The Reign to Come

Kingdom Come: How Belief in Jesus’ Earthly Reign Shapes Christian Power and Politics in America (Part I)

By Michael D. Peabody

In a packed sanctuary on a Sunday morning in Middle America, a preacher’s voice crescendos: “Jesus is coming soon—are you ready?” The congregants respond with fervent amens. For many American Christians, the promise of Christ’s future earthly kingdom isn’t a distant theological point—it’s a visceral reality that shapes how they live and even how they vote. This belief that Jesus will one day rule on Earth—known broadly as millennialism—has fueled political urgency among a large subset of U.S. Christians, especially white evangelicals. It’s a conviction that the clock is ticking on history, and that believers must act decisively in public life before time runs out.

This three-part series, “Kingdom Come,” examines how expectation of Jesus’ reign on Earth drives Christian power and politics in America. In this first installment, we introduce the spectrum of end-times beliefs and explore how they have motivated evangelical political action—from late-20th-century prophecy fever to today’s blend of piety and nationalism. We’ll see how visions of a coming kingdom have spurred movements on the Christian right, backed by data on prophecy beliefs and the rising tide of Christian nationalism. And we’ll end with a question: What happens when a religious movement not only waits for a kingdom—but tries to build it?

Urgency and Apocalypse: America’s End-Times Spectrum

At the heart of this story is a Biblical prophecy from the Book of Revelation: a vision of Jesus Christ returning in glory to inaugurate a 1,000-year reign of peace and justice. Christians throughout history have interpreted this millennium in different ways. The three main views are usually described as premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial:

• Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will return before the millennium to rescue the faithful and then personally rule on Earth for a thousand years. Premillennialists expect world conditions to worsen into a period of tribulation and chaos, reaching a low point from which only Christ’s intervention can deliver humanity.

• Postmillennialism holds essentially the opposite: that Jesus will return after the millennium, which in this view is a golden age brought about by the spread of the Gospel. Rather than expecting deterioration, they foresee humanity (with divine aid) reaching a high point of prosperity and righteousness before Christ’s second coming. Postmillennialism bred great optimism in earlier American history, especially in the 19th century when many Protestants saw the young United States itself as an instrument of God’s plan to redeem the world.

• Amillennialism is the belief that the “thousand years” described in Scripture is symbolic—a metaphor for Christ’s spiritual reign rather than a literal future timeline. Amillennial Christians (including Roman Catholics and many mainline Protestants) generally do not expect a distinct earthly kingdom of Christ prior to the final eternal state. The Catholic Church, for instance, pointedly condemns millenarianism—the expectation of a literal earthly kingdom before the end—as a dangerous \”falsification\” of biblical hope.

These theological nuances might seem esoteric, but in America they have real political consequences. Beliefs about Jesus’ return often shape how Christians see their role in society. A premillennialist who thinks the world is sliding toward the Antichrist may feel a frantic urgency to \”occupy\” and fight evil until Jesus comes, lest the nation fall under divine judgment. A postmillennialist, by contrast, might be motivated to actively \”claim\” institutions for Christ and reform society now—essentially to build the kingdom on earth to hasten the Lord’s return. An amillennialist or more mainline believer, meanwhile, may focus on gradual social improvement or personal spirituality, cautioning against end-times alarmism. These impulses have tugged American Christianity in different directions for generations.

No tradition has loomed larger in U.S. politics recently than white evangelical Protestantism, which leans heavily premillennial. According to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, 63% of evangelical Protestants (and 76% of Black Protestants) believe that \”we are living in the end times\” right now. Nearly all evangelicals (92%) say Jesus will return to Earth someday, and almost half take a classic premillennial view that global conditions will get worse and hit a prophetic crisis point before that happens. Only 3% of Americans overall expect an era of improvement ushering in Christ’s return—postmillennialism has become a tiny minority position today.

Even among those premillennial believers, there is caution about setting timetables—only about 1 in 10 Americans is confident Jesus will return in their lifetime. But the sense that the clock is ticking is pervasive. In one survey by evangelical pollster Barna, fully 77% of American evangelicals agreed that the world is \”now living in the end times\” described in the Bible.

For many believers, this isn’t just idle speculation about the future—it creates a mandate for the present. There’s an old saying attributed to fundamentalist preachers: \”If you believe Jesus is coming soon, you don’t polish the brass on a sinking ship.\” In practice, however, premillennial evangelicals have not abandoned the ship of state. Far from it: the expectation of Christ’s imminent reign has often energized them to steer the nation’s course, fight perceived evils, and prepare America for the Second Coming. If the hour is late, their response has been to double down on political engagement, not withdraw from it.

From Prophecy to Politics: A Movement Awakens

The modern marriage of apocalyptic religion and American politics took shape in the late 20th century. A pivotal moment came in 1970 with a paperback book that brought end-times prophecy roaring into pop culture: Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth. Lindsey laid out current events in light of biblical prophecy, asserting that the rebirth of Israel, the Cold War, and social upheavals were clear signs of the prophesied end of the age. Written in plain, urgent language, Late Great Planet Earth became a sensational bestseller—35 million copies sold by 1990—and earned Lindsey the nickname \”The Jeremiah of Generation X.\”

Lindsey’s impact is hard to overstate. His book popularized end-times theology by connecting biblical prophecy to current and near-future events, essentially translating the arcane charts of dispensational theology into a gripping narrative any layperson could follow. Ideas like the Rapture, the Antichrist, and the mark of the beast entered mainstream discourse thanks to Lindsey. The book struck a chord in post-1960s America—a time of Vietnam, nuclear dread, and cultural turmoil—by suggesting that all this chaos had been foretold in the Bible and pointed toward Christ’s soon return. Even Ronald Reagan reportedly read it.

Importantly, Lindsey’s message was not one of quiet waiting. He sounded a call to action—both spiritual and political. Convinced the world was careening toward the Antichrist’s reign, Lindsey urged Christians to stay vigilant and engaged. In a later Cold War-era work, he even encouraged support for a strong U.S. military buildup. Lindsey decried the moral decline of the 1960s and aligned with the new Religious Right, helping frame politics as a cosmic struggle.

That movement coalesced in 1979 with Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell and the founding of the Moral Majority. Falwell was a premillennialist who warned that America risked divine judgment if it did not return to biblical values. That sentiment—that America has a special divine mandate and must remain faithful to God’s plan to survive—merged patriotism with prophecy.

Another theological stream, Dominion Theology, contributed to this shift. Its adherents, like R.J. Rushdoony, promoted postmillennial ideas that Christians must reconstruct society according to biblical law. Though fringe, these ideas laid the foundation for later dominionist frameworks such as the Seven Mountain Mandate, which continues to shape Christian political thought.

By the 1980s, a generation of conservative Christians, whether premillennial or postmillennial, entered the public square with fervor. Historian Matthew Avery Sutton observes that this generation was driven by a conviction that the end was near, leading them to view politics in absolute, cosmic terms. For them, America was more than a nation—it was a battlefield in the final confrontation between God and Satan.

Faith, Data, and the Road to Christian Nationalism

Recent surveys reveal the depth of these convictions. In a 2023 study by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), about 30% of Americans expressed some support for Christian nationalism—10% strongly, 20% sympathetically. Among white evangelical Protestants, that number jumps to 66%.

Christian nationalism is often underpinned by prophecy belief. The same PRRI study found that over 70% of Christian nationalism sympathizers believe that God reveals the future through prophecy. A majority also agree with statements like “a storm is coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power,” and many condone potential violence to “save the country.”

These sentiments were visible during the post-2020 election events. At the December 2020 Jericho March, evangelical protesters blew shofars and prayed around the U.S. Capitol, declaring spiritual war against a perceived stolen election. For them, the battle was not political but divine.

This mentality—a blend of prophetic fervor and political ambition—has become a core force in American life. Millions of believers view their role in history as active participants in a divine timetable. They range from those waiting on Christ’s return to those attempting to install God’s kingdom by human effort.

And that brings us to the cliffhanger:

What happens when a religious movement not only waits for a kingdom—but tries to force it into being here and now?

Endnotes:

1. Pew Research Center. \”About Four-in-Ten U.S. Adults Believe Humanity Is ‘Living in the End Times.’\” December 8, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/12/08/about-four-in-ten-u-s-adults-believe-humanity-is-living-in-the-end-times/

2. Pew Research Center. \”Views on Jesus\’ Return to Earth.\” 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/12/08/views-on-the-return-of-jesus-to-earth/

3. Barna Group (via Religion News Service). \”77 Percent of Evangelicals Say We\’re in the End Times.\” 2013. https://religionnews.com/2013/07/25/barna-77-percent-evangelicals-say-theyre-end-times/

4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 676. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a7.htm

5. Christianity Today. \”Died: Hal Lindsey, Author of \’The Late Great Planet Earth\’.\” November 27, 2024. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2024/november/hal-lindsey-late-great-planet-earth-death.html

6. Religion Dispatches. \”The Late Great Hal Lindsey.\” December 5, 2024. https://religiondispatches.org/the-late-great-hal-lindsey/

7. Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved!, 1979.

8. Posner, Sarah. \”How a Fringe Theocratic Movement Helped Shape the Religious Right.\” Religion Dispatches, August 6, 2015. https://religiondispatches.org/how-a-fringe-theocratic-movement-helped-shape-the-religious-right/

9. PRRI. \”Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States.\” February 2023. https://www.prri.org/research/a-christian-nation-understanding-the-threat-of-christian-nationalism-to-american-democracy-and-culture/

10. Religion News Service. \”As \’Jericho Marchers\’ Descend on Washington…\” January 5, 2021. https://religionnews.com/2021/01/05/as-jericho-marchers-descend-on-washington-some-reject-pro-trump-extremism/

To be continued in Part II: Thy Kingdom Now