A History of the End of the World

121. “A Library of Quotations on Religion and Politics by George Bush,” citing Times- Picayune (New Orleans), December 25, 1999, http://www.beliefnet.com/.

122. Suskind, “Without a Doubt.”

123. Christianity Today.

124. Christianity Today.

125. Wills, New York Times, March 30, 2003 (New York Times Premium Ser vice; adapted).

126. http://www.newhumanist.com.uk.

127. Quoted in Thompson, End of Time, 311. (Robertson is here referring to George H. W. Bush.)

128. Barkun, Disaster and the Millennium, 146.

129. Quoted in McGinn, “Revelation,” in Alter and Kermode, Literary Guide, 523.

130. Schussler Fiorenza, Book of Revelation, 8.

131. Quoted in Boyer, When Time Shall Be, 260 (adapted).

132. Fasching, Auschwitz and Hiroshima, 303–4.

133. Fasching, Auschwitz and Hiroshima, 303.

134. Barkun, Disaster and the Millennium, 59.

135. Quoted in Douglas Robinson, “Literature and Apocalyptic,” in Stein, Apocalypticism, 363.

136. Thompson, End of Time, 129.

137. Said Amir Arjomand, “Islamic Apocalypticism in the Classic Period,” in Apocalypticism, 239, quoting Q. 22:7, Q. 40:59 (61), and Q. 82:5.

138. Quoted in Gorenberg, End of Days, vi.

139. Quoted at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/).

140. Eric Hoffer, True Believer (1951), quoted in Cottle, “Prayer Center,” 24.

141. Barkun, Disaster and the Millennium, 15.

142. Paul D. Hanson, “Introductory Overview,” in “Apocalypses and Apocalypticism,” in Freedman, Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1:282 (“…hearten the faithful…”); Rowley, Relevance of Apocalyptic, 47 (“…those engulfed by suffering…”).

143. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 94.

144. Quoted in Weber, Living in the Shadow, 228.

145. Thompson, End of Time, xiv.

146. Quoted in Thompson, End of Time, 339.

147. Gorenberg, End of Days, 211.

148. Mark 14:17 (KJV).

149. K. C. Cole, personal communication with the author.

150. Rev. 1:8 (KJV).

151. Deut. 29:29 (JPS).

152. Deut. 30:19 (JPS).

153. Mic. 6:8 (TNK) (“…do justice…”); Isa. 58 (TNK) (“…share your bread…”).

Glossary

Amillennialism. See Millennialism.

Antimillennialism. See Millennialism.

Apocalypse. Derived from the Greek word that literally means “unveiling” (apokalypsis), an apocalypse is the disclosure of something that has been concealed. “Revelation” is derived from the Latin word (revelatio) for the same concept, and both words have been used as the title of the last book of the New Testament. As used by biblical and literary scholars, an apocalypse is a text in which the author purports to reveal divine secrets. Among the features that are commonly found in the genre are a human author who writes under the name of a biblical character and a heavenly figure who conducts the human author on a “guided tour” of heaven or earth.

Apocalyptic eschatology. “Eschatology,” strictly speaking, is the study of “last things”— that is, the end of the world and what comes afterward. “Apocalyptic eschatology” refers to the study of what God has supposedly revealed to human beings about “last things,” generally including predictions of a final and successful battle of the forces of good against the forces of evil, the resurrection of the dead, a final judgment with rewards for the good and punishments for the evil, and the advent of a new and eternal realm of divine perfection. Jewish apocalyptic eschatology focuses on the coming of an earthly redeemer and savior (see Messiah) whose name and nature are the subject of speculation. According to Christian theology, Jesus of Nazareth is identified as the Messiah, and so Christian apocalyptic eschatology focuses on the return (or “Second Coming”) of Jesus. (see Parousia.)

Apocalypticism. A belief in the notion that God has disclosed various divine secrets to human beings through visions or other forms of revelation, including “the mysteries of heaven and earth” and, generally but not invariably, the time and circumstances of the end of the world. (See Apocalyptic eschatology.) Some scholars regard apocalypticism purely as a theological matter, but others insist that it also applies to social and political movements and phenomena. Apocalypticism is often (but not always) alloyed with a belief in the establishment of a golden age on earth. (See Millennialism.)

Armageddon. The place-name used in the book of Revelation to identify the site of the final battle between the armies of God and the armies of Satan at the end of the world. The name is apparently derived from the Hebrew phrase Har Megiddo (“Hill of Megiddo”), a site in northern Israel that controls the approach to a strategic pass and thus figured in several historical battles, some of which are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., 2 Kings 23:29).

Bible. The Bible as it is known and used in Jewish tradition is called the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym for the Five Books of Moses (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the various other biblical writings (Ketuvim). Torah, a Hebrew word that carries the meaning of both “law” and “teaching,” refers to the first five books of the Bible, also known as the “Five Books of Moses” because they were traditionally ascribed to Moses, or the “Pentateuch” (a Greek word that means “five scrolls”). The Hebrew Bible is known in Christian usage as the “Old Testament,” and the “New Testament” is the term used to describe the four Gospels, the letters (or “epistles”) of Paul and other Christian authors, and the historical narrative titled the Acts of the Apostles. “The Bible,” as the term is used in Christian circles, includes both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Chiliasm. See Millennialism.

Dispensational premillennialism. See Dispensationalism.

Dispensationalism. A doctrine in Christian apocalyptic tradition that divides the history of