Cultural Narratives of Apocalypse

This chapter provides a brief historical overview of early American religion, especially ideas such as individualism and millennialism that became recurring themes in later centuries. I then give an introduction into American civil religion and its close relationship with apocalyptic eschatologies. I argue that American civil religion (both Christian-hued and sacred-secular) and nationalism are intertwined with apocalypticism in the recent decades, perhaps more so than ever. I also examine the role of our “frontier mythology” in the formation of this worldview.