{"id":126,"date":"2021-03-14T19:56:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T02:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/?page_id=126"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:20:22","slug":"sutton","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/episodes\/sutton\/","title":{"rendered":"Sutton End of Times Preaching in Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wsu-decorator  wsu-overflow--hidden wsu-decorator--style-lines-gray\" style=\"top:0;right:0;height:100%;width:20%\"><\/div>\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">End Times Preaching In Seattle And The Politics Of The Apocalypse<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-row wsu-row--sidebar-right\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-column\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Rev_Mark_Matthews_posing_on_sidewalk_Seattle_circa_1910_MOHAI_11099.jpg\" alt=\"Reverend Mark Matthews\" class=\"wp-image-381\" width=\"275\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Rev_Mark_Matthews_posing_on_sidewalk_Seattle_circa_1910_MOHAI_11099.jpg 550w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Rev_Mark_Matthews_posing_on_sidewalk_Seattle_circa_1910_MOHAI_11099-396x504.jpg 396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The Reverend Mark A. Matthews in Seattle, likely shortly after his arrival in 1902. University of Washington, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Reverend Mark A. Matthews (1867-1940), a southern-born fundamentalist supporter of the Social Gospel movement, came to Seattle in 1902 and became the pastor of Seattle\u2019s First Presbyterian Church. Outspoken and active in public debate, he was a staunch proponent of \u2018Social Christianity.\u2019 WSU History Professor Matthew Sutton discusses how Matthews became one of the most powerful religious leaders of the early 20th Century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Audio Recording:<\/h2>\n\n\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-126-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Evangelicalism.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Evangelicalism.mp3\">https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Evangelicalism.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-spacing-after--default wsu-spacing-before--large\">Transcription of Audio:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Introduction: <\/strong>The end times have apparently been coming for quite a while. In the Northwest, one end-time preacher had the ear of President Wilson. How have evangelical apocalyptic views influenced society and politics? WSU History Professor Matthew Sutton explains in this <em>Past as Prologue<\/em> commentary, a collaboration between NWPB and WSU\u2019s History Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Matthew Sutton: <\/strong>Seattle minister Mark Matthews loved God. And he loved Woodrow Wilson. The tall, lanky, Georgia-born preacher, who looked more like a stern plantation overseer than a warm cleric, relished the fact that Presbyterian and Democrat Woodrow Wilson was now in the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the early decades of the 20th century, Matthews became one of the most powerful religious leaders in the United States. His Seattle congregation was the largest Presbyterian church in the world with over 10,000 members at its peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early in his career, Matthews was an optimist. He believed in the power of the Christian gospel to establish a literal kingdom of God on Earth. But by the mid-1910s, he determined that the world was careening towards the biblical end times. Matthews was witnessing European nations arming for war. Like many radical evangelicals of his generation. Matthews preached the end was nigh. Jesus, he predicted, was coming back to fight Satan at the battle of Armageddon. And soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this didn\u2019t make Matthews indifferent to worldly affairs. He routinely wrote President Wilson asking for advice, ask for favors, trying to get some support for friends and his community. He even promised his parishioners he would get congressional pork flowing back to the Pacific Northwest. The president occasionally sought Matthews\u2019 opinions in return. Despite Matthews\u2019 apocalyptic world views, he had the ear of the president and no reservations about speaking boldly to men in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthews was not alone in preaching the end times. Christian apocalypticism has a long and varied history. The modern incarnation of Christian apocalypticism took shape about a century and a half ago. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and independents, they all shared a commitment to returning the Christian faith to what they saw as its \u201cfundamentals.\u201d They masterfully use the Bible\u2019s most cryptic passages to explain the past, to understand the present, and to predict the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthews\u2019 efforts highlight the paradox that lie at the heart of fundamentalists\u2019 work. They believed in two almost paradoxical principles. First, fundamentalists felt certain that the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ was imminent. And second, they believed that Jesus had nevertheless called them to \u201coccupy\u201d this world until that imminent return. These convictions worked in concert to inspire in fundamentalists bold, relentless, unapologetic, and aggressive action unparalleled in modern Christendom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With time running out, fundamentalists and evangelicals intended to shake the world. They sought instant redemption, immediate transformation. Hence Billy Sunday preached Prohibition and Jerry Falwell extolled the virtues of limited government and Billy Graham harangued against gay rights while each simultaneously believed that the end was near. They were preparing the world for the final judgment, hoping to redeem as many people as possible before all was lost. Theirs was a politics of apocalypse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As evangelicals\u2019 power and influence has grown in the 21st century, they are investing more in this world than in preparing for the next. Yet a recent poll revealed that 41% of all Americans (well over one-hundred million people) and 58% of white evangelicals believe that Jesus is \u201cdefinitely\u201d or \u201cprobably\u201d going to return by 2050. Even here in the Pacific Northwest, where church membership has been declining for decades, end-times preaching attracts hundreds of thousands of adherents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The conviction that the end is near is all the incentive evangelicals need to continue to spread their faith\u2014with all of its social and political ramifications\u2014as aggressively and as widely as possible. Evangelicalism, perhaps better than competing faiths, provides millions of people navigating a chaotic and seemingly meaningless world with purpose, significance and an eagerness for action. That was Mark Matthews\u2019 genius, and that is the genius of modern American evangelicalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Outro: <\/strong>That\u2019s WSU History Professor Matthew Sutton. His books <em>American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism<\/em> and <em>Double Crossed: <\/em><em>The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War<\/em> can be found at your independent bookseller. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-container  wsu-position--relative\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-decorator wsu-zindex--level-2 wsu-spacing-before--xmedium wsu-spacing-after--large wsu-position--relative wsu-decorator--style-block-gray\" style=\"top:40px;left:-100px;height:3px;width:260px\"><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wsu-decorator  wsu-decorator--style-lines-crimson wsu-zindex--level-3 wsu-position--relative\" style=\"top:-40px;left:-40px;height:25px;width:63%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author:<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Sutton-WSU-photoBlk-White.jpg\" alt=\"Matthew Sutton\" class=\"wp-image-378\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Sutton-WSU-photoBlk-White.jpg 400w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Sutton-WSU-photoBlk-White-396x396.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/04\/Sutton-WSU-photoBlk-White-198x198.jpg 198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Matthew Sutton is a Professor in the WSU Department of History, Berry Family Distinguished Professor in the Liberal Arts, and History Department Chair. His research and teaching interests focus on the 20th century United States, cultural history, and religious history. He is the author of <em>Double Crossed:&nbsp;The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the&nbsp;Second World War<\/em> &#8211; the never-before-told story of the missionaries, priests, rabbis, and other religious activists who went to work as spies for the United States government during World War II &#8211; and <em>American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism &#8211;<\/em> the first comprehensive history of modern American evangelicalism to appear in a generation. <em>American Apocalypse <\/em>was named a <em>Choice <\/em>(American Library Association) \u201cOutstanding Academic Title of 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-column  wsu-color-background--gray-0\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large wsu-heading--style-marked\">Books by Matthew Sutton: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"184\" height=\"293\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/06\/Sutton-Aimee-Semple-McPherson.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover for Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America by Matthew Sutton\" class=\"wp-image-441\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(Publisher: Harvard University Press)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-American-Apocalypse-Book-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover: American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism by Matthew Sutton\" class=\"wp-image-244\" width=\"247\" height=\"374\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(Publisher: Harvard University Press)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Double Crossed: The Missionaries who Spied for the United States During the Second World War<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Duble-Crossed.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover for Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War by Matthew Sutton\" class=\"wp-image-246\" width=\"218\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Duble-Crossed.jpg 436w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Sutton-Duble-Crossed-396x613.jpg 396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 218px) 100vw, 218px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(Publisher: Hachette Book Group)<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>End Times Preaching In Seattle And The Politics Of The Apocalypse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3554,"featured_media":0,"parent":40,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3554"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":658,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions\/658"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}