Given recent events in Israel and Palestine, it is inevitable that Christians focused on the Rapture and a Left-Behind-style view of the “End Times” will begin to draw explicit connections between this war and the so-called “signs of Christ’s return.” Dan is planning at least one more episode on this topic, but in the meanwhile, these two episodes, featuring conversations with four Baby Boomers who lived through the Jesus Movement, ask the question, “Why was this End Times view so popular among this group?” Understanding their situation in the 70s and 80s can help us get a handle on the larger picture. *Re-broadcast* - End Times Popularity: Part 1 (#77) Original Description: Earlier this year, I released a 4-part series called End Times Anxiety, chronicling mental health and related challenges of younger folks who had been adversely affected by Left Behind and similar visions of the Rapture and end of the world within conservative Protestant theology and culture. Throughout working on that project, I found myself continually asking myself and others, “Why did they buy it in the first place? How did this thinking become *so popular*?” These two episodes are my attempt at answering that question, pulling from my own review of the available academic research as well as four interviews I conducted with Baby Boomers who had been a part of the Jesus Movement in the 1970s. My main argument is as follows:1. The people whose evangelizing kicked off the Jesus Movement were primarily fundamentalists and they were themselves already very focused on biblical prophecy2. In the early 70s, there was enough global chaos and uncertainty, along with one very important “fulfilled prophecy” that made it seem plausible that the world might indeed be coming to a close3. By the time Left Behind came around in the 90s, that same Jesus Movement generation held the primary places of power and influence in Evangelical circlesThis is not an exhaustive explanation, but it has helped me come up with a basic framework that helps me make sense of my 90s Left Behind-soaked experience. Hopefully, it might be helpful for you as well! YHP End Times Related Episodes: End Times Popularity Part 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000487665623 End Times Popularity Part 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000488367624 End Times Anxiety: Part 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000462348895 End Times Anxiety: Part 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000463143577 End Times Anxiety: Part 3: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000463784092 End Times Anxiety: Part 4: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-have-permission/id1448000113?i=1000464463258 The New Evangelical Episodes on Understanding Israel and Palestine: Part 1:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-evangelicals-podcast/id1557794865?i=1000630800157 Part 2:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-evangelicals-podcast/id1557794865?i=1000631062869 Part 3: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-evangelicals-podcast/id1557794865?i=1000631185579 _____________ Sign up for Tripp and Dan's class, “Live Before You Die: Existentialism in Theology & Psychology”: exploringexistentialism.com _____________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Edited by Josh Gilbert (joshgilbertmedia.com -- he is accepting more work!) Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by sprungle.co/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices