The Antichrist, though mentioned a mere four times in the Bible, and then only obscurely, has exercised a tight hold on popular imagination throughout history. This has been particularly true in the U.S., says author Robert C. Fuller, where Americans have tended to view our nation as uniquely blessed by God--a belief that leaves us especially prone to demonizing our enemies. In Naming the Antichrist, Fuller takes us on a fascinating journey through the
dark side of the American religious psyche, from the earliest American colonists right up to contemporary fundamentalists such as Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsey. Fuller begins by offering a brief
history of the idea of the Antichrist and its origins in the apocalyptic thought in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and traces the eventual 71Gws how the colonists saw Antichrist personified in native Americans and French Catholics, in Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and the witches of Salem, in the Church of England and the King. He looks at the Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century, showing how such prominent Americans as Yale president Timothy Dwight and the Reverend
Jedidiah Morse (father of Samuel Morse) saw the work of the Antichrist in phenomena ranging from the French Revolution to Masonry. In the twentieth century, he finds a startling array of hate-mongers--from
Gerald Winrod (who vilified Roosevelt as a pawn of the Antichrist) to the Ku Klux Klan--who drew on apocalyptic imagery in their attacks on Jews, Catholics, blacks, socialists, and others. Finally, Fuller considers contemporary fundamentalist writers such as Hal Lindsey (author of The Late Great Planet Earth, with some 19 million copies sold), Mary Stewart Relfe (whose candidates for the Antichrist have included such figures as Henry Kissinger, Pope John Paul II, and Anwar Sadat), and
a host of others who have found Antichrist in the sinister guise of the European Economic Community, the National Council of Churches, feminism, New Age religions, and even supermarket barcodes and fibre optics
(the latter functioning as "the eye of the Antichrist"). Throughout, Fuller reveals in vivid detail how our unique American obsession with the Antichrist reflects the struggle to understand ourselves--and our enemies--within the mythic context of the battle of absolute good versus absolute evil. From the Scofield Reference Bible (no other book had greater impact on the American Antichrist tradition) to the Scopes Monkey Trial, Fuller provides an informative and often
startling look at a thread that weaves persistently throughout American religious and cultural life.
The Antichrist, though mentioned a mere four times in the Bible, and then only obscurely, has exercised a tight hold on popular imagination throughout history. This has been particularly true in the U.S., says author Robert C. Fuller, where Americans have tended to view our nation as uniquely blessed by God--a belief that leaves us especially prone to demonizing our enemies. In Naming the Antichrist, Fuller takes us on a fascinating journey through the
dark side of the American religious psyche, from the earliest American colonists right up to contemporary fundamentalists such as Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsey. Fuller begins by offering a brief
history of the idea of the Antichrist and its origins in the apocalyptic thought in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and traces the eventual 71Gws how the colonists saw Antichrist personified in native Americans and French Catholics, in Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and the witches of Salem, in the Church of England and the King. He looks at the Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century, showing how such prominent Americans as Yale president Timothy Dwight and the Reverend
Jedidiah Morse (father of Samuel Morse) saw the work of the Antichrist in phenomena ranging from the French Revolution to Masonry. In the twentieth century, he finds a startling array of hate-mongers--from
Gerald Winrod (who vilified Roosevelt as a pawn of the Antichrist) to the Ku Klux Klan--who drew on apocalyptic imagery in their attacks on Jews, Catholics, blacks, socialists, and others. Finally, Fuller considers contemporary fundamentalist writers such as Hal Lindsey (author of The Late Great Planet Earth, with some 19 million copies sold), Mary Stewart Relfe (whose candidates for the Antichrist have included such figures as Henry Kissinger, Pope John Paul II, and Anwar Sadat), and
a host of others who have found Antichrist in the sinister guise of the European Economic Community, the National Council of Churches, feminism, New Age religions, and even supermarket barcodes and fibre optics
(the latter functioning as "the eye of the Antichrist"). Throughout, Fuller reveals in vivid detail how our unique American obsession with the Antichrist reflects the struggle to understand ourselves--and our enemies--within the mythic context of the battle of absolute good versus absolute evil. From the Scofield Reference Bible (no other book had greater impact on the American Antichrist tradition) to the Scopes Monkey Trial, Fuller provides an informative and often
startling look at a thread that weaves persistently throughout American religious and cultural life.
OTO
Robert C. Fuller is Professor of Religious Studies at Bradley University. His many books have focused on a wide range of topics, such as the cultural history of psychology, alternative medicine, and contemporary American religious thought.
"Make[s] for lively reading. A book that makes familiar concepts
disturbingly fresh and provocative."--The New York Times
"Fascinating....An especially timely work."--Booklist
"Clearly written and astute."--The Boston Sunday Globe
"Professor Fuller's compulsively readable book documents the whole
depressing history of this sad obsession, and shows us how easy it
is for bad religion to drive out good."--Church Times
"Fuller displays a fine grasp of te nuances of Christian theology
and history....This is a veritable night-stand encyclopedia of
religiously-inspired paranoiac fantasy."--James Aho, Idaho State
University
"From the Salem witch trials to the Evil Empire, from Cotton Mather
to Pat Robertson, Fuller traces a succession of zealots ready to
defend Christian civilization against evil incarnate."--The Los
Angeles Times Book Review
"Make[s] for lively reading. A book that makes familiar concepts
disturbingly fresh and provocative."--The New York Times
"A reliable guide not only to the religious past but to the
nation's increasingly manic embrace of the Antichrist myth as the
end of the millennium draws near."--John Corrigan, Professor and
Chair, American Studies, Arizona State University West
"An intelligent history of how Americans have tended to see the
world as the battleground between absolute good and absolute
evil....A fascinating and well-written account."--Kirkus
Reviews
"A valuable addition to a growing body of literature, that attempts
to make cultural sense of a deep and seemingly irrational strain in
modern American culture."--Peter Williams, Miami University,
Professor of Religion
"Fascinating and thoroughly documented....Given the growing
political influence of conservative and fundamentalist Christians
in the U.S. and the continued influence that naming the Anthchrist
has on their politics, this is an especially timely
work."--Booklist
"Clearly written and astute...Fuller traces the tradition of
thought and imagery that rose out of this recondite, sinister
figure, and investigates the phenomenon as an expression of social
and psychological anxiety in this country."--The Boston Sunday
Globe
"[Fuller] offers cogent psychological and sociological explanations
for the hold of the idea of the antichrist upon the American
imagination."--Publishers Weekly
"A respected scholar...Fuller has produced a sober, carefully
researched study of the American obsession with he
Antichrist....Impressive."--Christian Century
"Get the book. Read it. It is well written and documented. Should
be serious fun--seriously! No doubt, you will be impressed how well
we have played the [naming] game!"--Southwestern Journal of
Theology
"Make[s] for lively reading. A book that makes familiar concepts disturbingly fresh and provocative."--The New York Times "Fascinating....An especially timely work."--Booklist "Clearly written and astute."--The Boston Sunday Globe "Professor Fuller's compulsively readable book documents the whole depressing history of this sad obsession, and shows us how easy it is for bad religion to drive out good."--Church Times "Fuller displays a fine grasp of te nuances of Christian theology and history....This is a veritable night-stand encyclopedia of religiously-inspired paranoiac fantasy."--James Aho, Idaho State University "From the Salem witch trials to the Evil Empire, from Cotton Mather to Pat Robertson, Fuller traces a succession of zealots ready to defend Christian civilization against evil incarnate."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review "Make[s] for lively reading. A book that makes familiar concepts disturbingly fresh and provocative."--The New York Times "A reliable guide not only to the religious past but to the nation's increasingly manic embrace of the Antichrist myth as the end of the millennium draws near."--John Corrigan, Professor and Chair, American Studies, Arizona State University West "An intelligent history of how Americans have tended to see the world as the battleground between absolute good and absolute evil....A fascinating and well-written account."--Kirkus Reviews "A valuable addition to a growing body of literature, that attempts to make cultural sense of a deep and seemingly irrational strain in modern American culture."--Peter Williams, Miami University, Professor of Religion "Fascinating and thoroughly documented....Given the growing political influence of conservative and fundamentalist Christians in the U.S. and the continued influence that naming the Anthchrist has on their politics, this is an especially timely work."--Booklist "Clearly written and astute...Fuller traces the tradition of thought and imagery that rose out of this recondite, sinister figure, and investigates the phenomenon as an expression of social and psychological anxiety in this country."--The Boston Sunday Globe "[Fuller] offers cogent psychological and sociological explanations for the hold of the idea of the antichrist upon the American imagination."--Publishers Weekly "A respected scholar...Fuller has produced a sober, carefully researched study of the American obsession with he Antichrist....Impressive."--Christian Century "Get the book. Read it. It is well written and documented. Should be serious fun--seriously! No doubt, you will be impressed how well we have played the [naming] game!"--Southwestern Journal of Theology
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