Matthew Sutton, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of History at Washington State University, discusses his book, American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism. The book describes the rise of the pre-millenialist foundation of modern evangelicalism, and how it has affected social and political participation of the very large fraction of Americans who believe the Second Coming is something we can expect to experience in the next generation or so.
Pew: By the year 2050, 41% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ definitely (23%) or probably (18%) will have returned to earth. However, a 46%-plurality of the public does not believe Christ will return during the next 40 years. Fully 58% of white evangelical Christians say Christ will return to earth in this period, by far the highest percentage in any religious group.
Professor Sutton is spending the year at the University of Heidelberg, so this episode of Virtually Speaking has been pre-recorded.
