“Autistically and wonderfully made”

During the last few months, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Keri Ladner, author of American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom.

Her book is informative, wide-ranging, and seriously researched, but very accessible because Ladner writes in a compelling, fast-moving, journalistic style.

I was planning to write a review of American Dominion, which is impressive in the breadth of unusual moments of U.S. evangelical history she weaves together. I know of no other book that covers the theology, history, and political implications of so many aberrant or controversial figures.

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But I’ve already addressed dominion theology in previous posts. So today I’d like to do something more inspiring. I’d like to talk about Keri Ladner the person, as she reveals herself in her reflective writing.

Ladner had a rough upbringing, including an autism diagnosis, abuse by her birth family, and placement in a church-run residential childcare system.

[destacate]Ladner introduces herself as “autistically and wonderfully made”, an endearing allusion to Psalm 139[/destacate]She could have wallowed in self-pity or lashed out in deviant behavior. (Probably she did, sometimes.)

Instead, she has committed herself to excellence, earning a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh and working professionally in children’s services while also continuing her independent research.

Ladner introduces herself on her Substack as “autistically and wonderfully made,” an endearing allusion to Psalm 139.

In a January 2026 post, she discussed US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stigmatizing of autism in the context of previous efforts to exterminate or sterilize people with disabilities. In contrast, she boldly affirmed her value and that of others on the autism spectrum:

I am proudly autistic, flawed as the term may be. There are things I struggle with that seem intuitive to almost every other person I know, and there are things that come to me naturally that other people cannot grasp.

These differences do not need to be pathologized, but they can be understood, supported, and celebrated. So I wear t-shirts with cheesy slogans like “Awetistic and Ausome,” and “Autism Pride: No Cure for Being Yourself.”

The term itself creates a fictional category, but there is still room for positivity and pride at the gift of autism.

[destacate]Ladner’s story reminds us how our personal pain can sow the seeds of productive ministry, if we respond to it with love and forgiveness rather than bitterness[/destacate]In a June post, Ladner revealed some of her childhood abuse stories.

She shared painful experiences from her Southern Baptist upbringing, but against the positive background of a Southern Baptist youth camp trip that transformed her through the message that she had been formed in God’s image and was of infinite value to him.

Ladner also chided her Southern Baptist tradition by noting that although she can’t preach in their churches, despite having studied theology more than most pastors, she can at least write books that men might read. (Some would say that women should not write theology books either, but it is harder to stop them from writing books than from climbing into pulpits.)

On August 12, Ladner wrote about how her love for theology has sometimes caused others to say she has a “religious spirit,” as if studying theology were a bad thing to do.

She traced the skepticism about theology to the common claim that heart knowledge is more important than head knowledge.

She then discussed examples of the harm caused by “self-declared prophets and apostles” who seem to have plenty of heart knowledge but who exercise leadership grounded in inadequate theology.

[destacate]We must remember that the cross of Jesus is not a call to take up arms against worldly powers, but rather an invitation to lay down our rights[/destacate]I believe that many of us, when we consider the work of philosophers and theologians, think of them purely as sources of ideas.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about where Immanuel Kant found his motivation to write about ethics or whether he had temper tantrums; we just learn and analyze his philosophy.

Nowadays, writers tend to be more transparent about how their personal experience has inspired their intellectual pursuits. But Ladner’s story reminds us how our personal pain can sow the seeds of productive ministry if we respond to it with love and forgiveness rather than bitterness.

Ladner also reinforces an encouraging theme I’ve experienced this year.

When I was writing about dominion theology 35 years ago, my closest colleagues were secular in orientation, drawn to study dominionists because they posed a potential threat to the political left.

But today, many of the most significant voices on dominion theology and Christian nationalism write and speak self-consciously as Christians. In doing so, they call their readers not to walk away from faith but to an alternative, more restorative version of Christianity.

As Ladner writes in her final chapter, “We must remember that the cross of Jesus is not a call to take up arms against worldly powers and conquer the Seven Mountains but rather an invitation to lay down our rights.”

Bruce Barron, author or coauthor of seven books on religion and politics and a former US congressional aide, was editor of the World Evangelical Alliance’s theology journal from 2018 to 2024. Subscribe to his blog at brucebarron.substack.com.

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