Author: David S. New
Pub. Date: 2002
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Reviewer: Don C. Marler
Holy War is one of those books that tantalize with little known facts and then uses those facts to scare the reader; the combination is powerful. For example: who knew that Ronald Reagan was “hooked” since childhood, on Apocalyptic Dispensational Millennium and Armageddon? Who knew that he was later heavily influenced in these beliefs by Pat Boone, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson , W.A. Criswell, Jimmy Swaggert and others.
President Reagan believed that Armageddon and the coming of the Messiah were near and he wanted these things to happen during his term of office. Along with many other fundamentalist Christians he believed that the actions of men could hasten or bring on this event. And with this event the “saved” would be immediately caught up to heaven and would not have to endure the conflagration.
The author relates the unease and fear the Presidents staff felt about where these beliefs might lead the president. In short we barely dodged the bullet with President Reagan.
Given his wild, impulsive nature we dodged a bigger bullet when Pat Robertson was not elected to the presidency.