The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy

by Matthew Boedy

"A sobering assessment of the evolution of Christian nationalism." -Publishers Weekly




Exposing the decades-long plan to radically transform America—how the seven mountains movement, prosperity preachers, and political operatives are destroying democracy under Trump’s second administration.

The movement to install a populist strongman in the White House with a game plan for enforcing right-wing policies and catering to evangelical Christians started well before Donald Trump’s first candidacy. For decades, a well-funded network of religious and political operatives has been quietly working to dismantle democracy and replace it with Christian theocracy. Their strategy? The seven mountains mandate—a plan to seize control of seven key pillars of American society and reshape the

EducationGovernmentReligionFamilyBusinessMediaEntertainmentScholar Matthew Boedy exposes how this movement—driven by prosperity preachers, extremist politicians, and right-wing power brokers—laid the groundwork for Trump’s presidency and is now advancing its agenda under his second administration. From local school board elections to billion-dollar megachurches, this multipronged effort is reshaping the country in ways most Americans don’t even realize. Discover what has motivated the key players in this movement, how they’ve operated, and what is the unprecedented role of millennial "kingmaker" Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and the new face of Christian nationalism and the seven mountains movement, who believes that “we finally have a president who understands the seven mountains of cultural influence.”

Today’s news is so much more than the scattershot orders of an extreme administration. With Project 2025 policies in motion, the seven mountains movement is closer than ever to its goal of turning America into a Christian nationalist state. Leaders of this movement have been playing a long game, undermining democracy to establish a theocracy, but it’s not too late to halt their progress and reverse the tide. This book reveals what’s happening behind the scenes—and what you can do to stop it.




Videos for small group use featuring the author are available for free on WJK's YouTube

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Religion, American History, Cultural, Social Justice

226 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian growing up in the 50s and 60s, I was in a society where Christians were content to live and flourish within a secular society. We had a Christian elementary school in our community along with the public one and we had Christian colleges alongside secular universities. Now it seems some Christians are not content with that situation and I wanted to know what changed.

I've known for some time of the existence of Project 2025 but I never understood why it exists. Boedy explained so much I now get it. Now I understand the concept of some Christians not being content to exist in a secular society but rather wanting to conform society and its institutions to be Christian.

He goes back to the origin of the concept, to Bill Bright in the 1970s, then Loren Cunningham and others, as the years went by. Some refer to Gen. 1:28 saying Christians are to have dominion over what was later identified as seven areas of culture. Rather than Christianity existing beside other religions or flourishing in a secular society, it was meant to dominate. The righteous minority would need to gain power to exercise the necessary control. That meant democracy (and the liberal majority) in the US would need to be destroyed.

Boedy goes through the seven areas and the work thought need to be done in them. Education is attacked because it indoctrinates kids against God and against America (as a Christian nation). It is no longer enough to have Christian schools and universities along with secular ones. All education must be Christian. With respect to government, democracy must be done away with in preparation for governing by a righteous minority, implementing “biblical” policies even if it is at the loss of constitutional rights. Churches are influenced by Satan, they say, and need to be purified. Regarding money, God wants capitalism free of constraining regulations, transferring wealth from the evil rich to true believers who will use it for God's agenda. Some promote a conspiracy where White people will be replaced with non-White by allowing open southern borders in the US, hence intense immigration work must be done.

For me, the most enlightening chapter was the one on the media. As a young person, we never gave a thought to the possibility of Walter Cronkite lying to us, We trusted the news broadcasters. Now, many Christians believe there is a general conspiracy against God, a conspiracy that has taken over all our cultural institutions, including the news media. (115, 116) Secular media is in the devil's hands and is a propaganda machine. People need to be kept from being brainwashed by it.

I found Boedy's book to be very enlightening, explaining much happening in the US today. I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an honest and independent review.

[RevRachelK · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is oddly prescient that I received a digital ARC of this book just a day before Charlie Kirk’s killing in Utah. Boedy’s work is an eye-opening account of how Charlie Kirk and Turning Points in particular are fueling the Christian Nationalist agenda that has been latent in US politics for decades. As we are watching Kirk lionized as an icon of “free speech” and open dialogue on college campuses that have allegedly been taken over by the intolerant left, it is more important than ever to see how intentionally the goal of Turning Points was to take over campuses for the far right. While many people of good faith in our historical moment are talking about “defending democracy” we need coverage like this to expose how many right wing thinkers genuinely do not see democracy as a good thing. The talking point of “American is a republic not a democracy” that Boedy explores here is one I remember hearing in church decades ago. I put this book in the same category of “Jesus and John Wayne” as a must-read for those looking to understand our political reality. The question remains: how do we respond? I wish I knew.

Thank you to NetGalley and WJK press for the ARC

[Dennis McCrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was approved to read an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) via NetGalley of this book with a published date of September 30, 2015. In return I am to give an honest review.

As I currently understand, this is the essence, even the foundation of present day White Christian Nationalism. It is NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), the ‘Appeal To Heaven’ flag (the flag prominently displayed outside Speaker Johnson’s office). This is Dominionism with its explicitly embodied “Seven Mountains Mandate (7M) with its seven social realms of influence: Education, Religion, Family, Business, Government/Military and Arts/Entertainment/Media.

Its core leaders believe it is their God given responsibility to form their interpretation of a Christian Theocracy. Senators Cruz (TX) and Hawley (MO) and Speaker Johnson (LA) (and ???) are suspected advocates…think anyone who has an especially difficult time separating their public government responsibilities from their personal, spiritual stands.

It is Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA.

All of this was born out by the author in this book.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched, extremely brief read about the hideous conservative movement known as the Seven Mountains Mandate. Reading a book that name checks multiple organizations I volunteered with when I was heavily involved in youth ministry is so weird. YWAM, Campus Crusade for Christ, I kept seeing so many different organizations I’d long repressed. Deeply abusive, violent, hateful, ever proclaiming their victim hood… this entire toxic movement is horrifying. (Minus one star for some sloppy editing and being a bit too brief in some of the sections to truly get the depth of the cruelty)


***********************************


“And while not secret, advocates of the plan have become so despondent for total cultural power that if they lose one mountain, they revolt. See the 2021 insurrection.”

“About 55 percent of evangelicals specifically agreed that ‘God wants Christians to stand atop the Seven Mountains of society.’”

“It might then come as no surprise that a 2024 survey showed a majority of Christian nationalists would support a leader who is ‘willing to break some rules.’ About a third of those same people support ‘violence in order to save our country or to ensure that the rightful leader takes office.’ More than 80 percent agree that ‘the final battle between good and evil is upon us.’"

“But Turning Point's messages early on were consistently secular, mainly focused on free market values and economic issues, and shying away from any culture war hot buttons like abortion, though he relied early on from donors who wanted to push those buttons.”

“In 2019 in the premiere episode of his self-named (and now top 10 in downloads) podcast, Kirk denied overlap between his religion and politics: "I'm very careful not to have my religious views and my faith inform my political decisions.” (Well that certainly changed when he realized the depth of the grift he could get away with)

“Since embracing the seven mountains movement, Turning Point is no longer merely a youth-oriented group. It has an army of staff in every major city to reach all ages. It has widely expanded its content creation and media capabilities. It hosts women's conferences and men's summits. Turning Point Action has gone on to run multimillion-dollar canvassing campaigns in several election cycles.”

“Kirk hates higher education —all public education in fact-because he believes that, as a system, from start to finish, from kindergarten to degree, it indoctrinates students against God and against America.”

“This is why Ingersoll wrote that homeschooling is seen as the "single most important tool" for the reconstruction of society.” (LOL as a product of homeschooling, I call BULLSHIT)

“Grudem wrote a school brochure in 1982 that noted that "if we keep our children in public schools, they will be trained year after year to keep their Christianity just where our society says it 'belongs'— at home and in church—in private, where it will not be noticed, and where it will have little effect on our politics, our laws, our corporations, our universities, our news media, or our nation's public conscience." In other words,
"secular education trains children to be secularized Christians."

“At the bottom of the home page of Turning Point Academy is a quote: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." Turning Point credits the words to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor made famous for resisting Hitler before and during World War II. He was hanged near the end of the war. Yet Bonhoeffer never said those words. And in fact, Bonhoeffer scholars say it doesn't even sound like him."

“Kirk has long supported vouchers. The school Turning Point named as its first partner, Dream City Christian School in Arizona, has used more than $2 million in state vouchers since Arizona's expanded program took effect in 2022, according to state data. That has, according to an analysis by CNN, likely sapped millions of dollars from the nearby public district's budget. As of the summer of 2024, of the forty-one Christian schools in Turning Point Academy's network, twenty-six are in states with private school voucher programs.”

“The superintendent of Oklahoma's public schools, Ryan Walters, is a staunch defender of vouchers and appeared at a Turning Point campus event at Oklahoma State in 2024.” (Ryan Walters of “tried to buy thousands of tr*mp bibles to force children to read them in school” fame. Ryan Walters of “was in a school meeting and was caught watching porn on his computer and the screen it was attached to DURING that meeting - when called out about it, he panicked and shouted he couldn’t turn it off” fame. It’s important to remember these folks)

“Our first preference is that He destroy them by transforming them into His friends.... But if their hearts are hardened, we call upon God to take them out nonetheless."

“As the heir to the seven mountains movement, Charlie Kirk has been a full-throated supporter and defender of Trump. He turned Turning Point into an arm of the Trump 2024 campaign. Kirk and Turning Point support Trump because they share antidemocratic impulses.”

“For its trainings, Turning Point has partnered with a group called Patriot Academy. Led by former Texas legislator Rick Green, Patriot Academy partners with David Barton to teach Barton's Constitution Alive! curriculum. The academy also includes a class that combines constitutional curriculum with "intense, combat-focused pistol training."

“Kirk exemplified this participatory antidemocracy with his call to action in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election: "I want to make sure we all make a commitment that if this election doesn't go our way, the next day we'd fight."

“A Campus Crusade brochure said that "the wife's first responsibility is to her husband.’”

“For example, on the September 2023 show, Charlie said husbands should not be cooking. "That is the wife's job," he said, with Erika agreeing. He was asked how women can "get a godly man." His response was, "Don't act like a feminist." Charlie also said that "real men” don't have female friends; if a man does, he is likely gay.” (He said, being extremely close friends with rightwing dipshit, Candace Owens)

“So the plan to Christianize America and destroy democracy begins with developing a highly tuned conspiracy radar. Spiritual paranoia-to think all the time as if there is a conspiracy against God is what drives the seven mountains mandate. And that paranoia is both the message and the medium of their media.”

“In 2016 and 2017 it often hosted a campus event called an "affirmative action bake sale." The organization would "set up a table of cookies and a sign with advertised prices of $1.50 for Asians, $1 for Caucasians, and 50 cents for black or Hispanic people." When asked the reason for the different prices, a Turning Point representative would reply, "Certain groups get different opportunities than others and Turning Point USA believes affirmative action doesn't give equal opportunity." That specific campus event has been conducted by conservative campus groups going back to at least 2003.” (Racist ghouls)

[Jono Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Matthew Boedy’s The Seven Mountain Mandate arrived in my inbox from NetGalley at an extraordinary moment—the day before the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The timing raises uncomfortable questions about the book’s release, given that it functions primarily as an extended critique of Turning Point USA and its founder. While tragic timing doesn’t invalidate scholarly analysis, it does demand we approach controversial subjects with particular care and charity—qualities this book too often abandons.

The Problem with Pronouncements Without Position

The most glaring weakness in Boedy’s work is what remains unsaid. Throughout his critique of Seven Mountain thinking and the organizations promoting it, Boedy never clearly articulates what he actually believes. Instead, we’re offered page after page of sneering dismissal without a constructive vision to replace what he tears down.

This matters tremendously. When you challenge a worldview—however flawed—without offering an alternative framework, you’re not engaging in serious intellectual work. You’re simply performing for an audience that already agrees with you. And that’s precisely what this feels like: a hit piece designed to confirm the biases of its intended readership rather than persuade or inform those who might think differently.

Missing the Nuance That Matters

My own journey with Seven Mountain thinking spans over fifteen years and includes a substantive two-hour television interview with Loren Cunningham, where I pressed him directly on the dominionist implications many see in the seven spheres concept. His pushback was vigorous and clarifying: he envisioned this framework as a call to discipling nations through service across the fundamental spheres present in every society—not a blueprint for seizing power at the top of cultural mountains.

This stands in stark contrast to my conversation with Lance Wallnau, whose vision centered explicitly on reaching the “top of each mountain” to exert “Kingdom influence.” This distinction isn’t semantic; it’s foundational. One approach emphasizes patient, humble service as salt and light. The other risks what Jamin Goggin describes as “embracing the way of the Dragon”—pursuing righteous ends through worldly means, with influence and power as the primary tools.

Boedy’s analysis collapses these crucial distinctions. By painting with such broad strokes, he misses the very conversations happening within these movements about methodology, theology, and faithful engagement with culture. The result is a caricature rather than a careful examination.

When Sneering Replaces Substance

While I found Matthew D. Taylor’s The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy largely accurate in its description of the New Apostolic Reformation (if occasionally shrill), Boedy’s approach feels fundamentally uncharitable. Ad hominem arguments appear frequently. The tone throughout conveys contempt rather than concern. This isn’t the voice of someone genuinely troubled by dominionist theology and eager to offer a better way forward—it’s the voice of someone who has already decided his targets deserve only mockery.

I say this as someone who occupies complicated ground on these issues. While I disagree with much that comes from Turning Point USA, I also find many of their arguments convincing and their concerns legitimate. This kind of nuanced position—recognizing both strengths and weaknesses in a movement—seems entirely foreign to Boedy’s approach. Everything must be dismissed, nothing can be acknowledged as reasonable or well-intentioned.

I’m deeply uncomfortable with dominionist thinking. I personally favor a pluralistic society where multiple voices and worldviews can coexist and contribute to the common good. But disagreement doesn’t justify intellectual dishonesty or rhetorical cruelty.

The Foundation Boedy Won’t Acknowledge

Here’s an inconvenient truth that Boedy seems determined to avoid: much of the legislative framework and foundational values that define the United States are rooted in Judeo-Christian and biblical principles. This isn’t Christian nationalist propaganda—it’s historical reality, acknowledged by scholars across the ideological spectrum.

You can recognize this reality while simultaneously advocating for pluralism, separation of church and state, and protection for religious minorities. These positions aren’t contradictory. But Boedy appears to eschew this acknowledgment entirely, leaving a vacuum where a constructive argument should be.

What does he propose instead? What vision of society does he believe we should work toward? How should people of faith engage with the public square? The book offers no answers—only the demolition of positions Boedy finds distasteful.

Why This Matters Now

We’re living through a moment of profound cultural and political fragmentation. Trust in institutions continues eroding. Communities of faith are wrestling with what faithful engagement looks like in an increasingly polarized environment. Some lean toward withdrawal; others toward dominance; still others seek a third way characterized by humble presence and persuasive witness.

This is precisely the moment when we need careful, charitable analysis that helps us understand why movements like Seven Mountain thinking resonate with millions of people. We need frameworks for distinguishing healthy cultural engagement from unhealthy dominionism. We need to identify where legitimate concerns about religious freedom and moral formation end and where dangerous theocratic ambitions begin.

The Seven Mountain Mandate offers none of this. Instead, it preaches to the choir—confirming what its intended audience already believes while doing nothing to bridge divides or advance understanding.

A Better Conversation Is Possible

I remain deeply concerned about dominionist theology and the ways it can distort faithful discipleship. The patient work of cultural renewal through service, sacrifice, and persuasive witness is being abandoned by some in favor of shortcuts involving political power and cultural conquest. This trajectory deserves serious critique.

But critique must be paired with charity, and demolition must be followed by construction. Boedy’s book demonstrates the former is possible without the latter—and shows us exactly why that’s insufficient.
Recommendation: Unless you’re specifically researching critiques of Seven Mountain theology or need to understand how opponents frame these movements, there are better uses of your time. For those genuinely wrestling with how Christians should engage culture, I’d recommend starting with the actual conversations happening within these movements—including the tensions between service-oriented and power-oriented approaches—rather than this uncharitable summary dismissal.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[*BookarazziBookNook* Kristin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗪𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱, 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆.”

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 9/30/25

*Thank you @NetGalley and @WJKbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: This book explores the foundation of Christian Nationalism, how it’s rooted in a decades long quest. Nationalists seek to destroy current democracy and rebuild a new order based on Christianity, attacking each of the seven pillars of American scociety (Education, Politics, Religion, Media, Entertainment, Family, Business).
Scholar Matthew Boedy exposes how this movement—driven by prosperity preachers, extremist politicians, and right-wing power brokers—laid the groundwork for Trump’s presidency and is now advancing its agenda under his second administration. From local school board elections to billion-dollar megachurches, this multipronged effort is reshaping the country in ways most Americans don’t even realize. Discover what has motivated the key players in this movement, how they’ve operated, and what is the unprecedented role of millennial "kingmaker" Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and the new face of Christian nationalism and the Seven Mountain movement, who believes, “...we finally have a president who understands the seven mountains of cultural influence.”

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
🇺🇸 Politics
✝️ Current Affairs
🇺🇸 Christian Nationalism
✝️ Democracy
🇺🇸 Right-Wing Extremist Ideology

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
This was a well written, in depth look at a decades long quest to strongman Christian theocracy into the American government and society. Long before the current administration, this was in progress. The movement caught fire when the far right gabbed hold and instilled it into the current administration. If radical Evangelicals can control the seven pillars of society, they can control people and force their radical cult-Christian beliefs. It eye opening to read about how this cult version of Christianity is attempting to worm its way in society like a poison, using good faith Christians as pawns. Charlie Kirk is a current CEO of a organization that is spreading and attempting to impliment these views. Im fascinated and alarmed all at once.
Great thought provoking and informative read into the current workings and ulterior motives of the current administration.

#TheSevenMountainsMandate

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 5 out of 5]

There has been much talk recently about the rise of Christian Nationalism and the dangers it poses to democracy. Numerous books have been written covering different aspects. As these books reveal, there are different facets of the movement that need to be addressed. There are different ways of addressing these facets; some studies focus more on the politics and others on the religious dimensions. Of course, Christian Nationalism is not a new reality. We might want to trace it back to Constantine and Theodosius in the fourth century. If we're honest, Mainline Protestants are not immune from embracing forms, as Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood uncovered in Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism. Another facet of this movement is known as "The Seven Mountains Mandate." This mandate, which is embraced by many evangelicals, seeks to dominate seven areas of life. The question is whether those who embrace the mandate pose a threat to American democracy.

Matthew Boedy answers the question of whether partisans who support the implementation of The Seven Mountains Mandate pose a threat with an emphatic yes. You might be surprised by who some of these people and entities are. As you read Boedy's exposé, you will discover both what the mandate involves and who is pushing it. One of the key figures in Boedy's book is a person recently murdered, but hailed as a martyr and even a saint by many in the country, a person who was a strong ally of Donald Trump, who ordered flags across the nation to be flown at half mast, and whose memorial service turned into a right wing political rally featuring much of the current administration. That would be Charlie Kirk.

The author of the book, Matthew Boedy, teaches rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia. He was targeted by Turning Point USA in 2016 and placed on its "professor watchlist" because he spoke out against people carrying concealed guns on college campuses. One thing we learn here is that while Charlie Kirk supposedly argued for free speech, it was a rather one-sided affair. But as you read, you will see how not only Kirk, but others who are now part of the Trump administration are implementing aspects of the Seven Mountains Mandate.

Some of the key figures in the development of this movement include R.J. Rushdoony, the founder of Christian Reconstructionism, who argued for the implementation of "biblical law" in the United States. Others include Bill Bright, Loren Cunningham, Peter Wagner, Lance Wallnau, and Kirk, among others. Many of the parts of the agenda found their way into Project 2025. While dominance of the government is one of the mountains, it's not the only one, as Boedy lays out.

In his Introduction to "The Seven Mountains Mandate," Boedy introduces the reader to the development of this movement, starting some fifty years ago in visions that Bright and Cunningham apparently received. These visions suggested that there are seven mountains that Christians need to dominate, because it is their divine right to rule. While very few Americans have heard about the movement, it is progressing rapidly, and the threat it poses to democracy is real. The reason Charlie Kirk figures so prominently in the book is that he was, as Boedy notes, the heir to the earlier leaders, such that he and Turning Point have become the indispensable organizers of the movement.

Each of the seven chapters explores one of the seven mountains, beginning with "The Mountain of Education." The chapter is titled "God's 1776 Project," a title that draws on Donald Trump's attempt during his first term to implement patriotic history. Boedy begins there because the attempt to dominate education begins to really take shape with Charlie Kirk's lists of liberal professors and the charge that American education is dominated by leftists, such that conservative voices are marginalized. The attempt to dominate education takes many forms, including the use of vouchers to support religious schools, an effort that is intended to undermine public education. There are other aspects, including the implementation of conservative curriculum efforts, the turn to "classical education, and the use of materials produced by Dennis Prager, Hillsdale College, and Turning Point. There is another piece to the education pie, and that is animus of Kirk and others toward higher education itself (we see this in the efforts of the Trump administration to attack
universities).

The second mountain is "The Mountain of Government." Titled "Counselor to the King," Chapter 2 explores the ways in which conservative Christians, mainly white evangelicals and some Catholics, have sought to dominate the government by dominating the Republican Party. Some of the supporters of this effort speak of biblical government and seek to limit voting rights. A deep exploration reveals that this movement has an authoritarian bent. One of the key figures in this turn is Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House. There are several elements here, many of which emerge out of evangelical teachings on spiritual warfare and spheres of influence. The end result, however, is an implementation of a government that is dominated by conservative Christians, such that those outside the movement will see their rights downgraded.

The third chapter, titled "Biblical Citizenship," focuses on "The Mountain of Religion." It is here that the spiritual foundations for the other emphases take root. This emphasis focuses on embracing a so-called "biblical worldview," accompanied by a shift to spiritual warfare. While Francis Schaeffer was a proponent of the biblical worldview idea, he wanted it to stand up to intellectual scrutiny. After his death, the turn was toward spiritual warfare, which involved new efforts that were less intellectually rooted and more rooted in spiritual warfare. We see this in the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation and the pastor summits hosted by Turning Point. Supporters of this move seek to empower churches to participate in their civic actions, including elections.

The fourth mountain is that of Family. The title of this chapter is "The Masculine Heart and the Feminine Mystique." The message here is that there are not only two genders but also defined gender roles. The husband is supposed to be in charge, and the wife submits to his authority (though he is supposed to be gentle in his leadership). But what this mountain seeks to do is return things back to the supposedly traditional family. Turning Point has taken the lead in this effort.

The fifth mountain is that of business. Thus, Chapter 4 is titled "Marketplace Apostles in God's Economy." This is a full-throated embrace of capitalism, together with a reduction of taxes. The goal is gaining wealth, and one of the ways embraced is the use of cryptocurrency. The reason for this is that power requires money. There are several contributors to this, including the embrace of the prosperity gospel.

The sixth mountain is that of media, which is discussed under the title "What's Really Happening." Here we see the development of alternative news sites, podcasts, including that of Kirk, often sharing conspiracy theories. The spreading of conspiracy theories, whether concerning climate, elections, January 6th, COVID, etc., is a threat to democracy. For, whom do you trust? This divides communities and people.

The final chapter, titled "The Left Can't Meme," focuses on The Mountain of Entertainment. Proponents of the Seven Mountains and other Christian Nationalists understand the value of entertainment. Since many in the entertainment industry are liberals, controlling entertainment is important. One of the first areas has been sports. Since pop culture is an important place to engage, there have been efforts to move into this area, though that has been a struggle. One of the areas that has been used is the creation of Memes as well as podcasts.

The Seven Mountains Mandate may not be a movement that most people recognize as a force in our culture, but it's real, and it has important implications for the nation. Having a book like this will be helpful, especially after the death of Charlie Kirk. No one should celebrate his death, but we must also be aware of his message and method, which have dangerous possibilities for our nation.

[Ari Damoulakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a book that is quite scary, but you unfortunately left to speculate. Charlie Kirk was a very powerful figure because he moved amongst the most powerful people.
What we don’t know is, he supposedly had a charisma to win over young people.
Do his replacements have this ability and we don’t actually know how strong radical Christian Nationalism is?
And it also depends on what the courts and voters will allow them to get away with.
It will also be interesting because they have made themselves so close to Trump, if voters reject him, they will be thinking up a lot of excuses to keep their power and movement going.
Probably will again try say we all have moral failings, or they will say God chooses very flawed individuals sometimes to still carry out His purpose.
It won’t go away, but we have to watch who the next leaders are and what sort of things they will be saying.
If it is his wife, she is more educated than he was, she forgave his killer which is more emotional and difficult, I wonder what impact those experiences will have had on her and we have to wonder, he was macho and didn’t believe in empathy. If she is allowed to lead his organization, will we get a softer kind of Christianity trying to influence people, or will the macho radical male Christians work out a strategy to even lead behind the scenes and still implement the masculine, guns and weirdo version of Christian Nationalism they dream of?
Also they say American Conservatives are starting to control more of the most powerful media so we will have questions like how will the programming and news they produce influence most Americans.
I’m guessing nothing since I was so useless at it, I never thought Americans would vote Trump again.

[Sarah Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy by Matthew Boedy
Rating: 4.8/5

Reactions & Emotional Impact
Reading The Seven Mountains Mandate felt like watching a high-stakes political thriller—except every revelation was painfully real. As someone who studies rhetoric and power structures, I was both electrified and unsettled by Boedy’s forensic dismantling of the 7MM (Seven Mountains Mandate) movement. His prose crackles with urgency, blending scholarly rigor (PhD in rhetoric) with journalistic flair (his background in investigative reporting). The chapter on Charlie Kirk’s role as a millennial kingmaker left me pacing my office, equal parts fascinated and horrified by the seamless merger of evangelical fervor and political machinery. Boedy’s personal stake—being targeted by Turning Point USA’s professor watchlist—lends the narrative moral gravity without veering into polemics.

Strengths
-Interdisciplinary Mastery: Boedy synthesizes theology, political science, and rhetoric to expose how 7MM operatives weaponize language (e.g., Biblical Citizenship) to mask theocratic aims. His analysis of Project 2025’s ties to the movement is revelatory.
-Structural Clarity: The “seven mountains” framework (education, media, etc.) organizes a sprawling conspiracy into digestible sectors, revealing coordinated attacks on pluralism.
-Timely Intervention: With 2024 elections looming, this book functions as both exposé and resistance manual—especially the final chapter’s actionable strategies to counter 7MM influence.
-Nuanced Tone: Avoids caricature; even while critiquing figures like Kirk, Boedy acknowledges their strategic brilliance in mobilizing youth.

Constructive Criticism
-Global Context: A comparative analysis (e.g., parallels to Hungary’s Christian nationalist policies) could strengthen the argument.
-Grassroots Voices: More interviews with rank-and-file 7MM adherents would humanize the movement beyond its leaders.
-Visual Aids: Infographics mapping 7MM’s network of think tanks/churches would enhance accessibility.

Final Thoughts
This isn’t just a book—it’s a red-alert siren for democracy. Boedy doesn’t just diagnose the disease; he hands readers the tools to fight back. A seminal work that belongs alongside Democracy in Chains and Jesus and John Wayne.

Gratitude:
Thank you to the Westminster John Knox Press & Flyaway Books and Edelweiss for the gifted copy—this arrived as headlines about school board takeovers and religious liberty laws proliferated, contextualizing chaos with chilling precision.

Why 4.8?
Docked slightly for density in theological passages, but The Seven Mountains Mandate is a tour de force of public scholarship.

Key Themes for Further Study:

-Rhetorical tactics of dominionist movements
-The role of megachurch financing in political campaigns
-Youth mobilization strategies in Christian nationalism
-Comparative analyses of global theocratic movements
-Counter-narratives to family values framing
A must-read for anyone who believes democracy and dogma should never share a throne.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the implementation of Project 2025, the white Christian movement and the conspiracies surrounding the founding of our country. The book exposes the seven mountain mandate (7MM) of the white evangelical church, its inception, and what it purports to seek to accomplish: “dominion” over religion, family, education, government, media, arts and entertainment, and business, I.e. theocratic nation! And paving the way for the Second Coming of Christ. As the book points out, while this movement has been co-opted by forces such as Charlie Kirk and his organization, Turning Point, the intent is still the same: make this a white theocracy! The author also shows how the 7MMs and Kirk distort the gospel to change the message of being stewards and ambassadors of Christ to being “cultural conquerors.” This book is masterful, well written, researched and scary. I highly recommend. I would to thank NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Matthijs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het is heel dubbel: een kritisch boek van Matthew Boedy over Charlie Kirk en het gedachtegoed van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” kwam net uit toen Charlie Kirk werd vermoord. Als lezer ben je dan met een boek bezig waarvan je weet dat bij publicatie een van de personen die in het boek aan de orde komen koelbloedig is doodgeschoten. Dat had Boedy ook niet kunnen voorzien.
Het boek van Boedy over de “Seven Mountains Mandate” en Kirk las ik, omdat er in Nederland geprotesteerd werd toen Kirk in in memoria werd getypeerd als omstreden. Boedy laat zien dat de kwalificatie “omstreden” terecht is: zowel de beweging van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” als Charlie Kirk hadden plannen die een gevaar vormden voor de Amerikaanse democratie. De ondertitel is dan ook: Onthullen van een gevaarlijk plan om Amerika christelijk te maken en democratie te vernietigen.
In het boek legt Boedy uit wat de ontstaansgeschiedenis en het doel is van degenen die het gedachtegoed van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” zijn gaan aanhangen. Steeds verwerkt hij ook hoe Kirk aan deze beweging verbonden is geraakt. Boedy had een reden om met Kirk bezig te zijn. In 2016 werd hij ermee geconfronteerd dat hij door Kirk op een lijst van verdachte professoren was geplaatst, omdat Boedy een opinieartikel had geschreven waarin hij pleitte voor een wapenverbod op campussen.
Het gedachtegoed van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” is dat er zeven maatschappelijke terreinen zijn, die door conservatieve christenen (of leiders die zonder zelf christelijk te zijn conservatief christelijk gedachtegoed nastreven) beheerst moeten gaan worden. Wanneer zij die terreinen domineren kunnen zij er weer voor zorgen dat de VS een christelijk land wordt. (Of in hun eigen visie weer een christelijk land wordt.) De terreinen die overheerst moeten worden, zijn onderwijs, overheid, godsdienst, gezin, economie, media en entertainment. Het is niet zozeer dat christenen in deze kringen werkzaam moeten zijn om invloed te hebben. Het gaat verder. Deze terreinen (‘bergen’) zijn plekken die door demonen bezet zijn en door een geestelijke strijd moeten de demonen van deze ‘bergen’ verdreven worden. Het anti-democratische zit er in, dat christenen aan de top van deze terreinen moeten staan om door hun invloed en macht conservatief christelijk gedachtegoed van bovenaf op te leggen. Het probleem zit niet in het conservatieve gedachtegoed als zodanig. Het is legitiem in een democratie om bepaald gedachtegoed uit te dragen. Het probleem zit in het willen domineren van maatschappelijke kringen om zo dit conservatieve gedachtegoed door te drukken. Doordat deze beweging dit streven naar dominantie typeert als een geestelijke strijd tegen demonen en omdat ze zich presenteren als een beweging die strijdt voor behoudende christelijke normen en waarden, is deze beweging in de laatste decennia zeer invloedrijk geworden in de VS. De schaduwzijde van deze beweging zijn de betrokkenheid van de Capitol Riots en de
De wortels van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” ligt in de jaren-’70 bij behoudende gereformeerde denkers die een antithetische houding uitdroegen, zoals R.J. Rushdoony en Francis A. Schaeffer. Zij stelden wel dat evangelicals zich niet moesten afzonderen van de maatschappij, maar dat er juist voor evangelicals een belangrijke maatschappelijke taak lag. Dit gedachtegoed werd opgepikt door evangelicale leiders waarvan een aantal in de charismatisch-pentecostale hoek terechtgekomen waren, zoals Bill Bright (oprichter van Campus Crusade for Christ), Loren Cunningham (Youth with a Mission), C. Peter Wagner (bedenker van de New Apostolic Reformation) en Lance Wallnau. Het is apart te zien hoe deze evangelicale leiders hun ideeën ontwikkelden, omdat ze moeite hadden met de burgerrechtenbeweging die streed voor de Afro-Amerikanen.
Charlie Kirk was in eerste instantie geen aanhanger van de “Seven Mountains Mandate”. Zijn organisatie Turning Point USA was in eerste instantie seculier. Pas in de laatste jaren nam hij dit gedachtegoed over. Boedy beschrijft de agressieve tactiek van Kirk. Ook beschrijft hij hoe Kirk diverse complottheorieën via zijn eigen show verspreidde. Het waren vooral complottheorieën waarin tegenstanders ervan beschuldigd van anti-christelijk handelen: ze wilden het christendom uit de samenleving wegdrukken. Zo schaarde Kirk zich achter de omvolkingstheorie (de theorie dat de overheid doelbewust blanke onderdanen wilde vervangen door buitenlandse migranten, omdat die makkelijker aan te sturen zouden zijn). Ook nam hij de complottheorie van de Great Reset m.b.t. de WEF over. Een van zijn medewerkers, Jack Posobiec, werd omschreven als de meest actieve verspreider van complottheorieën op rechts. Posobiec maakte ook een heel verhaal van de pizza-gate: in een pizzaria in Washington zou door de elite misbruik van kinderen plaatsvinden.
Kirk kreeg zelf ook kritiek: door rechts-radicalen kreeg hij het verwijt dat hij niet pro-White genoeg was. Toen die kritiek opkwam, begon Kirk mensen uit deze kringen te werven voor zijn Turning Point.
Een bijzondere plek neemt de ‘berg’ van de economie in. Aanhangers van de “Seven Mountains Mandate” zijn geregeld aanhangers van een welvaartsevangelie. Bovendien kun je door veel geld te verdienen invloed kopen en andere ‘bergen’ gaan domineren.

Van Boedy leerde ik hoe belangrijk het is om retoriek waar complottheorieën onder schuil gaan te herkennen. Wanneer er gesproken wordt over een elite die doelbewust de samenleving on-christelijk wil maken, is het zaak om alert te worden. Daarbij gaat het niet om een zorg dat het christelijk geloof en christelijke normen en waarden onder druk komen te staan of verdwijnen. Dat is een legitieme zorg. Het gaat om een retoriek, waardoor er een wij-zij-denken gecreëerd wordt, waarin andersdenkenden doelbewust beschuldigd worden van een belang om het christendom uit de samenleving te verdwijnen. Wanneer dat wij-zij-denken gepaard gaat met een idee om bepaalde plekken in de samenleving te domineren (omdat er een geestelijke strijd tegen demonen gevoerd moet worden), loopt de democratische samenleving gevaar: deze beweging heeft moeite met het accepteren van de democratie en moeite met het accepteren van een samenleving die multireligieus is geworden.

Boedy sluit daarom af met een appèl: ‘We moeten gemeenschappen creëeren, straat voor straat, kerk voor kerk, die in staat is om democratische elementen te voeden.

[Aymee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a strange twist of coincidence, I picked this book up the day after Charlie Kirk was shot, not knowing how big of a figure he'd be in this book.  In a lot of ways, this is a good thing.  I came into this without any preconceived notions and was able to get the facts of not just him, but of Turning Point USA and everything else with a fresh mind.  


The author does an excellent job of laying out the series of events in a way that makes sense.  He also excels at explaining things in a way that make sense without making the reader feel talked down to.  I was unaware of many of the events in this book, and I appreciated that this was a book to inform and educate as opposed to one that makes you feel less than for not having known prior.  

So many of the things happening in the world today - many of which have been happening for decades - suddenly make so much more sense.  The dumbification of American citizens, the attacks on media of all types, and why the need for a Biblical rule is necessary.  Not that I agree with any of these mandates, but that's not relevant.  What is relevant, however, is how slowly these mandates have seeped into our society, slowly enough that you almost don't notice until it's too late.  

After finishing this book, I felt more informed and more aware of how Christian Nationalism is working its way into our society, and that it has been for years.  I believe that this is important information that more people need to have, giving us all a better understanding of the people and the laws we vote for.  

*Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

[Vance Christiaanse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over half of the goodreads reviews of this book give it the highest rating. This indicates the author's success in applying the techniques he describes others using on his own readers. In this book, Boedy himself "reduce[s] public issues to good and evil" and suggests there is "a massive ... conspiracy in America". He has assembled an impressive and well-documented array of quotes. Each quote is presented as self-evidently disturbing. We are told how the person quoted is connected to other disturbing people or groups. Sometimes we get interesting gossip about the person quoted.

If you want to learn about important issues facing the US right now and what actual progress has been made by proponents of various positions, this is not the book for you. If you want juicy tidbits about MAGA craziness to impress or frighten your friends with over coffee, get this book immediately.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Boedy’s The Seven Mountains Mandate is a gripping and unsettling exploration of how religious language is being repurposed to legitimize authoritarian politics in the United States. What makes this book especially compelling is Boedy’s method: he allows figures like Charlie Kirk to indict themselves through their own words, meticulously documented and contextualized.

The sections on Turning Point USA are particularly fascinating. Boedy reveals how Kirk’s public persona—often defended as misunderstood or “taken out of context”—relies on repetition, grievance, and emotionally charged narratives rather than factual consistency. The sheer volume of sourced material makes it impossible to dismiss these patterns as accidental.

This is not a book about partisan disagreement; it’s about the manipulation of belief and identity. Boedy makes a persuasive case that Christian nationalism, as practiced by TPUSA and its allies, represents a sharp break from earlier expressions of American Christianity—and poses a serious challenge to democratic culture.

I blogged a longer form of this book at https://www.organicgranny.com if you would like to read a fuller version.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for the advance reader copy of this book.

TL:DR: this feels like an important intro to how Christian Nationalism has grown in the last few years, but you’ll still have to do some of your own homework.

For starters, these is a book that is clearly deeply researched, with sources littered throughout. As a result, this is probably a book that would benefit from a slow read through, with additional independent research done into the various people, places, and events referenced to really give a reader the full picture.

That said, even just reading through quickly over a couple of days I learned so much, about connections across various people and groups, clear strategies at play, and about how Conservative efforts so successfully get people on their bandwagon.

With Charlie Kirk so heavily featured in the media this week after his assassination, it was really interesting timing to read this book which largely centers he and his org, Turning Point USA. I was previously unaware of Kirk, and this provided a cool headed and factual account of his impact on current day culture and politics, which I found much better than just scrolling social media to see what my algorithm chose to tell me about him.

[Brian Rothbart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Boedy’s The Seven Mountains Mandate is a sharp, clear-eyed warning about an ideological campaign that too many Americans still underestimate. Boedy traces a decades-long strategy, popularly framed as the “seven mountains” (education, politics, religion, media, entertainment, family, business), showing how a mix of pastors, philanthropies, think tanks, and political operatives have worked methodically to capture cultural power and bend public institutions toward a theocratic vision. The book is tightly focused, well-documented, and written for readers who need both a primer and a call to action.

What sets Boedy’s account apart is the combination of scholarly attention and lived experience. He situates the movement historically back to Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham in the 1970s, and then brings the story up to the present, connecting the Seven Mountains idea to contemporary actors and programs that seek to institutionalize it. He pays particular attention to the networks that link evangelical influencers to political machines, including organizations that have targeted campuses and young people.

The book’s timeliness can’t be overstated. In the weeks since publication the national conversation shifted dramatically with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Boedy’s warnings about mythmaking, martyrdom narratives, and the political uses of faith feel painfully immediate. His examination of how leaders and followers interpret political setbacks or legal consequences as providential makes the book especially relevant in a moment when violence and grievance are being narrated as sacred duty by parts of the American right.

Boedy is also good at connecting the dots between propaganda, policy, and power. He documents how well-funded institutions and coordinated policy projects can translate a cultural theology into concrete political gains: staffing government, rewriting curricula, pressuring media, and normalizing rhetoric that blurs church/state lines. That case-making helps readers understand that Christian nationalism here is not merely a collection of fringe beliefs but a strategic program with institutional teeth.

There are places where readers might want more. Boedy’s focus is investigative and diagnostic rather than prescriptive: he terrifyingly catalogs the problem and explains how it operates, but readers seeking a detailed playbook for resistance might wish for a longer conclusion on concrete, scalable responses (what successful local coalitions look like, how to shield institutions, or strategies for persuasion across partisan lines).

A particularly alarming backdrop to Boedy’s argument is the political context of 2025: broad presidential pardons and commutations for those involved in the January 6 attack have, in the view of many legal and civic observers, elevated the sense among some extremists that political violence will be excused or vindicated, a development that feeds the very martyr and providential narratives Boedy warns against. This convergence of ideological organizing, institutional access, and high-level political clemency makes the stakes of Boedy’s argument concrete and urgent.

The Seven Mountains Mandate is an essential, accessible, and unnerving read for anyone concerned about the future of American democracy. Boedy gives us a map of how a theocratic program works in practice and why it matters now, and he compels readers to reckon with the fact that defending pluralism will not be passive work. If you value democratic institutions and religious liberty defined by freedom of conscience rather than political domination, this book should be on your reading list, and it should prod readers to organize, educate, and resist before the policies and narratives Boedy documents become further entrenched.

[Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily. NetGalley invited me to add this book to my ARC list on September 9, 2025. I began reading it that night. The next day, the main focus of the book, Influencer Charlie Kirk and his Turning Point organization, was assassinated.

I always concluded that the modern conservative movement towards Christian Nationalism began with the moral majority during the Ronald Reagan years. Yet, The Seven Mountains Mandate actually began several years before Reagan became President. The movement concentrates on seven parts of society in the United States and how they can take over. These “mountains” are:

Education
Government
Religion
Family
Business
Media
Entertainment
Over the years, as the movement spread, conservatives began to be more emboldened to say and do the most racist, bigoted, sexist, misogynistic, very un-Christian, outrageous things. They believe that secularism in society is evil. Many people believe that the “moral majority” believe that life in 1950s Eisenhower America was the pinnacle of society. But really, the movement’s focuses on life even further back in time, when women did not have the right to vote, when minorities were second-class citizens, or even back to the days of the enslaved.

Things really ratcheted up in 2008, when the Tea Party formed as an off-shoot of the Republican
Party. That was also the same year the U.S. Census Bureau said that by 2050, white people would be the minority class, being overtaken by all the minorities combined. That REALLY ticked off the uber-conservative middle-aged white men.

In 2012, teenager Charlie Kirk made a name for himself in conservative circles by railing against colleges because most institutions were, in his words, were bastions of liberal indoctrination. Famed conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh gave the kid his seal of approval, and soon Kirk was visiting campuses around the country, saying more and more controversial things. And people ate it up. (I’m not going to share any Kirk quotes because some people have done that and lost their jobs. Just look it up.)

By founding Turning Point, USA, Kirk could take donations from conservatives all over the country and continue to target the Gen Z crowd. What he talked about was, to some people, very un-Christian like. I’m paraphrasing here, but Kirk said that some people had to die every year by gunshot to protect the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, which was a God-given right. He also said the 19th Amendment, which allowed women the right to vote, should be repealed. He also said that the Civil Rights Act, which guaranteed Blacks the right to vote, was one of the worst decisions ever made.

The version of Christianity that Turning Point USA pushes is one of theocracy, not democracy. The people who support the organization were behind Project 2025, which is the playbook being used by the current administration. They’ve been worming their way into society as a whole for decades, and now they have the backing of the White House. The Seven Mountains Mandate is an interesting yet alarming book to read. But then again, it’s important to know thy enemy.

[August · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think, like a lot of other reviewers, I considered not providing feedback for this book specifically due to the timing of recent events. I received this book a day before the sudden assassination of Charlie Kirk. I was unaware until I started reading in early October that this book delves majorly into Turning Point's role in the Seven Mountains Movement, thus also talking at length about Kirk's contributions to the movement.
However, despite the unfortunate timing, this book is still an important read. It may shed criticism upon Kirk's work but he is not absolved of all wrongdoing just because he is gone. What he represented while he was alive cannot be ignored, especially as his work will likely continue with Turning Point & other charismatic leaders that follow him. Regardless of how his life ended, his legacy will continue. This book gives us a good insight into the impact Kirk and his followers have had on US politics & religion & how it will likely continue to do so.
This book is an overview of the seven spheres of culture that those of the Seven Mountains Movement want to take control of on behalf of evangelical, right-wing Christians. This includes: education, government, religion, family, business, media, & entertainment. Boedy breaks down the ways in which historically, a variety of individuals, organizations, churches, etc. have identified these areas & tried to gain control of them. We see the role in which Turning Point has bolstered Trump & his rise to power, the rise of conspiracy, & the focus on "traditional values" which attacks the most vulnerable groups. It's interesting to see how much this movement is interwoven into major players in US politics. The Seven Mountains Movement is one of many factors that got us here, but it gives a lot of insight on the motivations of many in politics today.
My one major gripe with this text is that it is packed with a lot of history, important figures, & current events all into one short text. As someone that reads a lot about the history of religion in America, this was a great overview text specifically regarding the Seven Mountains Movement & Turning Point's role in it. The drawback is that there were some things mentioned that were not sufficiently delved into. If you are someone unfamiliar with certain figures or events, you may be left in the dust. It serves as a decent overview but not a good primer if you are new to the topics at hand.

Thank you to Netgalley & to the publisher John Knox Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Tim Scanlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The release of this volume was a little ill-timed because it happened just when the book’s main subject, Charlie Kirk, was killed. (I refuse to list it as an “assassination,” as that suggests some celebrity or notability of the grifter sociopath that was Kirk).

First, the “seven mountains.” That was a “concept” that had been fostered years before Kirk’s entry into the limelight, by a bunch of “Christian nationalists” who are listed in the text. You may have heard of them in reference to the Project 2025 which has gained control of the regime of today’s alleged president. I was essentially a prescription to take over the culture via (1) education, (2) government, (3) religion, (4) family, (5) business, (6) media, and (7) entertainment (including sports).

By the way, that's not a spoiler asd they make up chapter titles of the text.

“The movement is intent on destroying democracy by taking dominion in these seven institutions...”

While the book is not written like a novel—I say that because I occasionally read a long text of a documentary or historical nature that I cannot put down—it’s quite detailed on how, for example, Kirk fit into that plan of some multi-millionaires, hence the “grift.” He died quite wealthy—with his widow selling merch at his “memorial service.”

In fact, I listen to a wonderful podcast from the United Kingdom the hosts of which are in awe at Kirk’s opportunism, having been adopted by those with money and influence to exert all the more influence via the fringe right.

“The organization’s [Turning Point] budgets exploded year after year. Since 2016 Turning Point as has raised roughly a quarter-billion dollars.”

I don’t want to enter any spoilers—there aren’t many—but I encourage many to read the book. We Yanks seem to be in need of heroes, so we stoop to naming highways for hatemongers, and suggest putting their statues in place of alleged esteem. Those of us on the side who are fully aware of the real Kirk need to be intellectually armed to represent our side. This text provides more than enough for that.

“...Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk emerged in this role because he has deep pockets and millions of followers.”

Of course, the object of Kirk’s organization is to claim that “Christians” are victims, and victimhood is the perpetual whine of today’s fringe right.

Arm yourself with the material in the book to help us all take on that political fringe which is finally starting to rot. And let ‘em rot all the more....

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of things that were difficult about this book.

For the overall concept, i'd give it like 4 stars. But the writing style, formatting, and execution... maybe like 2. So i tried to land somewhere in the middle with 3. There were a lot of oddly phrased sentences, and sometimes even just a single word choice that didn't sound natural. Once or twice i could understand, i don't know the author and what is natural to him... but several times, it feels forced like he went through a thesaurus and said, "Ah, this one sounds... intelligent."

It was also difficult because it just wasn't quite what i thought it'd be. A lot of history on the foundation of what the seven mountains are, and who "discovered" them. (There's also quite a bit of repetitiveness about these "founders"... see above.)

There are a lot of citations, which is great. I read a bit of non-fiction and i like when they cite sources at the end. However, some sentences would just include the info [author name, book/article title] and others cited it at the end...
"By 1980 in a book about humanism dedicated to Shaeffer, the conservative minister and later author of end-times novels Tim LaHaye warned that humanism had controlled America and if Christians didn't wake up, by the year 2000 it would control the world."
Then citation number 17 at the end.
The citation says simply, "Tim LaHaye, The Battle for the Mind"
He didn't even quote the book... it would have been much smoother to say the title of the book!

I was surprised at the lack of consistency with capitalizing white and Black when referring to people. He always capitalized white, but not always Black. [For why this is wrong, i recommend Jemar Tisby's book, "How to Fight Racism"]

[Steven Conger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the middle of reading The Seven Mountain Mandate when Charlie Kirk was brutally murdered, I have to admit, it forced me to put the book down for a time. Once I decided to pick it back up, I was able to read it in a new way, able to see the danger that Turning Point's modus operandi creates and how the murder of Kirk was a part of the system that they were creating.

I am a retired minister, having served for 40 years in churches both large and small. I was familiar with Bill Bright, but never was drawn to the Campus Crusade model. To be honest, I found that model distasteful and Matthew Brody identified many of those places where I moved into a different direction theologically.

What I appreciated about Brody’s work on explaining some of the backstory behind the current White Christian Nationalist movement, is that he kept it rather simple. Did he miss nuances that are there, absolutely, but this story was to paint the movement is a more accessible simple brush. There are other works that are more detailed and academic in explaining the rise of the Seven Mountain movement and how it is changing our democracy, but Brody’s is an excellent introduction.

Even saying that, this is not a book for the faint of heart. It is disturbing and may challenge many preconceived notions that we carry. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox press for an ARC for my unbiased opinion.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. I sometimes found this hard to read through, not because of it's content but because it has so much information that the information feels overwhelming as you're trying to absorb as much as possible but can and will lose your place as to how and what relates to anything. And I appreciate the notes as I had to look up some of it to double check it. And I appreciate that there is more information and dug up dirt that isn't always brought up in this book. But I do know for a casual reader most unless they are into politics/christian nationalism will feel out of depth and get overwhelmed with this book. And as for people who are into politics/christian nationalism it's still a hard read. I do reccomend using it for research though and for writing papers as it does have helpful insights. I recieved the book in the mail a month or so after Charlie Kirks death and he is mentioned frequently in this book because of how tied he is to it all. Overall it's not a bad book but more of a hard read regardless of whether it's because you loose your place like I did throughout the book or because you are not familiar with these topics.

[Jamie Cha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ebook from netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. I really like non - fiction and was excited to read this book. I like to better understand what is going on with the right. It was interesting to read more about Charlie Kirk, because after his death, he has been talked about so much.

I knew nothing about the seven mountains mandate. I know some about the very conservative. Most of this was new to me. Learning more about Charlie Kirk is interesting, since he has been in the news so much, after his death.

The chapters are small. The chapters are broken down more. It took me longer to read this book than usual. The subject matter is interesting but maddening. I want to know more about the conservatives and yet it still gets to me.

It's a good book for an education on Kirk and the Seven Mountains. It is something that might anger you. Yet, how can we fix the current political world if we don't understand what is happening on the other side?

Thank you to Netgalley and the author of this book for educating me. I appreciate it.

[Kelly Brill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minister colleagues of mine (in progressive mainline churches) are being asked in the midst of worship: "Are we going to pray for Charlie Kirk? Why didn't you mention Charlie Kirk in your prayers?" Matthew Boedy must be thinking that the timing of his book's publication is ironic...or perfect...depending on one's perspective. Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia, has become an expert on the influence of Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA. This book gives the historical background of the Seven Mountains Mandate, one of the pillars of white Christian nationalism. As in other books about the movement, Boedy's work details the interwoven work of figures like Rushdoony, Oliver North, Jerry Falwell, and many many others...once considered fringe, this movement now influences the highest levels of American government. An important piece of the puzzle. I received a digital copy of the book from Netgalley.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Seven Mountains Mandate was enlightening. The history of this movement is clearly defined throughout the book and Boedy did a great job doing his research into the subject matter. The timing of this book was written when Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, was alive and promoting their cause, and when I received this advanced review copy, he had just been killed. It is horrific to see such an act of violence on anyone, and when reading this book and seeing the undertones it presents regarding the Christian Nationalism movement, it is simply unnerving. I was very impressed with the level of detail, research & depth in this book and recommend it to all for consideration. This book shines an alarm on ideologies that are present in our country and democracy, and we should all be fully informed. Thank you to Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own

[Amanda Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Westminster John Knox Press for an ARC of this book.

Reading this book the week of Charlie Kirk's death was a surreal experience. I was five chapters in when he was killed. I had heard of Charlie Kirk and Turning Point before then, but I had not done a deep dive into the philosophy he was putting forth. This book is an excellent primer and dive into Christian nationalism, White Christianity, and the dangers they pose to our democracy.

Having been raised in a rural community with a Southern Baptist background, a lot of this was old news to me, but I have distanced myself from the community over the past two decades and missed quite a lot. (Bad for my knowledge of current events, great for my mental health.)

The Seven Mountains Mandate is a well-researched, thoughtful indictment of the dangers of White Christian Nationalism and should be of interest to anyone who is wondering how we got to where we are as a society.

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Education, family, religion, government, business, media, and entertainment: the Christian Nationalist plan is to dominate them all, to ensure that Christians enjoy privilege in the US. Turning Point, started in a garage by a then-teenage Charlie Kirk (discussed in this book in present tense because he died three weeks before this book was released) is a big reason why Trumpism is Christian Nationalist. It's important stuff to know, and this book gives a history that's easy to follow. I wrote a bit more on Medium. The publisher offers discussion guides for those who have book clubs.

[Ashley Tovar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s impossible to review this book without acknowledging the timing. The book was written in a time when Charlie Kirk was alive & will be released when he’s not. Considering Kirk & his organization discussed in detail in this book it feels very different than it would if he was still alive. That being said I was very impressed with the level of detail, research & depth here. It was condensed in an easy to follow way & I appreciate many of the points made. Definitely an important perspective regarding the future direction of our country.

Big thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this ARC. 

[Lindsey Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very relevant to our current political times and I think it’s important for people to read, especially if you’re somebody who is concerned about the implementation of project 2025. Much of this book is about Charlie Kirk and turning point USA but I don’t think that the importance of this book is diminished at all by Charlie Kirk’s death. Christian nationalism is being implemented in a way that is hidden behind conservative talking points and I think that many people supporting this administration may not realize what is going on behind the scenes and wouldn’t support it if they did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for sending me this book.

[Patricia Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting book about the Charlie Kirk and his way of thinking. it seems that he bends the conversation to whatever serves him. he follows the money to a good life. if I understand this concept correctly, one must become a "christian" and return to biblical times. if one does become "christian" they then can use whatever force to change their opponents mind, including the use of more money and/or guns. it is a slippery slope to force everyone to believe in this philosophy because it changes when the winds blows. find it hard to believe they believe Donald Trump was chosen by God to lead them back to biblical times when his man is essentially godless.