This book is intended as a survivor's guide to turn-of-the-century and millennial furor. It offers data about events and relevant cultural traditions in the past and a framework within which to consider how we will interpret the waning age and how we can sensibly look ahead.
As a new century and millennium approach, the world braces itself for a frenzied outpouring of popular excitement, tabloid predictions, and religious hysteria, all egged on by a strong dose of mass media attention. Fortunately, historian Peter Stearns has supplied the antidote with this witty and insightful look at earlier millennial fevers and tur
How will the world end? Doomsday ideas in Western history have been both persistent and adaptable, peaking at various times, including in modern America. Public opinion polls indicate that a substantial number of Americans look for the return of Christ or some catastrophic event. The views expressed in these polls have been reinforced by the market process. Whether through purchasing paperbacks or watching television programs, millions of Americans have expressed an interest in end-time events. Americans have a tremendous appetite for prophecy, more than nearly any other people in the modern world. Why do Americans love doomsday? In Apocalyptic Fever, Richard Kyle attempts to answer this question, showing how dispensational premillennialism has been the driving force behind doomsday ideas. Yet while several chapters are devoted to this topic, this book covers much more. It surveys end-time views in modern America from a wide range of perspectives--dispensationalism, Catholicism, science, fringe religions, the occult, fiction, the year 2000, Islam, politics, the Mayan calendar, and more.
From millenarists to Antichrist hunters, from the Sibyls to the Hussites, Visions of the End is a monumental compendium spanning the literature of the Christian apocalyptic tradition from the period A.D. 400 to 1500, masterfully selected and complete with a comprehensive introduction and new preface.
Americans have become excessively fearful, and manipulation through fear has become a significant problem in American society, with real impact on policy. By using data from 9/11, this book makes a distinctive contribution to the exploration of recent fear, but also by developing a historical perspective, the book shows how and why distinctive American fears have emerged over the past several decades.
Arthur P. Mendel argues that throughout history man has worried about the Apocalypse, a phenomenon that has changed from God to reason, to history, and then to nature. He calls for a more modest and humane philosophy with regard to the Earth.'
Road rage, animal rights, cyberporn, crystal healing, doctor-assisted suicide — everywhere we look, the signs all tell us we’re living in a post-Christian culture. Or are we? Leonard Sweet -- cultural historian, preacher, futurist, creatologist, and preeminent thinker -- firmly believes we live today in a pre-Christian society, fraught with challenges, dangers, critical choices, and above all, tremendous potential for the church. The outcome will depend on our response to today’s flood of religious pluralism that threatens to sweep us away. What will we do? Deny the reality of the incoming surge? "Hunker in the bunker," hermetically sealing ourselves in an increasingly out-of-touch church counterculture? Or will we boldly hoist our sails, and -- looking to God for guidance and strength -- move with confidence and purpose over the waves. SoulTsunami is a fascinating, even mind-numbing look at the implications of our changing world for the church in the 21st century. With uncanny wisdom and trademark wit, Leonard Sweet explores ten key "futuribles" (precision guesses that fall short of predictions), expanding on and relating topics ranging from the reentry of theism and spiritual longing in contemporary society, to the impact of modern technology, to the global renaissance, to models for the church to reach people caught in the cultural maelstrom. Here are eye-opening perspectives on the church from within and from without — from its surrounding society.Lively, well-written, and provocative, SoulTsunami is a clarion call for Christians to remove their tunnel-vision glasses and take a good look at the swelling postmodern flood. It also is a voice of encouragement, affirming the church in its role as God’s lifeboat. And it is a passionate, prophetic guide, pointing the way to reach a world swept out to sea.
International theologians consider the importance of Christian eschatology - both to the life, authority and hope of the church in the world, and to contemporary life and thought generally. Issues addressed include the understanding of time, the nature of eschatological imagery, the status of apocalyptic and millenarian language, and the political and ecological context of modern eschatology.
Millennial movements have had a significant impact on history and lie behind many artistic and scientific views of the world. 'The End that Does' tracks the interplay of the arts, sciences, and millennial imagination across 3000 years. The volume presents essays ranging across the study of ancient ritualistic sacrifice, utopian technology and the American millennial dream, science fiction, and the apocalypse of the tabloids. The End that Does will be invaluable to any student or scholar interested in the history of millennialism.
Introducing a novel perspective on the study of history, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora & fauna, including human beings.