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Reviews
| Millennial Dreams and Apocalyptic Nightmares: The Cold War Origins of Political Evangelicalism, by Angela M. Lahr. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. 281 pages. $60.00, cloth.
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| In the early 1950s, The Louvin Brothers, a country and gospel music duo based in Tennessee, recorded songs that linked end-of-world imagery with the atomic bomb and the Cold War. In "Great Atomic Power," Charlie and Ira Louvin asked listeners if they were spiritually prepared for end times that might be hastened by an atomic bomb; in "Weapon of Prayer," the brothers appealed to their fellow citizens to assist the mission of soldiers serving abroad through the power of prayer (Charlie previously served in the Army during the Korean War). Although neither release specifically mentioned communism or the Soviet Union, the specter of the Cold War hovered in the background of both songs. |
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The Louvin Brothers were not unique in connecting eschatology (the study of end times) to Cold War fears. As Paul Boyer explained in When Time Shall Be No More (1992), prophecy belief permeated American thought and culture during the modern era. In Millennial Dreams and Apocalyptic Nightmares, historian Angela Lahr expands on this theme to show how evangelicals created a political culture that drew from both conservative Protestant theology and Cold War foreign policy. Lahr argues that evangelicals refashioned their national identity by placing their beliefs within an anticommunist framework. The invocation of "Christian" religion against "godless" communism allowed evangelicals to position themselves as patriotic nationalists. |
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While most work on American evangelicals has focused on domestic politics and culture, Lahr demonstrates the interconnection between Christianity, eschatology, and foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War. The atomic bomb may have represented new heights of scientific achievement, but the Manichean outlook of anticommunism and the possibility of nuclear annihilation nonetheless nurtured millennial worldviews. Lahr argues that American foreign policy facilitated evangelicals' reentry into mainstream American thought, but it also dictated the terms of their admission. In the first half of her book, Lahr shows how evangelical leaders invoked the atomic bomb and prayer groups (symbols also used by The Louvin Brothers) and carried out mission work that became intertwined with American propaganda efforts. Latter chapters discuss evangelical reactions to specific events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the creation of Israel. Lahr's recounting of the history of evangelical support for Israel, an important (but doomed) cog in the evangelical prophetic framework, is particularly fascinating given the pronouncements of contemporary evangelical pastors like John Hagee and the efforts of minister and cattle raiser Clyde Lott to produce the "perfect red heifer," portended in the Book of Numbers, that would signal the beginning of end times (p. 165). |
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Lahr also alters the periodization of conservative evangelical political involvement by locating activism in the early years of the Cold War. She argues that "patriotic evangelicalism" helped evangelicals feel like they were part of a broader conversation about American foreign policy (whether they influenced policy is another matter). At the same time, Lahr makes only brief reference to the limitations of evangelicals' anticommunist nationalism during the late Cold War, when conservatives began to argue that internal secular enemies—rather than external godless enemies—had weakened American society. Perhaps the foreign policy of détente (not mentioned in the monograph), when combined with origins of domestic "culture wars," led to the conservative/liberal evangelical rupture that Lahr describes in the final chapter. |
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Lahr maintains that there was a diversity of opinion among evangelicals. Many works distinguish between "fundamentalists" and "evangelicals" during this period, but Lahr includes a wide range of beliefs within the term "evangelical." She argues that conservatives such as Carl McIntire and Fred Schwarz and moderates such as Billy Graham constituted parts of a "heterogeneous anticommunist crusade" that included secularists as well. She further argues that liberal evangelicals like Jim Wallis, who emerged in the midst of the social movements of the 1970s, positioned themselves within the evangelical prophetic tradition. |
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Lahr provides a fine analysis of the early political culture of evangelical activism. Although this work is clearly written, few secondary teachers would find this work suitable for classroom use, as the topic is too narrow for a high school curriculum. On the other hand, teachers and college instructors looking for a concise explanation of millennialism or connections between Cold War foreign policy and culture will find useful lecture content here. |
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| California State University, Long Beach |
Eileen Luhr |
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