A Brief History of the End of the WorldMost people's concept of the 'end of the world' comes from the book of Revelation. Alternative apocalypses can be found in the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia, in ancient Hindu scriptures and Norse myths. Today, there are an estimated 25 million Christian fundamentalists in the US who believe it will come with the 'Rapture'; others point to an ecological catastrophe, the AIDS pandemic or nuclear and biological warfare. What happens when, in the grip of apocalyptic prophesy, individuals and groups see themselves as the 'elect' and above conventional mores? As with the Ranters of the English Civil War, it can lead to comedy. But it can also lead to sinister extremism - the Nazis recast it as the Third Reich; latter-day doomsday cults such as the Waco Branch Davidians believed that they too were divinely elected - and could kill in the name of the coming apocalypse. The world today is in the grip of an apocalyptic struggle between the neo-Conservatives in America and a supposed global network of Islamic fundamentalists. For Bush, the war is a 'crusade', for Osama Bin Laden it is a jihad; for both, it is a struggle against absolute evil. From its Biblical beginnings to suicide bombers, via the Vikings, the French Revolution, the Pilgrim Fathers, Hitler's Apocalyptic rhetoric, asteroids and Hollywood, Pearson shows that as long as human beings seek to make sense of the world in which they live, endings will continue to have a future. -- from http://www.amazon.ca (Feb. 3, 2015). |
Contents
The Origins of Apocalyptic Faith | 19 |
The Birth of Apocalyptic Faith | 52 |
Part One | 86 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
A Brief History of the End of the World: Apocalyptic Beliefs from Revelation ... Simon Pearson No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Ahura Mazda Anabaptists angels Antichrist apocalyptic beliefs apocalyptic faith apocalyptic prophet Armageddon Babylon battle beasts Bible biblical bomb Book of Daniel Book of Revelation Branch Davidians Brief History catastrophe century Chapter Christ Christian Church cosmic Crusade cult cultural D.H. Lawrence darkness David Koresh Davidians dead death demonic destroyed destruction divine earth earthly elect Empire end-time enemies Enoch eschatological Europe Evangelicals exile Ezekiel fear figure final fire forces of evil global God's groups heaven hell Hitler Holy human images inspired Islam Israel Israelites Jerusalem Jesus Jewish Jews Joachim of Fiore John John of Leyden killing Koresh land Last Days leader living London medieval Messiah millennial millennial kingdom millennium Mormon Münzter Muslims myth nation Nazis Norman Cohn nuclear political predicted premillennialism proclaimed race radical Ranters recast religious revolution Satan sect secular social spiritual Temple terrorist tion tribulation usher vast vision western Zoroastrianism