The Seven Mountains Mandate: The Latest in Christian Nationalism

On June 14, 2025, Vance Boelter assassinated Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman, along with her husband Mark, in their home. Boelter also shot and wounded Minnesota state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter Hope. Reporting on the perpetrator of these murders on a National Public Radio broadcast, commentator Odette Yousef noted (emphasis added):

We know that he graduated from a school in Texas called the Christ for the Nations Institute, which has put out a statement condemning the violence and saying it’s not what the school teaches. But the CFNI is considered to be a precursor to a movement that is now referred to as the New Apostolic Reformation. And we know that when Boelter was in Africa two years ago, he spoke during sermons about his belief in modern-day prophets and apostles in the U.S., and experts say this is distinct to NAR theology. And so, you know—now the NAR up until recently has been considered a fringe strand of the evangelical right. It’s a neo-charismatic expression of Christianity.¹

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) stresses a belief in modern day revelations, that God actively communicates new messages—beyond those written in the canon of the Christian scriptures—to believers. These modern-day apostles believe God is telling them they are charged with transforming society to create God’s kingdom on Earth; in other words, turning the United States into a theocracy in general and a Christian nation in particular. The NAR grew out of the Charismatic or Pentecostal movement. Charismatic Christians believe that the spiritual gifts (Gr. charisma) of the disciples, as narrated in the Book of Acts—speaking in tongues, healing by the laying on of hands, ability to work miracles and the gift of prophecy—are not only available to Christians today, but are in fact normative. That is, they expect to witness these manifestations of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis in their church services.

They expect to witness these manifestations of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis in their church services.

One of the main tenets of the New Apostolic Reformation that troubles many Christians is that since these new apostles and prophets of the NAR, by claiming to receive new revelations, believe they have a divine anointing. As such, these self-proclaimed new prophets might assert heretical ideas beyond what mainstream churches are willing to endorse. In this regard, consider Paula White-Cain, head of President Trump’s White House Office of Faith. As one of the leaders of the NAR, she has claimed an anointing giving her the ability to make things holy by her mere presence:

At The River Church in Tampa, Fla., Paula declared on stage, “Wherever I go, God rules. When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds. When I walked in The River, God walked in The River. When I go into the dry cleaners, that dry cleaning place becomes holy. I have every right and authority to declare the White House as holy ground because I was standing there and where I stand is holy.”²

The idea that places can be made holy extends even to objects, according to White: 

There have been times that I have taken prayer cloths that have been anointed as a point of contact. I put them in my loved one’s sneakers; I put them under their bed. I put them on parts of my body that I believe God for healing.³

Being among the anointed, White feels she has the power to pass divine blessings on to others:

On her website and social media, televangelist Paula White has a special offer for what she calls the “Passover season” when “your obedience to align yourself with the desires of God” can “release seven specific supernatural blessings for your body, your family, your finances and your future.”⁴

She further states:

I believe that when you honor God on Passover, starting on April 12, at sundown through Good Friday on the 18th, and concluding on Easter Sunday, you can receive these seven supernatural blessings for you and your house. According to Exodus 23, God will assign an angel to you. He’ll be an enemy to your enemies. He’ll give you prosperity. He’ll take sickness away from you. He will give you long life. He’ll bring increase in inheritance, and He’ll give a special year of blessing. You’re not doing this to get something, but you’re doing it in honor to God, realizing what you can receive.⁵

Of course, such blessings don’t come cheap. In the case of the Easter blessings above, the price is $1,000. If this seems a bit mercenary, consider Paula White’s own words, interspersed with bits of glossolalia at her “Unleashed” Conference on February 26, 2026:

I want $100,000 to come in. I want $100,000. There’s ten people who can give $10,000. There’s a hundred people who can give $10,000. Get a check. Make it payable to Paula White ministries. There are people who are watching now. If you say, “I don’t have it,” give a hundred dollars. This is the sacrificial seed. This isn’t for me. This is about kids who will die without you being obedient.⁶

Paula White’s selling of Easter blessings calls to mind the selling of papal indulgences that so incensed Martin Luther that he wrote his Ninety-five Theses in 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. The haranguing of her audience, and the demand that $100,000 be sent to Paula White Ministries, would seem to have more to do with wealth than worship. 

White’s mercenary bent, apparently part of her “anointing” via a new revelation, would seem in fact to be the latest version of what is known as the “prosperity gospel,” which teaches that one’s faith is divinely rewarded by financial blessings. This “new revelation” stands in stark contrast to the words of Jesus as stated in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes (Lk. 6:20): 

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Not only do the Christian scriptures argue that the poor are blessed and that poverty is not a symptom of God’s displeasure, but they also caution against striving for material wealth. Consider these passages from the Gospel of Matthew:

Mt. 6:19–21: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mt. 6:24: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Mt. 19:21–24: Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Intimately involved with the NAR is the Seven Mountains Mandate, which was founded in 1975 by two prominent evangelical leaders, Bill Bright (1921–2003). founder and leader of Campus Crusade for Christ, and Loren Cunningham (1935–2023) founder and leader of Youth With a Mission. Its initial aim was to influence seven key spheres of society.

The organization became more dominionist oriented after a meeting in 2000 between Cunningham and motivational speaker Lance Wallnau, and the 2013 publication of Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, by Wallnau and Bill Johnson, the leading pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. This is a charismatic megachurch with over 11,000 members.

The “Babylon” the title referred to is, of course, secular society. The seven “mountains” refers to seven spheres of society these evangelical, charismatic leaders wish to capture and rule. The seven are: (1) government, (2) church, (3) education, (4) family, (5) news media, (6) celebration (arts, music, theater, cinema and sports) and (7) business. 

It should come as no surprise that one of the main targets of these dominionists in the education mountain is the teaching of evolution. Here is a Facebook post by Wallnau on evolution (emphasis in the original):

EVOLUTION is losing and GOD is being rediscovered in science! That’s right - remember it’s called the THEORY of evolution and it is getting bombed and dismantled by scientists at the same time that Genesis creation account is emerging as the only logical option. This is HUGE folks.⁷

The intellectuals who reject faith are no longer able to prop up “survival of the fittest” rhetoric to slam religion. They can’t make the argument since the data says otherwise. This forces them to come up with an alternative and so two theories suggest that the driving force behind creation was … (wait for it), aliens from outer space. The other promising alternative is wrapped up in a rather complex version of modern Gnosticism that’s cooked up parallel universes. 

Both options seem to be a bigger leap of faith than just simply believing that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What’s hard to believe is that God created Pastors who deny Gods [sic] power to create. 

Since Wallnau doesn’t back up his assertions with supporting evidence in the post above, it’s impossible to tell how and by whom the theory of evolution is “getting bombed,” how “God is being rediscovered in science,” or which scientists, if any, are proposing that the evolution of life on Earth is being directed by aliens from outer space or that evolutionary theory is in any way connected with Gnosticism. This body of unsupported assertions would seem to be an expression of the usual creationist tactic of boldly declaring something as fact and setting up straw man arguments with the assumption that one’s certainty will not be challenged by the faithful.

We must remember that, in the spiritual warfare mindset of Christian dominionists, there are no neutral positions.

Advocating the teaching of creationism isn’t the only tactic the Seven Mountains Mandate uses to take over the “mountain” of education. Much more insidious are their attempts to dismantle public education. Speaking of this process as it was occurring in North Carolina in 2024, Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director of the North Carolina Council of Churches pointed out that, in North Carolina, public funding for vouchers and charter schools had, by that time, greatly increased, while public school funding in that state had stagnated:

By underfunding public schools, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy that public schools are struggling. Our teachers are unequipped; our buildings are in disrepair; our books are out of date; and the worse schools become, the more legislators can argue for charter schools and private school vouchers. The more money that goes to vouchers, the less there is for public schools, and the worse public schools become.⁸

Rev. Copeland also pointed out that the private schools in North Carolina benefiting most at the expense of public education were primarily conservative Christian schools that favored the teaching of creationism, did not teach sex education, and were opposed to any form of abortion, including the use of mifepristone in the early stages of pregnancy. 

Dr. Matthew Boedy of the University of North Georgia has made similar points, specifically about the Seven Mountains Mandate:

Significantly expanding voucher laws has allowed the Seven Mountains Mandate to punish public schools, and they wish to punish public schools for what they say is their curriculum, a secular, anti-Christian curriculum that’s indoctrinating students. The Seven Mountains Mandate movement wants to punish public schools by withholding millions of dollars from state coffers that would fund public education. But that’s not the only thing they want to do. They want to re-energize or re-Christianize public schools. Specifically, they want to add patriotic elements. These patriotic elements can be seen in the 1776 Commission that was started by President Donald Trump at the end of his first term.⁹

The words “1776 Commission” sound innocuous. However, historians overwhelmingly criticized the commission’s report, saying it was “filled with errors and partisan politics.”¹⁰ The commission was terminated by the successive President, Joe Biden and re-established by President Trump in January 2025.

Considering that the Seven Mountains Mandate obviously has an ideologically based curriculum in mind, one might wonder about the “secular anti-Christian curriculum that’s indoctrinating students,” against which Christian Nationalists are opposed. We must remember that, in the spiritual warfare mindset of Christian dominionists, there are no neutral positions. All ideas not specifically in the evangelical Christian camp, all thoughts not taken “captive to the obedience of Christ,” are seen to be of the enemy.

At the end of the progression of education are colleges and universities, and the Seven Mountains Mandate has targeted them, along with public schools: 

Wallnau also warned the movement would reform American universities: “The universities are the hotbed of resistance. Time to make them a priority of reformation. For real!”¹¹

By “reform” dominionists mean an end to pluralism and “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Closely aligned with control of education as effectively controlling society is control of the media, along with education, one of the seven mountains. The Mandate’s strategy for taking control of the broadcast media is twofold, as it is in education. That is to defund public broadcasting and attack mainstream media, while at the same time overlooking violations and errors on the part of their allies.¹²

While control of the media would logically extend to control of arts and entertainment, it wouldn’t seem to have anything to do with science and technology. However, Craig Nash, writing on the subject above, notes that the Seven Mountains Mandate’s increasing control of the media affects what the public perceives as scientifically valid.¹³ 

As noted by the National Library of Medicine, Christian nationalists are among those most strongly opposed to vaccination, as well as hygienic precautions against the spread of COVID-19:

Even before the pandemic, Christian nationalists expressed belief that as God’s chosen people, Americans will be protected and privileged if they uphold their identity as a Christian nation and biblical principles. Of course, this does not lend itself well to COVID-19 preventative healthcare measures. As Perry et al. note for Christian nationalists “the solution to the crisis is not to take behavioral precautions like handwashing, mask-wearing, or social distancing, but to increase America’s collective devotion, attending religious services and repenting of national sins (e.g., abortion, homosexuality, general lawlessness).” In fact, they find that Christian nationalists are less likely to take such precautionary measures and more likely to engage in incautious behaviors, such as attending gatherings with more than 10 people.¹⁴

Along with education and media, politics is, of course, one of the “mountains of influence” the Seven Mountains Mandate seeks to control. It is, in fact, perhaps the most important one. Politically, those of the Seven Mountains Mandate are fiercely loyal to Donald Trump. In 2023 Lance Wallnau even claimed that God’s wrath would descend on those politicians who opposed Trump:

Christian nationalist Lance Wallnau warns that God will soon start killing those who “have been standing in the path” of what God intends to accomplish through Trump: “It looks to me like there could be some sudden deaths coming in May.”¹⁵

Along with President Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R), has the support of and ties to the Christian Nationalist movement. This has been known as far back as 2023, when NPR reported on his relationship with several NAR leaders such as Pastor Jim Garlow, who hosted online prayer sessions for election integrity in the United States.¹⁶

Speaking of Johnson’s Christian Nationalist ties and their implications, Congressman Jared Huffman (D), member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, wrote:

Speaker Johnson is deeply connected in political practice and philosophy to Christian Nationalism, more so than any other Speaker in American history. He has spent decades working to deny, reject, and undermine the constitutional separation of church and state, including trafficking in fake histories about our nation’s founding and distorting the meaning of the Establishment Clause. He has spent much of his career trying to impose sectarian-based moral codes on others. He has a long record of opposing and undermining civil rights and liberties in the name of religion. And he has collaborated closely with hate groups and Christian Nationalist extremists to advance a theocratic agenda by transforming our pluralist constitutional republic into a “biblically sanctioned government.”¹⁷

Breaking down the separation of church and state is a major goal of Christian dominionists, since it stands as a legal barrier against a Christian Nationalist state with religiously based laws. One of their main tactics in attacking this separation to assert that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment only prohibits government from imposing a state religion and that it doesn’t prohibit the involvement of religion in government. They also point out that Thomas Jefferson’s assertion in his letter to the Danbury Baptists that there was a wall of separation between church and state did not have the force of constitutional law. 

In this latter assertion they are quite correct. However, there have been numerous Supreme Court rulings on the scope of the Establishment Clause. Most notable is the 1947 verdict in Everson v. Board of Education. In that ruling the Supreme Court broadly interpreted the Establishment Clause (emphasis added): 

The “establishment of religion” clause of the First Amendment means at least this: neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups, and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect “a wall of separation between church and State.”¹⁸

While various other Supreme Court decisions have modified this view in limited situations, this decision still stands with the force of Constitutional law.

Wallnau saw God’s wrath descending on those opposed to Donald Trump, which he derived directly from the spiritual warfare mindset of the NAR and the Seven Mountains Mandate:

In the NAR worldview, cultural change is not merely political or social but considered a supernatural mission; opponents are not simply wrong but possibly under the sway of demonic influence. Elections become spiritual battles.

This belief system views pluralism as weakness, compromise as betrayal, and coexistence as capitulation. Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank based in Somerville, Massachusetts, defines the Seven Mountains Mandate as “the theocratic idea that Christians are called by God to exercise dominion over every aspect of society by taking control of political and cultural institutions.”¹⁹

Thus, particularly in politics, those opposing the Seven Mountains Mandate cannot be viewed merely as opponents, but must be seen as enemies, and indeed enemies inspired and animated by Satan. The logical outcome of this kind of thinking was carried out by Vance Boelter when he assassinated Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and attempted to kill John and Yvette Hoffman and their daughter Hope.

Along with demolishing any and all secular authority, the theocratic state envisioned by Christian nationalists would suppress religious liberty in favor of fundamentalist Christianity, replace egalitarian views with patriarchy, deny access to broadcast media to all views but their own, use education to indoctrinate children as much as teach them, suppress all forms of artistic expression not explicitly fundamentalist Christian, and substitute religious dogma for science.

We would do well, as a matter of self-defense, to beware.