ABSTRACT
Evangelicals and other Protestants have viewed America as a Christian nation and capitalism as ordained of God. They have "baptized" America's political and economic systems. The same has happened to one version of the millennium—postmillennialism. While developing in Europe, such an interpretation says God has chosen America to illumine the world and usher in the final golden age. Conversely, premillennialism has been "sacralized" in a different and negative way. As the twentieth century witnessed several horrific events, many American evangelicals desired to escape a frightful future so they embraced premillennialism, especially its pretribulational version. In various forms the millennial mission has run the course of American history. It has fueled diverse and even contradictory expressions of American culture—revivalism, civil religion, missions, nationalism, sectarian communalism, and social reform movements. Through the years Americans have tended to see themselves as the chosen nation and their enemies as demonic.
