An Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire

by Michael S. Northcott

Overview

This passionately argued book provides the first in-depth investigation of the religious politics of current American neo-conservatism. It shows that behind the neo-imperialism of the White House and George W. Bush lies an apocalyptic vision of the United States's sacred destiny 'at the end of history', a vision that is shared by millions of Americans. Michael Northcott traces the roots of American apocalyptic to Puritan Millennialism and contemporary fundamentalist readings of the Book of Revelation. He suggests that Americans urgently need to recover a critique of Empire of the kind espoused by the founder of Christianity - or else risk becoming idolaters of a new Roman Empire that leads others into servitude.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781850434788
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/24/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.16(w) x 9.24(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Northcott is one of Britain's best known specialists in theology and politics, and is Reader in Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• American Apocalypse
• The Fading of the Dream
• The Unveiling of Empire
• The War on Terror and the True Apocalypse
• The Warrior Ethos and the Politics of Jesus
• Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

"I would hope that this book will be read widely, in both Great Britain and America. It shows with skill and perspicuity that the nature of the US reaction to 9/11 had been long prefigured by the American subversion of Christianity. Because of its robust argument, some readers may be tempted to dismiss the book as being simply anti-American. This would be unfair to Northcott's achievement, because An Angel Directs the Storm is a mature, historically-informed and passionate analysis of the current American psyche, that tells Americans things about America of which they urgently need to take heed."—Stanley M. Hauerwas, Duke University

"Michael Northcott has written a book of truth and also beauty. It is very spiritual too. It will inspire and mobilise many."—Marcella Althaus-Reid, Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh

From the Publisher