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A review by iteechesinglish
American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism by Matthew Avery Sutton
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I found this book through the Throughline history podcast when they did an episode on the history of evangelicalism. As someone who was raised evangelical, I am always curious to learn more about my spiritual heritage. I can still remember my parents getting magazines about Bible prophecy in the mail and thinking it was weird. Reading this book helped me understand that evangelical theology and premillenialism (the belief that Jesus will return before a time of tribulation) have a long history and are closely intertwined.
A lot of the book was slow-paced. I tired of the structure of each chapter where the author would make a point, and then insert quote upon quote from different figures in history as evidence of the point. It read like some of my college research papers.
That being said, it did help me put the current evangelical movement into a wider context, one going back over 100 years. It was interesting to track the evolution of premillenial/fundamentalist/evangelical beliefs from a fringe sect of Christianity to the cultural force they have become today. The shift around World War II from a movement that was largely apolitical to a driving force for the GOP was enlightening. It also helped me to see that there has already been precedent for the Trump/evangelical alliance in the presidency of Warren Harding, another evangelical champion who was himself not terribly religious or even moral. It also helped me understand the unspoken distrust in my family towards "mainstream" Christianity, that distrust is part of a larger historical tension between progressive Christianity and more conservative theology. I also appreciated that the author included African American perspectives on evangelicalism and how they often diverged from the majority white narrative.
Overall it was a worthwhile read, if a bit of a slog.
A lot of the book was slow-paced. I tired of the structure of each chapter where the author would make a point, and then insert quote upon quote from different figures in history as evidence of the point. It read like some of my college research papers.
That being said, it did help me put the current evangelical movement into a wider context, one going back over 100 years. It was interesting to track the evolution of premillenial/fundamentalist/evangelical beliefs from a fringe sect of Christianity to the cultural force they have become today. The shift around World War II from a movement that was largely apolitical to a driving force for the GOP was enlightening. It also helped me to see that there has already been precedent for the Trump/evangelical alliance in the presidency of Warren Harding, another evangelical champion who was himself not terribly religious or even moral. It also helped me understand the unspoken distrust in my family towards "mainstream" Christianity, that distrust is part of a larger historical tension between progressive Christianity and more conservative theology. I also appreciated that the author included African American perspectives on evangelicalism and how they often diverged from the majority white narrative.
Overall it was a worthwhile read, if a bit of a slog.