They also strike me as applying the \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d\u2013which these groups also hold to\u2013on the national level. \u00a0These leaders are part of the New Apostolic Reformation <\/a>movement, which more fully accounts for\u00a0their theology.<\/p>\n I suspect all Christians who support Trump or who are active in politics or who seek cultural impact will get tarred with this brush. \u00a0You can ascend those seven mountains\u2013if that is your vocation<\/em>\u2013without buying into the theology\u00a0behind these \u201cnetworks.\u201d \u00a0But you should be aware that this new social gospel is in the air.<\/p>\n From Brad Christerson & Richard Flory,\u00a0How a Christian Movement Is Growing Rapidly in the Midst of Religious Decline | RealClearReligion<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n INC Christianity is led by a network of popular independent religious entrepreneurs<\/a>, often referred to as \u201capostles.\u201d They have close ties, we found, to conservative U.S. politicians, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and more recently President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Charismatic Christians emphasize supernatural miracles and divine interventions, but INC Christianity is different from other charismatics \u2013 and other Christian denominations in general \u2013 in the following ways:<\/p>\n INC Christianity is the fastest-growing Christian group in America and possibly around the world. Over the 40 years from 1970 to 2010, the number of regular attenders of Protestant churches as a whole shrunk by an average of .05 percent per year<\/a>, while independent neo-charismatic congregations (a category in which INC groups reside) grew<\/a> by an average of 3.24 percent per year. . . .<\/p>\n Most Christian groups<\/a> in America have seen the role of the church as connecting individuals to God through the saving grace of Jesus and building congregations that provide communities of meaning and belonging through worship services. They also believe in serving and providing for the needs their local communities. Such traditional Christian groups believe that although the world can be improved, it will not be restored to God\u2019s original plan (until Jesus comes back again to rule the Earth).<\/p>\n INC beliefs, however, are different \u2013 their leaders are not content simply to connect individuals to God and grow congregations. Most INC Christian groups we studied seek to bring heaven or God\u2019s intended perfect society to Earth by placing \u201ckingdom-minded people\u201d in powerful positions at the top of all sectors of society.<\/p>\n INC leaders have labeled them the \u201cseven mountains of culture.\u201d<\/a> These include business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family and religion. In this form of \u201ctrickle-down Christianity,\u201d they believe if Christians rise to the top of all seven \u201cmountains,\u201d society will be completely transformed.<\/p>\n One INC leader we interviewed summed it up this way:<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of this new movement is transforming social units like cities, ethnic groups, nations rather than individuals\u2026if Christians permeate each mountain and rise to the top of all seven mountains\u2026society would have biblical morality, people would live in harmony, there would be peace and not war, there would be no poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n We heard these ideas<\/a> repeatedly in most of our interviews, at events we attended and in INC media materials.<\/p>\n Most significantly, since the 2016 presidential election, some INC leaders have released public statements<\/a> claiming that the Trump presidency is part of fulfilling God\u2019s plan to \u201cbring heaven to Earth\u201d by placing believers in top posts, including Rick Perry, who is currently heading the Energy Department; Betsy DeVos directing the Department of Education; and Ben Carson leading the Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n\n