Premillennialists at the Millennium: Some Reflections on the Christian Right in the Twenty-first Century

This chapter describes the danger inherent in such predictions, and speculates on the future of the Christian Right into the twenty-first century. Social scientists have at times predicted success for the Christian Right. Some sociologists predicted in early 1988 that Robertson would win the Republican presidential nomination. The chapter provides a brief history of the Christian Right in the twentieth century. During the 1990s, the Christian Right has to date focused on building grass-roots organizations. As American nears the millennium, Christian Right activity and energy will likely increased. Many will believe that the millennium portends the second coming of Christ; others will devise different prophetic schemes. The chapter considers how the Christian Coalition is avoiding many of the problems that plagued the Moral Majority, but some of the dilemmas the Christian Coalition face nonetheless. Within the Republican Party, the Christian Coalition built on the precinct, county, and state party organizations that Marion Pat Robertson’s followers controlled following the 1988 convention.