The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult

Written by Jerald Walker

Narrated by C.S. Treadway

In 1970, Jerry Walker is six years old. His consciousness revolves around being a member of Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, whose beliefs he finds not only confusing but terrifying. For Jerry's parents, the promise of relief from the world's hardships provides comfort and hope for a divine future where they might regain the sight they each lost as children. The next life would arrive in 1975, three years after the start of the Great Tribulation where all nonbelievers would perish in rivers of flames. When the prophecy of the 1972 Great Tribulation does not materialize, Jerry is considerably less disappointed than relieved. When the 1975 end-time prophecy also fails, he finally begins to question his faith and imagine the possibility of choosing a destiny of his own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Nov 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781666608090

Jerald Walker

Jerald Walker is a professor of creative writing at Emerson College. His writing has appeared in numerous publications as well as four times in Best American Essays. He is the author of Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption, which won the PEN New England/L. L. Winship Award for Nonfiction.

Reviews for The World in Flames

[Rosie Friesen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a surprisingly good listen! I was not expecting such a well-written, cohesive story, but Jerry did a great job of telling his story. The narrator was easy to listen to as well.