Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox. Religious history invites us to expect the unexpected, and there’s no reason to rule out a future where Kirk’s martyrdom provides the impetus for a genuine revival. But any Christian envisioning such a revival should keep other scenarios in mind. But controlling a political coalition is not the same thing as converting a culture, and indeed the two can often be at odds. Trump in a strange way helped with this problem, because his cheerful heathenism created some distance between partisan conservatism and Christian faith (again, that odd providential touch).