Renegotiating Armageddon: The Failure of Evangelical Apocalypticism During the Iraq War (2003-2011) and its Impact on the Iran War (2026–)
Part of a series of seminars on Signs of the Times: Christians, Muslims and the Apocalypse
Speaker on 5 May: Dr Brandon M Hurlbert
(Teaching Fellow in Hebrew Bible and Ethics, University of Durham)
Abstract:
The current war with Iran may have begun with bombs but it is being supported by the Bible. American politicians, pastors, and apparently, even military personnel are using religious language to frame the US bombardment of Iran as part of an apocalyptic plan of God. This is, however, not the first time such rhetoric has been used. During the Iraq War (2003-2011) American Evangelicals turned to their Bibles to understand the spiritual and apocalyptic nature of these global events. Due to the extended and turbulent nature of this conflict, such apocalypticism underwent several renegotiations, and often by the same individuals. Certain passages were seen to be prophetically fulfilled in the initial invasion of 2003, but they had to be reinterpreted as the war dragged on and the nature of the conflict transitioned. This paper explores the varied, reactionary, and extremely malleable readings of biblical texts by American Evangelicals reflect their understanding of the Iraq war and efforts to renegotiate so-called “end times prophecies”. By focusing on these examples, we may come to a better understanding of how the Bible functioned during the Iraq War, and more importantly, draw lessons for inter-faith engagement for our current moment.
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The topic of End Times prophecy in the Bible is a major focus of the CMCS Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam (RBCI) project on Daniel, Islam, Apocalyptic.
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