Marks of the Beast

Glenn W. Shuck is visiting assistant professor of religion at Williams College. In addition to a number of published essays, he is coeditor, with Jeffrey J. Kripal, of Esalen in American Religious Culture.

• ContentsAcknowledgments Preface: About American Evangelicals Introduction: First Words on Last Things1 Signs of the Times: The Dispensational Background of Evangelical Prophecy Belief 2 Reluctant Rebels: The Left Behind Novels and the Politics of Evangelical Identity 3 The Emergence of the Network Culture/Beast System 4 Technologies of Transcendence: "Beast Religion" and the Dei?cation/Demonization of the Network Culture 5 Marks of the Beast: The Struggle for Evangelical Identity 6 Beast, Inc.: Evangelical Resistance and the Internalization of Evil Epilogue Notes Select Bibliography Index About the Author

"A timely analysis of a religious movement that is quietly exercising enormous political influence today. Shuck's careful reading of LaHaye's troubling vision establishes unexpected connections with the leading edge of contemporary network culture." - Mark C. Taylor,author of About Religion: Economies of Faith in Virtual Culture "With this book, Glenn W. Shuck establishes himself as one of the foremost scholars of American evangelical Christianity. This work is both wonderfully written and creative. Based on Shuck's even-handed and insightful analysis, the reader learns about the meaning and astonishing popularity of books about end times, especially the Left Behind series. Marks of the Beast provides a dynamic lens into the meaning of religion in modern times." - Michael O. Emerson,Director, Du Bois Center for the Advanced Study of Religion and Race, University of Notre Dame "A provocative study." (Berkshire Eagle) "Well-researched work employing sociological, literary, and theological perspectives." (Choice)