Spiritual Warfare and the Politics of Conquest in the Age of Trump

Spiritual Warfare and the Politics of Conquest in the Age of Trump

By André Gagné

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Keywords: Spiritual Warfare, Neocharismatic-Pentecostals, Territorial Spirits, C. Peter Wagner, Jezebel, New Apostolic Reformation

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In this short paper, I will attempt to explain how a subset of influential evangelicals, whom I refer to as Neocharismatic-Pentecostals (NCPs), seem to envision their role following Trump’s reelection in 2024. For NCPs, the Trump years have mainly been about Spiritual Warfare, and this will continue. They have managed to mainstream the idea of Spiritual Warfare to the extent that it has become the new “rapture” of American culture. Even Tucker Carlson claimed to have been assaulted by demons.[1]

Spiritual Warfare has always been a Christian idea. There are several stories and texts in the Bible that reference Spiritual Warfare, such as the famous New Testament reference of Ephesians 6:12.[2] But the aggressive stance against perceived spiritual and physical external threats, such as political adversaries and social institutions, is not how early Christians understood Spiritual Warfare.

In any case, there has been an uptick in the use of Spiritual Warfare language in American politics. Among U.S. Christians, many believe there is a “metaphysical plot” against the Church in America. They view their spiritual struggle in metaphysical terms, where evil spirits are thought to play a role in a country’s political, social, and cultural life. It is even suggested that demonic forces significantly influence the residents of specific regions—the idea of territorial spirits. According to a survey by Matthew D. Taylor and Paul A. Djupe in January 2024,[3] 78.2% of NCPs who self-identify as evangelicals claimed that “there are demonic ‘principalities’ and ‘powers’ who control physical territories.” Additionally, 66% of self-identified evangelicals agreed with the statement that the Church should organize campaigns of Spiritual Warfare and prayer to displace high-level demons. This worldview has led to the demonization of individuals and political communities.

Spiritual Warfare Practitioners and Antidemocratic/Illiberal Impulses

In November 2020, immediately following the U.S. presidential election, many witnessed the antidemocratic and illiberal stance of certain Spiritual Warfare practitioners. For example, Paula White-Cain, who was known as Trump’s “spiritual advisor,” and her son, Bradley Knight, a pastor at the City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, organized “prayer for the nation” meetings. There, Knight and White-Cain led prayers against the “enemies of God,” specifically Trump’s political opponents and those who opposed White-Cain and her followers. Knight offered this imprecatory prayer:

Right now, everything in opposition to that must fall. Everything in opposition to Paula White-Cain must fall. Everything in opposition to Bradley Knight must fall. Everything in opposition to this house and the people in it must fall. And God, we standing here knowing that it will, also speak against that which has risen up against America. And that everything that has come in opposition to the man that you have chosen, the man that you have elected, the man that your hand is behind, the man that you’re pleased with, the man that you pulled out of the midst of darkness and elevated, the man who made a mockery of the things of this world. And will do it again. God, we call you out now, and nothing against him shall prosper. Nothing that rises against him shall succeed.[4]

Knight also said: “God, I don’t care about democracy, I only care about you.” In later meetings, Knight continued the series of imprecatory prayers, freely quoting from Psalm 2:7-9, which refers to God begetting the king of Israel and making him his “son”—likely a reference to King David:

I will tell a decree the Lord has said to me, “You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations of your heritage.” God, we ask of you now. We ask of you now, God, make the nations our heritage. Make the nations Paula White-Cain and Jonathan Cain’s heritage, God. […] Make the ends of the Earth our possession, God. God, everyone who has risen against us, everyone who mocks us, everyone who has power, everyone who thinks they have victory because they’ve plotted, every will even within the church […] if their will is not aligned with you, God, break it, God. Don’t even hear their prayers and nullify their cries. […] and break them with a rod of iron. Dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.[5]

This royal psalm portrays the king as representing God in a political leadership role, suggesting a theocratic mode of governance. But Knight applied this biblical text to himself, Paula White-Cain,and Jonathan Cain, suggesting that God would give them the nations as an inheritance. In addition to inheriting the nations, Psalm 2 states that the king of Israel receives subversive power over them from God: “You will break them with a rod of iron, you will shatter them like a potter’s vessel” (see Psalm 2:8-9). Knight’s interpretation was clearly aimed at his political opponents in the U.S., and in his prayer, he called for the “rod of iron” to be used as an instrument of divine judgment. The “rod of iron” is an image of violence and subjugation by force, against all that opposes the divine will. In fact, this biblical imagery is used even in the New Testament (the Christian Bible) in a context of theocratic governance and dominion, where Jesus and his followers will one day rule the nations with a “rod of iron” (see Revelation 2:26-27; 12:5; 19:15). Knight appropriated this theocratic decree, in the hope that God would simply overturn the 2020 election.

More recently, Lance Wallnau, a Pentecostal businessman and today’s most prominent New Apostolic Reformation leader and promoter of the Seven Mountain Mandate,[6] claimed that Kamala Harris’ current political success, as well as her attempts “to emasculate a man (Trump) who is standing for the truth,” is due to the demonic and witchcraft influence of a “Jezebel spirit.”[7] In the Bible, Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. She is described as an idolater who successfully uses her seductive powers to establish herself in the political sphere. Jezebel ordered the assassination of several people, some of whom were God’s prophets in Israel.[8] In the New Testament, she is mentioned as a woman suspected of being a false prophetess, practicing idolatry, and indulging in sexual immorality (Revelation 2:20). To understand better what Jezebel means for Spiritual Warfare practitioners like Wallnau, one can turn to Michael Brown’s 2019 book entitled Jezebel’s War with America, where he claims that Jezebel is a demonic force present in America today:

In twenty-first-century America, Jezebel is not a person. But it’s as if the spirit of Jezebel is alive again today. The influence of the same demonic force is being felt in the massive increase of pornography and sexual temptation, the militant spirit of abortion, the rise of radical feminism, and most importantly, in the attempt to silence prophetic voices. Just as Jezebel clashed with strong men almost three thousand years ago, the demonic spirit of Jezebel is powerful in America, and it is going after the church.[9]

The use of the Jezebel figure by prominent NCP figures is quite common.[10] For instance, Paula White-Cain prayed during a meeting at her church in Florida in January 2020, asking that “every surprise from the witchcraft and the marine kingdom. Any hex, any spell, any witchcraft, any spirit of control, any Jezebel” and “the woman that rides upon the waters” would be cancelled and cursed in the name of Jesus. In this instance, White-Cain associates Jezebel with witchcraft, similarly to how Wallnau associated Kamala Harris with it. As for the “woman that rides upon the waters,” it alludes to the image of the whore of Babylon “who sits on many waters,” as described in Revelation 17:1. Additionally, it refers to the marine or water spirit called Maame Wata in Ghanaian neo-Pentecostal circles, a spirit depicted as having a female upper body with the tail of a fish. Also referred to the “Queen of the Coast,” Maame Wata is sometimes associated with the spirit of Jezebel.[11]

For these Spiritual Warfare enthusiasts, Harris is under the control of this spirit, which seeks to prevent Trump from regaining access to the White House. Meanwhile, some NCPs view Trump as a modern-day “Jehu” figure.[12] In the biblical account, King Jehu kills Jezebel and purges the land from idolatry (1 Kings 9–10). These spiritual warriors consider themselves to be engaged in a battle against demonic forces for the soul of America; NCPs believe that Trump will be used by God, like Jehu of old, to eradicate the “spirit of Jezebel,” which they associate with Kamala Harris.

The Roots of Political Spiritual Warfare

Popular writings and influential people shaped today’s spiritual warfare practices in the U.S. For example, Neil T. Anderson’s book Victory Over Darkness[13] and Ed Murphy’s Handbook for Spiritual Warfare[14] mainly emphasized the personal dimension of Spiritual Warfare, where Christians can experience a victorious life in Christ and against sin. In the mid-1980s, Frank Peretti’s 1986 novel This Present Darkness[15] and its 1989 sequel Piercing the Darkness[16] captivated readers with ideas of Spiritual Warfare, where angels and demons struggle for the souls of individuals in college towns called Ashton and Bacon’s Corner. Here, in a fictionalized story, one encounters the idea of territorial spirits waging war against believers.

C. Peter Wagner argued that the depiction of Spiritual Warfare in Peretti’s books was inspirational. He wrote that Petretti’s novels were “the single-most influential event that… stimulated interest in strategic-level spiritual warfare among American Christians.”[17] Wagner was a missionary and seminary professor and the primary catalyst for what he called the “New Apostolic Reformation” in the U.S., a neo-charismatic ecclesiology based on apostolic governance. He passed away in October 2016. Wagner was enthralled with Spiritual Warfare, writing a dozen books on the topic. The type of politicized Spiritual Warfare we hear today is a direct result of Wagner’s systematic demonology. According to Wagner, practitioners of Spiritual Warfare need to carefully discern three levels of demonic activity: (1) Ground-level, (2) Occult-level, and (3) Strategic-level.[18] Ground-level Spiritual Warfare focuses on the practice of exorcism, where some individuals are believed to have the ability to cast out demons. Occult-level Spiritual Warfare involves a confrontation with demonic forces that inspire practices such as Shamanism, Yoga, Witchcraft, Satanism, etc. Many evangelicals categorize these activities as occult practices. Strategic-level Spiritual Warfare is concerned with battling a hierarchy of high-ranking demonic spirits, as described in Ephesians 6:12. These entities are understood to exert control over nations, cities, groups of people, neighborhoods, and global networks. Wagner refers to this third level as that of “territorial spirits.” The rationale for this view is based on a speculative interpretation of certain biblical texts,[19] which are elaborated upon in several of Wagner’s books.[20]

In the American context, the mapping of the Neocharismatic-Pentecostal paradigm for Spiritual Warfare is attributed to Wagner. However, the mainstreaming of Spiritual Warfare was done by Paula White-Cain, due to her prominence during Trump’s first term as president.

What’s Next for Spiritual Warfare Practitioners?

After Trump’s victory in November 2024, there is certain to be an intensification of Spiritual Warfare. Wallnau, one of the top Spiritual Warfare promoters, said that if Trump wins the election, there would be “instantaneous manifestations of demons all over across the country,”[21] and that “a new chapter of the spirit wars” would break out.[22] Some of the prophets and apostles hosted on the popular FlashPoint show claimed that even if Trump won, it was not time to relent. For apostles Ché Ahn and Dutch Sheets, things are just getting started, and Prophet Hank Kunneman said that it was now “time for the kings (i.e., Christians) to go out to battle.”[23] Their idea of spiritual conquest is aligned to Old Testament war narratives like that of the conquering of the Promised Land. In the Book of Joshua, the ancient Israelites were given a land, but they still had to battle and uproot so-called “giants.” For these modern-day Spiritual Warriors, America is their “Promised Land,” and their political enemies (i.e., Democrats and RINOs) and “nonaligned Christians” are the “giants” to be uprooted. The battle against nonaligned Christians and organizations (people who hold different views from those of Spiritual Warfare enthusiasts) has already begun.

Commenting on an article by Christianity Today (CT) critical of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Wallnau qualified the flagship magazine of evangelicals as “garbage.”[24] He had also labeled CT as having a “religious spirit.”[25] This is the same Spiritual Warfare trope used by C. Peter Wagner, who said, “The spirit of religion is an agent of Satan to prevent change and to maintain the status quo (in the church).”[26] Wallnau is priming his followers to turn against Christians outside their tribe.

Conclusion

When the identity of a religious group—which was once the majority—is threatened, Spiritual Warfare as a tool to delegitimize political opponents is an option to which some of the group’s leaders have resorted. Modern-day Spiritual Warfare enthusiasts have now weaponized their religion. In reality, they have resorted to struggling “against flesh and blood”; there, one notices a slippage from spiritual enemies to natural ones, with a shift from “supernatural entities” to physical adversaries, where the forces of evil are amalgamated with their political and cultural enemies. Moreover, for many of them, to do this is to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth, beginning with America. Their goal is to push back against what they envision to be persecution of Christians, as well as their loss of social status.

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[1] On Carlson’s story about being attacked by demons, see Edward Helmore, “Tucker Carlson claims a ‘demon’ attack left him bleeding in bed,” The Guardian, November 1, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/01/tucker-carlson-demon-attack

[2] Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (King James Version).

[3] See Matthew D. Taylor and Paul Djupe, “How Trumpism has pushed a fringe charismatic theology into the mainstream,” Religion News Service, May 6, 2024, https://religionnews.com/2024/05/06/how-trumpism-has-pushed-a-fringe-charismatic-theology-into-the-mainstream/

[4] Peter Montgomery, “White House Aide Paula White Calls on God and His Followers to Fight to Keep Trump in Office,” People for the American Way: Right Wing Watch, November 6, 2020, https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/white-house-aide-paula-white-calls-on-god-and-his-followers-to-fight-to-keep-trump-in-office/

[5] See Peter Montgomery, “Paula White Asks God to Override ‘Will of Man’ and Keep Trump in Office; Her Son Urges God to Bring ‘Rage’ and ‘Fury’ Against Those Who Resist Him,” People for the American Way: Right Wing Watch, November 6, 2020, https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/paula-white-asks-god-to-override-will-of-man-and-keep-trump-in-office-her-son-urges-god-to-bring-rage-and-fury-against-those-who-resist-him/

[6] The “Seven Mountains” are understood as representing 7 spheres of cultural influence: arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media, and religion.

[7] Wallnau’s comments were made on Fire Power, Tom Coconato. “Will Trump Win?” YouTube, September 11, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/live/IG8-LoqLfXg?si=N8q4KLx4Dr7XQSDZ&t=315    

[8] See 1 Kings 16–20.

[9] The description is found on the back cover of his book Jezebel’s War with America: The Plot to Destroy Our Country and What You Can Do to Defeat It.

[10] For a more in-depth analysis of the use of the Jezebel figure, see André Gagné, American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare and the End Times (Milton Park: Routledge, 2024), 47-50.

[11] It is not surprising that White-Cain would be influenced by a Ghanaian neo-Pentecostal trope connecting Jezebel to the Queen of the Coast since Ghanaian Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-William is White-Cain’s “spiritual father.” See: Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. African Charismatics. Current Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana (Studies of Religion in Africa: Supplements to the Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. 27), (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 171-2.

[12] See Jennifer LeClaire Ministries, “Jonathan Cahn Prophesies ‘Jehu’ Destiny Over Donald Trump,” YouTube, November 5, 2024, https://youtu.be/nqvbFfgQitI?si=OHnbmfhSiuw3v7mu

[13] Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ (Raleigh: Regal Books, 1990).

[14] Ed Murphy, Handbook for Spiritual Warfare (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992).

[15] Frank Peretti, This Present Darkness (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1986).

[16] Frank Peretti, Piercing the Darkness (Saint Louis: Turtleback Books, 1989).

[17] C. P. Wagner, Warfare Prayer (Raleigh: Regal Books, 1992), 19. In another instance, Wagner wrote that he was “grateful for Frank Peretti who, through his fiction, raised many questions in the minds of Christians across the theological spectrum in the 1980s… that God providentially used him to prepare the way for insights about strategic-level spiritual warfare,” see C. P. Wagner, Confronting the Powers (Raleigh: Regal Books, 1992), 74.

[18] For more on Wagner’s view of Spiritual Warfare, see Gagné, American Evangelicals for Trump, 54-6.

[19] For instance, Deuteronomy 32:8 and Daniel 10:20.

[20] Some examples from Wagner’s many books are Wrestling with Dark Angels (1990), Churches that Pray (Raleigh: Regal Books, 1993), and Praying with Power (Raleigh: Regal Books, 1997).

[21] Kyle Mantyla, “Lance Wallnau Warns Of ‘Manifestations of Demons’ If Trump Wins,” People for the American Way: Right Wing Watch, October 24, 2024, https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/lance-wallnau-warns-manifestations-demons-if-trump-wins

[22] See his tweet on X: Lance Wallnau, “I will do Election Night Live Coverage,” X (formerly Twitter), November 5, 2024, https://x.com/lancewallnau/status/1853756318512800150

[23] See News and Analysis, “Dominionists Celebrate Trump’s ‘Miracle’ Victory: ‘We’re Just Getting Started,’” People for the American Way: Right Wing Watch, November 8, 2024, https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/dominionists-celebrate-trumps-miracle-victory-were-just-getting-started

[24] Lance Wallnau, “Christianity Today is garbage,” X (formerly Twitter), November 10, 2024, https://x.com/lancewallnau/status/1855506461029204054

[25] Lance Wallnau, “Religious Spirit,” X (formerly Twitter), November 10, 2024, https://x.com/lancewallnau/status/1852230390225998044

[26] C. P. Wagner, “The Corporate Spirit of Religion,” in Freedom from the Religious Spirit, ed. C. P. Wagner (Ada: Chosen Books, 2005), 12.