The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a loose network of churches, ministries, and individuals who believe that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of prophet and apostle. The movement emerged from the independent charismatic movement in the 1990s and has no formal organization or membership.
Some key beliefs of NAR followers include:
- God is actively raising up modern day apostles and prophets.
- These apostles and prophets are meant to provide new revelations, teachings, and strategies to equip the church for the end times.
- The church must come together under the new apostles and prophets to take dominion over earthly kingdoms and establish the Kingdom of God here and now.
- Certain supernatural signs and wonders like faith healing, prophesying, and speaking in tongues will accompany this end times revival.
Prominent leaders associated with NAR include C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Lou Engle, and Bill Johnson. Critics argue some NAR teachings overemphasize spiritual gifts, revelations, and authority of new apostles in unbiblical ways.
Origins of the New Apostolic Reformation
The New Apostolic Reformation has its roots in the independent charismatic movement which started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This movement promoted continuationist beliefs in the ongoing miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit like prophecy, tongues, and healing.
In the 1980s and 1990s, leading ministers such as Peter Wagner, Bill Hamon, and Mike Bickle began teaching that God was restoring the roles of apostle and prophet in the modern church. They drew primarily from Ephesians 4:11-13 which says that Jesus gave various leadership offices including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers for works of ministry.
Wagner and others claimed that the prophets and apostles had been lost after the time of the original Twelve apostles. But now God was rebuilding the foundations of the church government by bringing back these offices. Apostles were being uniquely commissioned by God to lead the church into the end times revival.
These ideas were popularized through networks like the New Apostolic Roundtable, founded by Wagner in the early 2000s to promote NAR teachings. The movement never formed a centralized denomination but spread rapidly through independent media, conferences, mission organizations and church networks.
Core Beliefs of the New Apostolic Reformation
The New Apostolic Reformation being a fairly decentralized movement has no official creed or common confession of faith. Adherents come from various theological streams like Pentecostalism, charismatic evangelicalism, dominion theology, and parts of the house church movement.
Yet severalrecurring themes can be seen in the teachings of leading apostles and prophets associated with NAR:
1. Apostles and Prophets for the End Times
The foundational teaching of the NAR is that God is currently restoring the governmental offices of apostle and prophet in the church. Adherents believe that after the original Twelve apostles, these offices ceased for almost 19 centuries. The church must now open up again to the possibility of modern-day apostolic ministry according to teachers like Peter Wagner:
“God began restoring prophets back to the Church beginning with men like Edward Irving and John Alexander Dowie in the early 1900s, and then again after 1948 when prophets like William Branham and Sam Fife emerged. God began restoring apostles back to the Church beginning with men like A.W. Hill, Fred Poole, and Frank Wimberley again in the early 1900s, and then again after 1948 with men like Ernest Gentile, Nicholas Bhengu and Ronald Bell.” (Wagner, Apostles and Prophets)
These new apostles and prophets hold a foundational role in NAR ecclesiology. Their teachings, prophecies, and strategies are meant to equip the church to function properly and bring about the Kingdom of God on earth. Adherents believe following modern apostles is necessary for the great end time harvest of souls.
2. Dominion Mandate
Drawing from Genesis 1:28, NAR teachers proclaim a dominion mandate for the church to retake control of the earth from Satan and his forces before Christ’s return. Spiritual warfare, signs and wonders, and unified prayer are important tools to make disciples of nations and transform society.
As apostle C. Peter Wagner states:
“Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is to do whatever is necessary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to retake the dominion of God’s creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing less than seeing God’s kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.” (Wagner, Dominion!)
The church must prepare the world for Jesus’ return by bringing all secular institutions like politics, media, arts, education, and economics under Christ’s authority.
3. Five-fold Ministry
To facilitate this end times revival, NAR teachers urge recognizing the five ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4 – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Of these, apostles and prophets are foundational offices meant to guide the church into unity and maturity.
Apostles are often said to function like generals overseeing spiritual warfare while prophets intercede and prophesy strategy. The other offices like pastor and teacher come under their authority as the church mobilizes to manifest Christ’s kingdom.
4. Supernatural Signs and Wonders
NAR adherents believe that apostles and prophets will be accompanied by supernatural signs and wonders like healings, prophecies, visions, and miracles. These validate the genuineness of their ministry. Leaders emphasize impartation of spiritual gifts by the laying on of hands.
As prophet Bill Hamon shares:
“We must not stop with resting upon seeing the marvels and miracles of God’s supernatural power being demonstrated in our meetings today. We must go on to the restoration of all the ministry gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit as they were being manifested through the first-century apostles and prophets! We must receive modern-day apostles and prophets who are being sent by our exalted Head, Jesus Christ, beginning the historic restoration of apostles and prophets back to the Church.” (Bill Hamon, Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God)
5. Victorious Eschatology
While avoiding date-setting, NAR leaders teach a pre-millennial return of Christ. However, they proclaim a “victorious eschatology” where the church will essentially establish God’s kingdom on earth ahead of time. Christians will rise up, prevail over evil, and bring about a great end times revival before Jesus returns.
As Peter Wagner states:
“We have entered into the time which the Bible calls the last days and in which the great Spiritual harvest predicted in Scripture will come to pass. As in the time of Jesus, this will be a time of great miracles. Whole nations will be brought to God through the power of mass evangelism and signs and wonders. We can believe that by the year AD 2000 much of the world will have heard the gospel of the Messiah, Jesus, and will have given their hearts to Him.” (Wagner, Churchquake)
Prominent Adherents of the New Apostolic Reformation
The New Apostolic Reformation has become a widespread but fragmented movement, impacting churches worldwide. Some prominent NAR-affiliated ministers today include:
C. Peter Wagner
Wagner is considered one of the founders of the New Apostolic Reformation movement though he did not coin the term itself. As a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, he wrote extensively on spiritual gifts, church growth, and missions. In 2001, Wagner founded the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders to promote NAR teachings.
Chuck Pierce
Pierce is seen as one of the leading prophets of the movement today. He co-founded with Wagner the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders and heads up Glory of Zion International Ministries in Texas. He is known for his yearly prophetic words about events to unfold.
Cindy Jacobs
Jacobs is a self-proclaimed prophetess who co-leads Generals International along with her husband Mike. They aim to unite prayer for societal reformation and host frequent leadership summits for the NAR. She also heads the Reformation Prayer Network with Corrie Mitchell.
Lou Engle
Engle is not specifically an apostle or prophet but has been greatly influenced by the NAR. He is known for charismatic fasting and prayer assemblies like TheCall which teaches spiritual warfare and societal transformation. Engle co-founded The Send revivalist movement with Che Ahn.
Bill Johnson
Johnson is the senior pastor of Bethel Church based in Redding, California which is known as a hub for charismatic evangelicals. He emphasizes continuationist theology, supernatural miracles, prophetic gifts, and pre-millennial eschatology. His teachings gained wider popularity through the Jesus Culture band.
Primary Concerns Regarding NAR Teachings
While the New Apostolic Reformation has contributed to missionary work and church renewal, concerns have also been raised by the wider evangelical Christian community. These include:
1. Excessive focus on supernatural signs
Critics argue there is an unbalanced emphasis on ongoing prophecies, healings, miracles and other supernatural manifestations. This distracts from the gospel message and opens the door to scandal if signs are falsified or exaggerated.
2. Undermines sola scriptura
The elevation of modern day apostles and prophets is said to undermine the sufficiency of Scripture. New revelations from NAR leaders are given nearly equal weight as the biblical text itself. This strays from sola scriptura, the principle that Scripture alone is our highest spiritual authority.
3. Unbiblical dominion theology
The New Apostolic Reformation’s dominion theology has been rejected as unbiblical by conservative evangelical scholars. Critics say the church is called to be a light to the nations but not to establish God’s kingdom by taking over earthly institutions prior to Jesus’ return.
4. Unaccountable leadership structure
With heavy emphasis on allegiance to modern apostles, the movement has a high risk of power abuses and lack of accountability. Some have been led into spiritual manipulation, financial exploitation, or heretical doctrine under self-proclaimed apostles.
5. Preoccupation with spiritual warfare
Lastly, NAR fixation on territorial demonic spirits and cursing others is concerning to some observers. While spiritual warfare is biblical, complex mapping of demons has no clear precedent in Scripture.
Closing Thoughts
The New Apostolic Reformation has emerged as one of the largest networks promoting continuationist theology today. It brings together Pentecostal and charismatic traditions to form a cohesive yet decentralized movement focused on restoring the fivefold offices from Ephesians 4.
While excitement surrounds the miracles and momentum generated by the NAR, caution is also advised. Believers should carefully compare any teachings against Scripture which stands as the final authority and test for sound doctrine.