Beginning with the emergence of the New Left out of the tumultuous 1960s, the first two installments of Tribulation Cult stretch over three generations, climaxing with the election of 2048. Center stage are four college friends who follow divergent life paths—two Christians who become ministers, their liberal counterparts who rise to the summit of world politics. The journeys of the four focus many interconnected themes in the lives of men and women who must decide where they stand as the nation increasingly splits along liberal and conservative lines, and what role the church is meant to play in that divide. Will true Christians be viewed as a cult, ostracized from mainstream society, culture, and politics?