# Unmasking the NAR (Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson) > [!question] Lingering Questions > - What is the Art Lucier BC civil suit's current status and outcome — needs verification before citing this episode's account further. > - The Asch/Lifton conformity-research reference appears conflated on-air — worth checking against a primary psychology source before this atom gets reused elsewhere. > - The episode calls the network a "hate group" while elsewhere admitting it's doctrinally incoherent and includes unwitting "benign" members — how much does that characterization outrun the episode's own evidence? > [!tip] Article Ideas > - none flagged beyond the existing cross-reference-cluster work already underway for this podcast. > [!link] Cross Reference > - [[3. Resources/MOCs/NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] — insider-critic discernment guide naming NAR's naming (Wagner), roots (Latter Rain, Wimber), and doctrinal building blocks > - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/A Ministry Function Does Not Establish a Governing Office]] — companion note from a different source (a PhD polity thesis): that note argues the theological case for governing authority is separate from ministry function; this episode's claim is the ground-level mechanism (apostolic covering) by which that missing case gets smuggled in anyway > - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/NAR Governance Mirrors BDFL - Singular Authority With No Credible Exit]] — the five-fold-ministry-as-hierarchy claim here (H2) is a specific instance of that broader governance pattern > [!quote] Vocabulary > - **Grave soaking** — a practice of lying on or near a deceased revivalist's grave to receive their "impartation" or anointing; the episode's title thesis calls this spiritualism, not gospel practice > - **Five-fold ministry** — the apostle/prophet/evangelist/pastor/teacher offices of Ephesians 4:11, described here as converted from parallel gifting into a submission hierarchy ## Bibliographic capsule William Branham Historical Research Podcast host John Collins and returning guest Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson (a childhood member of a Branham-linked "Message" congregation, now an outspoken critic) define the New Apostolic Reformation — its naming by C. Peter Wagner in the late 1980s, roots in the post-WWII Latter Rain healing revival and John Wimber's church-growth movement, and doctrinal building blocks (five-fold ministry hierarchy, dominionism, positive confession, "fresh revelation," grave soaking). ## Author's thesis These doctrinal building blocks converted a diffuse charismatic network into a mechanism for concentrated, unaccountable authority — functioning as an insider-critic discernment guide for listeners who suspect their own congregation may be networked into NAR without knowing it, since some pastors publicly deny the NAR label while privately operating inside its apostolic-covering structures. ## Key arguments (≤3) 1. **Grave soaking is named as the clearest case of borrowed vocabulary over borrowed practice.** No biblical precedent exists for it — spiritualism dressed in Christian language, per the episode's title thesis. 2. **Five-fold ministry became a hierarchy, not parallel gifting.** The structural innovation the rest of the episode's abuse case studies are meant to illustrate. 3. **Positive-confession's grip is explained by conformity pressure, not conviction.** A group-conformity demonstration is used to argue adherents often comply without believing. ## Claim atoms ### Grave soaking is spiritualism, not gospel practice > [!quote] ID:rw_01kyhz0vr0zyn6nggfk6ej7nnn_h1 > there is no Bible precedent for graveing. This is spiritualism in its simplest form. Where/why: ~29:11, following discussion of Art Lucier's grave-visiting practice. The episode's title thesis — NAR devotional practice functionally relies on a dead human spirit rather than the Holy Spirit, dressed in Christian vocabulary. ### Five-fold ministry became a hierarchy, not gifting > [!quote] ID:rw_01kyhz0vr0zyn6nggfk6ej7nnn_h2 > So you had Jesus and then this pyramid of hierarchy that everyone's trying to become the apostle because he's the kingpin. Where/why: ~17:50-18:37, explaining the movement's core structural innovation. The causal hinge connecting doctrine to institutional harm. ### Conformity pressure explains positive-confession's grip > [!quote] ID:rw_01kyhz0vr0zyn6nggfk6ej7nnn_h3q > he's just wanting to not buck the system, but he doesn't believe it. Where/why: ~46:58-47:46, mid-description of a group-conformity demonstration used to explain positive-confession psychology. Cross-reference point for coercive-persuasion mechanisms in high-control religious groups — flag the Asch/Lifton citation error if reused. ## Permanent candidates - **Apostolic covering concentrates unaccountable authority** — strongest candidate, supported by H2. Distinct from the vault's existing "A Ministry Function Does Not Establish a Governing Office" (which argues the missing theological case for governing authority) by naming the specific accountability-removal mechanism marketed as a spiritual safeguard. Promoted below, cross-linked to both existing notes. ## Processing checklist - [ ] Verify the Art Lucier BC civil suit's current status and outcome before citing this episode's account further - [ ] Check the Asch vs. Lifton conformity-research conflation against a primary psychology source - [ ] Read John Weaver's *The New Apostolic Reformation* to check this episode's genealogy claims against a citable secondary source - [x] Connect into [[3. Resources/MOCs/NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] ## Links - [[3. Resources/MOCs/NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] — insider-critic NAR discernment guide, naming, roots, and doctrinal mechanism - [[3. Resources/Readwise/Articles/Unmasking the New Apostolic Reformation Spiritualism vs the Gospel Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson 437]] — source document