40 percent of American adults now believe they're living in the "end times," according to a 2022 poll, an idea that has moved from religious circles to the highest levels of government. The Trump administration has framed its Iran campaign as a biblically-prophesied holy war, with White House Faith Office head Paula White-Cain asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the conflict signaled the "End of Days."

Chris Jennings' new book traces this apocalyptic thinking back to Ruby Ridge, the 1992 standoff between federal agents and a survivalist family. The book explores how premillennial dispensationalism—the belief that history progresses through seven dispensations with the current one being the sixth of seven—has shaped modern conspiracies like QAnon and influenced tens of millions of Americans.

Apocalyptic thinking re-enchants the news in dangerous ways, Jennings argues, as American foreign policy becomes infused with prophetic elements. When officials like Pete Hegseth invoke apocalyptic frameworks to describe conflicts with Iran or Israel, they're connecting real-world violence to religious fantasies, distorting rational policy discussions and potentially destabilizing diplomatic relationships.