The Minnesota Tragedy And The NAR
Over the past several years, we’ve watched with growing concern as the influence of the so‑called New Apostolic Reformation—often abbreviated as NAR—has spread across churches, media, and even political movements. At first glance, it presents itself as a vibrant renewal: bold leaders, dramatic worship, prophetic fire. But beneath the energy lies a deep theological fracture—one that I believe poses a serious threat to the integrity of the Christian faith.
The heart of the problem is a radical redefinition of spiritual authority. The NAR claims that God has restored the office of apostle and prophet to govern the Church, not in a general or historic sense, but in very specific, modern hierarchies. These individuals claim fresh revelation, new mandates, and divine strategies that Christians are expected to obey without question. In practice, this places human authority above the Word of God. And that is no small matter. Once we replace the finality and sufficiency of Scripture with a person’s “word from the Lord,” we are no longer tethered to anything stable.
I’ve seen how this plays out pastorally. People are told that challenging these new “apostles” is tantamount to rebellion against God. Questions are silenced with claims of divine insight. Entire churches are reorganized not around the gospel or the sacraments, but around the charisma of a single leader. Accountability disappears. And with it, so often, does the gospel itself.
A second concern lies in the NAR’s emphasis on dominion theology, particularly through the so‑called Seven Mountain Mandate. This teaching insists that Christians are called to take control of the seven spheres of culture—government, education, media, business, and so on—as a prerequisite for Christ’s return. This isn’t just misguided; it’s a dangerous confusion of the Church’s mission. Jesus never called us to take over the world’s institutions. He called us to make disciples. To conflate political power with the Kingdom of God is to blur the line between Caesar and Christ, and the results are often catastrophic.
There’s also the matter of experience replacing doctrine. In the NAR, emotional highs and miraculous signs are often treated as the surest proof of God’s presence. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit—absolutely. But when gold dust and glory clouds take precedence over Scripture, when personal prophecy eclipses sound preaching, we risk falling into a kind of spiritual sensationalism that leaves people disoriented and, eventually, burned out.
I’ve sat with people wounded by this movement. Some were promised healing that never came and were told their faith wasn’t strong enough. Others gave sacrificially to “apostolic ministries” only to be manipulated and discarded. Still others were caught in a vortex of confusion, wondering why God seemed to favor leaders with private jets and television networks but had gone silent in their own lives.
And then came Minnesota on June 14, 2025: the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted murder of Senator John Hoffman and his wife—acts carried out by a man deeply influenced by harmful theologies. Vance Boelter, a self‑described evangelical pastor with anti‑abortion views and a private “apostolic” posture, executed a politically motivated hit list targeting liberal politicians. Even wearing a fake uniform, the actions were the tragic culmination of a theology that equates prophetic certainty with political violence. When the spiritual authority of a leader becomes fused with nationalistic and dominionist fervor, it doesn’t just distort doctrine—it invites real-world harm. This tragic episode bears witness to what happens when unchecked claims of spiritual commissioning are weaponized.
This isn’t what the Church is meant to be. The historic Christian faith is not a movement of spectacle or coercion. It is a community of Word and Sacrament, shaped by the cross, grounded in the Scriptures, accountable to one another, and led by shepherds who serve, not rule. The NAR flips that on its head.
And what grieves me most is that it often captures the spiritually hungry—the people most longing for God—only to give them stones instead of bread.
In the end, I believe the New Apostolic Reformation is not a reformation at all. It is, rather, a deformation—a distortion of the faith once delivered to the saints. We must, as always, return to the Scriptures. Return to the creeds. Return to the slow, quiet, faithful work of building the Church through love, truth, and the enduring grace of Christ.
Sick how those most imbedded in the NAR are the first to deny that NAR is a thing. Sick also that NAR-favoring media outlet CharismaNews hasn’t mentioned word one about the assassination.
BTW, this occurred in my home state and I am friends with someone who was in lockdown during the manhunt. I just cannot believe that supposed believers remain silent or give quiet approval of the killings.
Dan,
It was horrific on so many levels…found out this afternoon that he killed the dog as well.
Country justice would serve us well sometimes…
Michael,
You summed this regrettable mess up very well! All I could possibly add is just anecdotal:
The most gifted bible teacher I’d ever personally seen & heard, was somehow seduced by this new apostolic trash. I really respected the man, but put some distance between us over the unexpected turn.
He was already of a pronounced charismatic bent, and I guess that ‘over-emphasis on the spectacular’ opens one up to embracing fringe theology.
Dave,
This one is Duanes work…he writes better than I do.
I have a close friend as well who has fallen into this hole…sad to watch…
I started following these idiots back in the late 90s.
What saddens me is that lately they’ve been granted a lot more legitimacy. The fringe is going more mainstream.
Duane nailed it. Sadly, I doubt this is the end of the murdering. It’s open season on Dem. lawmakers.
“With the suspect accused of killing Minnesota’s Democratic house leader and her husband now in custody, investigators will have a long list of questions to ask about what the alleged shooter believes. The emerging biography of Vance Boelter suggests a partial answer, one that involves his contact with a charismatic Christian movement whose leaders speak of spiritual warfare, an army of God, and demon-possessed politicians, and which has already proved, during the January 6 insurrection, its ability to mobilize followers to act.”
Atlantic mag. headline:
The Minnesota Suspect’s Radical Spiritual World
Before Vance Boelter was accused of killing a Democratic state lawmaker, he had an active, even grandiose, religious life.
“Once we replace the finality and sufficiency of Scripture with a person’s “word from the Lord,” we are no longer tethered to anything stable.”
Agree. That’s basically what I’ve been arguing for here for weeks.
Bob 1
“The fringe is going more mainstream.”
That nails it in one sentence…
Jean
This goes way beyond textual criticism or interpretation. It resembles a militant Gnosticism in which the “secret knowledge” justifies any action…
Duane, agree.
We are mixing genres here.
Most of the NAR type churches claim to believe in inerrancy. That is not the issue here in the least.
No mixing, Josh. Why would you think that?
First belief from IHOP KC’s site:
“We believe that only the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired and, therefore, inerrant Word of God. The Bible is the final authority for all we believe and how we are to live.”
So claiming inerrancy keeps no one from goin off the rails. It still matters how the scripture is interpreted. LCMS and IHOPKC claim the same belief about the bible, but that leads them to two completely opposite applications.
Jean, the implication from your 7:47 last night is that once you leave inerrancy, you are open to these kind of interpretations.
It is a category error. The shooters church probably claims inerrancy. That is not at all the issue.
The interpretation of the Scriptures is the issue.
“The interpretation of the Scriptures is the issue.”
… And the nature and shape of authority.
Josh, you drew the wrong implication.
“LCMS and IHOPKC claim the same belief about the bible, but that leads them to two completely opposite applications.”
No they don’t. Although I am no longer in an LCMS church, I know their doctrine very well.
LCMS believes two other things that I quoted from Duane’s article: “finality and sufficiency of Scripture” IHOP doesn’t.
In fact – did a little digging, and here is the statement from the shooter’s actual home church:
“We believe the Bible to be the only inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, inerrant in its original manuscripts. The Bible has all authority over life and faith.”
It would be easier in this case to make the jump that inerrancy led to the shooting, but that is ludicrous and we wouldn’t do that. The opposite is even more ludicrous.
The truth is that Christianity divorced from the actual life and ministry of Jesus leads to violence.
Jean, in light of the article we are responding to, I don’t know how else to take your 7:47pm. If you want to explain it to me, I’ll listen.
“For authoritarians, spiritual warfare is a useful notion. Their political opponents aren’t simply misguided; they’re agents of the devil, and their humanity is questionable. Boelter’s Christianity did not force him to kill, but it did give him permission to act. And although he is accused of carrying out an assassination campaign by himself, he is not, in the broadest sense, alone.”
New York Magazine
Josh, What does this mean: “The truth is that Christianity divorced from the actual life and ministry of Jesus leads to violence.”?
You said further above: “The interpretation of the Scriptures is the issue.”
How do your two statements work together or conflict with one another?
A good overview of the movement and it’s alliances…
https://religiondispatches.org/we-should-not-be-shocked-that-the-alleged-minnesota-shooters-christian-school-is-connected-to-political-violence/
I could justify killing with a literal interpretation of some Old Testament passages. To do so, I’d have to ignore what Jesus taught and how he treated other people.
That’s the problem, often, with people who claim inerrancy and the the Bible is “God’s Word”. They flatten the whole thing out so that any one verse means just as much as any other verse and you come away with weird interpretations.
The case in hand is an anomaly. I’m not making the point that inerrancy leads to this.
Josh
My old seminary professor always used to say that “orthodox doctrine taken to its logical extreme ends up being heresy”…
https://theconversation.com/violent-extremists-like-the-minnesota-shooter-are-not-lone-wolves-259225
The big issue is that Boelter is not the eccentric lone wolf that some think he is. There are so many deranged beliefs floating around in many different circles that lead people to violent behavior that it could easily happen again. Our president makes statements about putting people in jail and that they should be dead. It has become a normative belief by many that certain kinds of people need to be killed to “improve” our society.
Hi Josh,
Again, the issue that the article gets at has to do with interpretation, not inerrancy.
However, I believe that the doctrine of inerrancy, is never the cause of heretical or heterodox theology. Bad interpretation or denial of inerrancy, can, but need not, cause heretical or heterodox theology.
Also, I should disclose that I am a full Trinitarian Christian. I believe that God is one and that the three persons of the Trinity all share one and the same essence. Therefore, I don’t see any daylight between God’s revelation of himself in the OT and God’s revelation of himself in the NT. Jesus said to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
I love that conversation, but it’s going to get off topic unless you have a tie-in with the article.
““Once we replace the finality and sufficiency of Scripture with a person’s “word from the Lord,” we are no longer tethered to anything stable.”
Agree. That’s basically what I’ve been arguing for here for weeks.”
Maybe flesh that out a bit. Because the conversation for weeks has been inerrancy.
Linn
As the one article says, “And although he is accused of carrying out an assassination campaign by himself, he is not, in the broadest sense, alone.” That should worry us…
“Once we replace the finality and sufficiency of Scripture with a person’s “word from the Lord,” we are no longer tethered to anything stable.”
When I wrote this I had in mind Luther and the Zwickau prophets; and Article 6 of the Anglican 39 Articles of Religion…
There is nothing new under the sun.
Just another repeat for a new generation seeking self worth and power.
Biblical illiterate people allow these men and women to reign supreme!
Calvary Chapel
Moses Model,
“I speak for God…”
Historically and biblically people give their power and freedom away…
Exodus 20:18-19
“All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.””
This is why we have “Supreme Leaders,” NAR, Mose Model Pastors, Elder Run churches, Popes and allow evil to dominate our lives.
Josh
“Maybe flesh that out a bit. Because the conversation for weeks has been inerrancy.”
That’s because most people’s idea of “inerrancy” is based upon what others tell them it means to be “inerrant.”
Where would you get your idea of “inerrancy”?
Josh
I used to be more accepting of institutions doctrinal statements, however found all as everyone’s flawed and erred.
What’s the alternative? Peaceful understanding of other’s opinions, that all they are, and application of the success and error of life and those who went before me.
The scripture were written by men, copies of copies, and fully represent the interaction of men and God. Are they without error? No, but there is no error in what they teach about living with God through faith in Him.
Josh,
You asked: “Maybe flesh that out a bit. Because the conversation for weeks has been inerrancy.”
Let’s begin with part of Duane’s article:
“These individuals claim fresh revelation, new mandates, and divine strategies that Christians are expected to obey without question. In practice, this places human authority above the Word of God. And that is no small matter. Once we replace the finality and sufficiency of Scripture with a person’s “word from the Lord,” we are no longer tethered to anything stable.”
I wholeheartedly agree. Notice two things: First, “Word of God” and “Scripture” are used interchangeably. I do the same.
If someone says, “The Scriptures are not the Word of God, they only contain the Word of God, we are then faced with the question of “Which parts are the Word of God?” Stability (or certainty) is compromised. So is sufficiency. Where do we go for the answer? One’s inner voice? A charismatic preacher or teacher? An academic scholar (who by the way may not even be a believer)?
Or when if someone says: If find the red letters of the NT more authoritative than the OT or Paul’s letters. Well, is he/she saying that I believe Jesus as recorded by Matthew more than I believe YHWH as recorded by Isaiah? Now we have a Christological and Trinitarian problem.
Or when if someone says: Scripture is not the Word of God, Christ is the Word of God. Well, what did John mean when he wrote in his Prologue: “In the beginning was the logos…. I don’t think the answer is an either/or but a both/and. Jesus is both the God-Man and the divine speech/expression/talk/message/words recorded on scrolls by men divinely inspired to record him.
Back to you.
I am so bored with this…
I’m cranky as hell so I’ll just start by saying that Trump supporters arguing for inerrancy is an odd combination.
No, I don’t care if that makes someone mad.
The reality is that everyone interprets the Scriptures no matter what their view on inerrancy is.
It’s in the interpretations that nutcases emerge…or creedal fidelity.
When I ask Duane a theological question we discuss the appropriate scriptures, the history of interpretation, and the tradition of our church, as well as other factors.
He suggests resources…and we talk about those as well.
We usually don’t end up with dogma, but with possibilities…and more questions.
May God bless all with that sort of teacher.
” It has become a normative belief by many that certain kinds of people need to be killed to “improve” our society.”
That’s what happened when Brian Thompson (HealthNet CEO) was killed and his death was celebrated by the far left.
If the crazies think that at least half the country will cheer them on and raise money for their defense, the crazies will do violent things.
Correction: UnitedHealthcare, not HealthNet
“We usually don’t end up with dogma, but with possibilities…and more questions.”
And that is what should happen with faith in God.
Thank you!
Note:
There has been and will always be people who commit crimes and murder. Deal with them in justice.