# C. Peter Wagner Charles Peter Wagner (1930–2016) is the **architect and chief theologian of the [[New Apostolic Reformation]]** — the man who gave the movement its name, its doctrinal framework, and much of its organizational scaffolding. A former Fuller Theological Seminary missiologist turned self-proclaimed "apostle," Wagner was the bridge figure who translated academic missiology, charismatic Pentecostalism, and dominion theology into a single coherent program: *restored apostles and prophets, exercising strategic-level spiritual warfare, taking dominion over the Seven Mountains of culture.* Every major NAR figure in the KB — [[Chuck Pierce]], [[Cindy Jacobs]], [[Dutch Sheets]], [[Che Ahn]], [[Lance Wallnau]] — either trained under Wagner directly, was commissioned by him, or built their ministry inside the networks he organized. Wagner is to the NAR what [[R.J. Rushdoony]] is to [[Christian Reconstructionism]]: the root node. ## Background - Born August 15, 1930, in New York City - BS from Rutgers, MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary, ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary, PhD from the University of Southern California - Missionary in Bolivia (1956–1971) with the South American Indian Mission and later the Andes Evangelical Mission - Professor of Church Growth at Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Mission (1971–2001) - Founded Global Harvest Ministries (later Global Spheres, Inc.) in 1993 - Relocated operations to the Wagner Leadership Institute, eventually merging into Chuck Pierce's Global Spheres in Corinth, Texas - Died October 21, 2016, in Colorado Springs ## The Three Waves Wagner's foundational framework — articulated in *The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit* (1988) — divided modern charismatic Christianity into three "waves": 1. **First Wave (1901–1960s)**: Classical Pentecostalism (Azusa Street, Assemblies of God) 2. **Second Wave (1960s–1980s)**: The Charismatic Renewal within mainline Protestant and Catholic churches 3. **Third Wave (1980s–present)**: A new move of the Spirit in which signs, wonders, prophecy, and apostolic authority would be restored *outside* the institutional Pentecostal and charismatic structures Wagner framed the Third Wave as the *culmination* of church history — the moment when Christ's church would finally be organized as the New Testament intended, with apostles and prophets governing and preparing the Bride of Christ for the final dominion. ## The New Apostolic Reformation (Named 1996) Wagner coined the term "New Apostolic Reformation" at a 1996 Fuller Seminary symposium. His core claims, elaborated across his ~70 books: - **[[Apostles]] are being restored today** as governmental office-holders with real supernatural authority — not just as "anyone on a mission" - **Prophets are being restored** as living revelators who can receive and declare God's current word to nations, cities, and leaders - **These offices are hierarchical**: apostles sit above prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists (per Ephesians 4:11) - **Apostolic networks replace denominations** — churches align under apostolic covering rather than denominational bureaucracy - **The church exists to take dominion**, not just to save souls Wagner organized this theology into institutional form through the **International Coalition of Apostles** (ICA, 2001) and the **Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders**. Both were effectively membership organizations for the self-credentialing apostolate he was calling into being. ## Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare Wagner's most consequential doctrinal innovation — and the one that most distinguishes NAR practice from ordinary evangelical or Pentecostal practice — was **Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW)**. Key tenets: - **Territorial spirits**: Specific demonic entities ("principalities") rule over specific geographic territories, cities, ethnic groups, and institutions - **Spiritual mapping**: Intercessors can research a region's history, identifying demonic strongholds (typically linked to Indigenous religion, Catholic/Marian devotion, Islam, or historical occult activity) - **Power encounters**: Apostolic intercessors engage these territorial demons in direct spiritual combat, "binding" them and opening the region to Christian revival - **"Transformation"**: Cities and nations "transformed" by successful SLSW would experience dramatic social change — crime dropping, economies reviving, political leaders converting Wagner's 1990s–2000s writings on SLSW were controversial even within evangelicalism; cessationist evangelicals rejected the whole framework, and even many charismatics found it eccentric. But SLSW became the *operational mode* of NAR politics — and the reason NAR intercessors see every political event as a literal demonic conflict to be fought with prayer declarations, anointing oil, shofars, and fasting. ## The Seven Mountains Adoption Wagner did not invent the [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] (that credit belongs to [[Bill Bright]] and Loren Cunningham, 1975), but he was the most influential figure in **fusing it with apostolic authority doctrine**. Under Wagner's synthesis, the Seven Mountains became not just a cultural strategy but the *assigned battlefield* of apostolic warfare. The result — articulated most forcefully by Wagner's disciple [[Lance Wallnau]] — was a theology in which taking the mountains of government, media, and education *was itself* the apostolic mandate. ## The Obama-to-Trump Pivot Wagner's political positioning shifted dramatically in the Obama era. Earlier in his career he kept formal politics at arm's length, framing dominion as cultural. During Obama's presidency, Wagner increasingly allowed his networks to frame political figures in spiritual-warfare terms. By the time of his 2016 death — shortly before Trump's election — the movement he founded had become the theological engine of Trump-era Christian nationalism, even if Wagner himself had not explicitly endorsed it. His successor in the Global Spheres network, [[Chuck Pierce]], fully embraced the Trump-prophecy tradition, as did Wagner's close collaborator [[Cindy Jacobs]]. Wagner's institutional inheritance is now indistinguishable from the Trump-adjacent NAR movement that dominates the [[ReAwaken America Tour]] circuit and the prophecy-broadcast economy. ## Why He Matters for the KB Wagner is the **institutional architect** of the movement that now supplies Trump-era Christian nationalism with its emotional operating system. Specifically: 1. **He named and defined the movement.** Before Wagner, the phenomena he described (apostles, territorial warfare, dominion) existed in scattered form. He organized them into a coherent theological system. 2. **He trained the operators.** The second-generation apostles who run the movement today — Pierce, Jacobs, Sheets, Ahn, Wallnau — learned their craft in Wagner's classrooms, conferences, and networks. 3. **He built the organizational model.** The "apostolic network" structure he pioneered is now the dominant form of fast-growing global Christianity, and it is the structural reason the NAR is so hard to counter: there is no corporate headquarters to target. 4. **He theologized dominion.** Wagner is the figure who most successfully welded charismatic Christianity to dominionism, giving the Seven Mountains framework its supernatural engine. ## See Also - [[New Apostolic Reformation]] - [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] - [[Third Wave of the Holy Spirit]] - [[New Apostolic Reformation Ecosystem]] - [[Chuck Pierce]] - [[Cindy Jacobs]] - [[Lance Wallnau]] - [[Global Spheres Inc]]