Matthew Boedy
The Seven Mountains Mandate
Professor of rhetoric, author, and former journalist
Gainesville, GA
BOOK COVER
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: September 30, 2025
Genre: Religion
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Page Count: 226
Format, ISBN, Price:
Paperback, 9780664269210, $25.00
ABOUT THE BOOK
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 nation:
- Education
- Government
- Religion
- Family
- Business
- Media
- Entertainment
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 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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Boedy has written for many publications and authored three books. He’s appeared on CNN and MSNBC and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media outlets.
He has been a leader in faculty organizing since 2020 as president of the Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors, a national higher education advocacy group.
He completed his Ph.D. in English in 2015 at the University of South Carolina where he also received in 2010 a master’s in creative writing. He most prizes his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2001 from the University of Florida and his work at the campus newspaper, the Independent Florida Alligator.
He is a full professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia. He researches and writes about religious rhetoric, particularly in the last few years about the rise of Christian Nationalism.
He was once a crime reporter and high school teacher. He resides with his wife and two daughters in Gainesville, Georgia. He can be reached on social media under @matthewboedy or at inbox at matthewboedy dot com.
TALKING POINTS
- Please discuss the origins of the Seven Mountains movement.
- Is there a connection between the Seven Mountains Mandate and Project 2025?
- How, when and why did you get interested in this subject matter?
- Does your research have a bearing on your faith?
- Who are some of the Christian spokespeople that are having an impact and standing up to Christian Nationalism?
- Is there a unified view among evangelical Christians regarding the tenets of the Mandate?
- What is Turning Point?
- How can people of Christian faith get involved in the case to preserve democracy?
PRAISE
“Gifted at translating the Seven Mountains Mandate into its political and social realities, Boedy illustrates how this transformative doctrine affects the lives of believers and nonbelievers alike.”
—Elle Hardy, journalist and author of Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World
“Matthew Boedy offers a vital and incisive account of how dominionist ideology has saturated the political imagination of much of American evangelicalism. As a pastor who has spent years navigating the fallout of Christian nationalism in my congregation and community, I’m deeply grateful for Boedy’s clarity, scholarship, and moral courage. This book is a needed resource for those seeking to faithfully resist the powers that would co-opt the way of Jesus for political domination.”
—Rev. Caleb E. Campbell, author of Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor
“We cannot change where we’re going without knowing where we’ve been, which is why Matthew Boedy’s work is so vitally important. With expertise and candor, Boedy illuminates the history of theocracy and anti-democracy in this country that has too often hidden underneath a thin veneer of Christian rhetoric. This book is especially important as we attempt to navigate our way through Trump’s second administration and push back against the onslaught of Christian Nationalism.”
—Zach W. Lambert, pastor of Restore Church in Austin, Texas, and author of Better Ways to Read the Bible
“The Seven Mountains Mandate masterfully charts the current struggle for the American soul. Through his lucid writing and meticulous research, Matthew Boedy details the rightwing crusade to impose Christian control over government, family, religion, education, business, media, and entertainment. Is that possible? In 2024, the movement behind the mandate, decades in the making, overcame theological and denominational differences to help elect President Donald Trump. Now, with the White House on their side, activists like Charlie Kirk on the march, and Fox News creating their own reality, supporters of the Seven Mountains Mandate are on their way to, as Boedy fears, Christianizing America and destroying democracy. If you want to understand the who, what, why, when, where and how of white Christian nationalism, The Seven Mountains Mandate is where to start.”
—Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California
“A sobering assessment of the evolution of Christian nationalism.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Boedy, a professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia, provides a succinct, readable overview of 7MM [the Seven Mountain Movement] and…highlighting the role of Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA (TPUSA)—the nation’s preeminent conservative youth organization—in making 7MM ‘the central organizing element of the Trump era’ and thereby bringing us to ‘the precipice of the destruction of our democracy.’”
– Spectrum Magazine
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Christian Inspirational
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1647429003
Price: $15.99
