Guest Dr. Matthew D. Taylor shares his faith journey and we discuss his involvement in religious pluralism and extensive research on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement in America. Dr. Taylor shares insights into his background in and transition from evangelical fundamentalism, his interfaith dialogues, and the threats posed by NAR's radical Christian nationalism, which advocates for Christian supremacy and has influenced political events like the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The episode delves into the implications of this movement, the need for intra-Christian dialogue, and the challenge of addressing radicalization within American Christianity.
Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., is a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. He specializes in Muslim-Christian dialogue, Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, religious politics in the U.S., and American Islam. Prior to coming to ICJS, he served on the faculty of Georgetown University and George Washington University. His first book, Scripture People: Salafi Muslims in Evangelical Christians’ America, offers an introduction to the often misunderstood Salafi movement in the U.S. by way of comparison with American Evangelicalism. He is also the creator of the award-winning audio-documentary series “Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation,” which details how networks of extremist Christian leaders helped instigate the January 6th Insurrection. His next book, The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian movement that is threatening our democracy, will be published in September 2024.
Guest Links:
- X / Twitter (@TaylorMatthewD)
- "Spiritual Warriors: Decoding the Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot" (a 25-minute video documentary)
- "Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation" (an audio-documentary podcast series)
- The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement that is Threatening Our Democracy (book available for preorder)
If you enjoy this podcast and would like to find more content like this, please visit my website at www.markbeckwith.net, where you can listen to more episodes (and read episode transcripts), read my blog, and sign up to get weekly reflections in your inbox. I also explore the themes of this podcast further in my book, Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms, and Party Lines.
This episode of the Reconciliation Roundtable podcast was edited, mixed, and produced by Luke Overstreet.