Book Review: American Apocalypse by Matthew A. Sutton

 

Have you ever wondered how and why the apocalyptic worldview of Evangelical Christians has become so prevalent in the United States? Well wonder no more, because this book will take you on a tour through the history, politics and social issues within the movement.

 

Sutton guides you down the path of the abovementioned movement, from its beginning to its position in today’s society and political sphere. He touches upon core beliefs and values, the issue of race, politics, education, pop culture and key figures. At times the sheer volume of information can become overwhelming, but it never makes his narrative boring or impossible to follow. It does mean, however, that this book is not an easy or quick read. One does need to sit down and take the time, but I personally think that it is worth it to do so. (Granted, I am a bit biased, since this topic is an interest of mine).

 

The book also contains a handful of black and white pictures, mainly, of key figures in the movement. Putting a face to the preachers and supporters are most welcome and it also helps to illustrate two of the major focuses of the book: race and gender. Sutton describes and explains the division of race in the movement; how different interpretations arose in the two main groups, African Americans and Whites, and how some wanted to segregate the faith and how a few did cross racial lines. When it comes to gender the conflict comes from the biblical interpretation of women’s role in society and in the faith as well.  As the pictures show the evangelical movement was dominated by whites and lead by men. Other races and women, though having important roles in hindsight, did not seemingly play any prominent roles in shaping the movement.

 

Though diving down into social issues and political pressure, Sutton also clearly explains the structure of the apocalyptic worldview. He does focus more on the premillennial version, but that focus does not take away from the others portrayed in the book. One of the other versions which get a thorough description, both in its structure and its cultural meaning, is the interpretation by the African American apocalyptic movements. As mentioned above, race is one of the focuses of the book.

 

But not only does Sutton look at the movement’s actions and conflicts within the context of America, he also looks at it in a more international setting, specifically the World Wars. Both wars played an important part on the apocalyptic movements, touching upon the conflict of urging the apocalypse to come sooner while at the same time not wanting to play into the Devil’s hand by summoning the Antichrist into the world. But also the issue of American isolationism is touched upon.

 

Moving on to the last two themes, at least the last two I will mention here; politics and education. When looking at politics today it is clear that religion plays a significant role to many American voters. So Sutton’s explaining how the Evangelical movement has been heavily involved in politics the last 100 years, comes as no surprise. But it is not only involvement within the top of church hierarchies; individual members and supporters also saw it as their responsibility to move history and national and international events in the direction of the second coming of Christ. Education was of equal importance and the rise of Christian private schools and institutions, according to Sutton and his research, can also be linked to the Evangelical movement. Seeing the conflict with religion and education in today’s America, it is definitely relevant to know the roots of said conflict and how it grew and has been growing.

 

All in all I highly recommend this book. It is an interesting, though slightly heavy, read. I have used it along side my research into the religious beliefs of White Supremacists (Christian Identity) in the United States, and it was very interesting to see how the two actually fit very well together and how Christian Identity has clearly taken inspiration from the Evangelical movement. I tried to lay out the main themes and discussions of the book above, however since it is so dense in information I feel like I have only scratched the surface. If you wanna dive into the American Apocalypse yourself it is easily found on Amazon.

 

Until next week!

 

Xoxo Christina