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Fascination with the millennium and the end times is not unique to religion. The purpose of religion, however, is primarily to bring meaning and reason to existence. Almost all religions try to satisfy these desires by providing doctrines dealing with the beginning and end. Eschatology, the study of prophesized events of the endtimes, can be found in most religions. (For an overview of millennial terms see these glossaries.1)
This presentation focuses Christianity, but other religions have similar end-time beliefs. And like Christianity, interpretations of their end-time doctrines vary significantly. For example, Buddhism has the indescribable goal of Nirvana and one must go through worlds of destruction and recreation to get there.2 Judaism bases much of its beliefs on the book of Daniel and a messiah that will return and save humanity. Beliefs about the coming messiah range from a literal leader to an idea of an era. Zionists believe that the restoration of Jews in Palestine is necessary and many believe the Jewish temple, now the site of Muslim Dome of the Rock, needs to be rebuilt. This is a massive source of tension in Israel today!3
The end times in Christianity, can be first found in Genesis 6-9 with the great flood caused by human wickedness and the new beginning in Noah. s Ark.
Visions of an ending continue through much of the Old Testament, most famously with the four beasts in Chapter 7 of Daniel. Faced with several political threats, the four beasts have often been considered to be the empires of the Babylonians, Medes, Greece, and Rome. After the fourth. s destruction, the world would be handed over to the saints.4
To many, Christ became the long hoped for messiah but after Jesus. death, little had changed and the persecution against Christians intensified. New Testament writers promoted the idea of a Second Coming and usually suggested that it would occur in a short time, possibly in the time of the interpreter. The Second Coming is mentioned over 500 times in the New Testament.5
Writing in the 5th and 6th Centuries, St. Augustine turned thinking away from an immediate and imminent Second Coming and suggested that the millennium was a symbol not known to humans. This line of thinking would continue for centuries. Martin Luther, the principal leader of the Reformation, would embrace the similar idea that the end time was close but could not be predicted.
St. Augustine, writing in a time of barbaric attacks, did offer hope for believers. In his celebrated book, The City of God, St. Augustine distinguished between the profane city of the world and the city of God attainable to those who seek salvation. This idea of dualism, the separation of an innately evil secular world from a higher realm attainable to believers, is a theme that continues with many millennial groups today.7
Also significant to modern millennial groups are the 12th Century views of the Italian monk Joachin of Fiore. Joachin argued that history consisted of a trinity of stages or that of the father, the son, and the spirit. The third and highest stage of spirituality could be achieved through arduous pilgrimage and tribulation led by spiritual men. Joachin used the idea of dualism and placed in a grand, progressive historical plan. While Joachin of Fiore may have been declared a heretic, the idea of a progressive look at history became an important theme of the Enlightenment.
By the 19th century this linear view of history was widely accepted by scientists, philosophers and theologians alike. Karl Marx argued that history goes through predictable stages and when the proletariat stands up to the bourgeoisie, history would reach its pinnacle with the elimination of the state. Many millennial groups would share this Enlightenment view of history in stages.
The Enlightenment also challenged many literal interpretations of the Bible. The most common way to deal with these discrepancies is to take a broader and more symbolic interpretation of biblical verses. Another way, however, is to take the Bible more literally and rationally use the Bible to develop a view towards history. In other words, the Bible was a puzzle which could be interpreted to predict history.
One of the first and prominent to promote this idea was John Nelson Darby who rejected the Church of Ireland to found the Plymouth Brethren Group. Followers of his beliefs became know as dispensationalists. Darby used the Bible to create seven stages of history each ending in a catastrophe. The world is currently in the seventh stage, or the stage of the church, and will end with the millennium. While Darby's view may seem illogical, it is important to realize that to him and his followers this was a quite rational way to look at things.8 Moreover, it is a view accepted by tens of millions of believers today.
Views such as Manifest Destiny promoted the idea that the United States would play a special role in history as they were God. s chosen people. This made the United States a hotbed of millennial activity.
The Great Awakening in America hosted numerous revivals to make the country as Christian as possible before Christ's return. During this time, America's special role made most millennial thinkers postmillennialists. That is, there would be a millennium utopia before Christ. s return. Utopian communities were groups would prepare for the millennium were a part of the religious landscape.
Premillennialists, however, believe that Christ must return before the Millennium. This usually begins with a nearing seven years of tribulation, in which the rapture (or taking of believers) will occur either before, in the middle, or after the years of tribulation. After this, there will be a millennium of peace before the new kingdom of heaven.
Scholars have recently suggested eliminating the use of pre- and post- millennialism. Rather, they suggest using catastrophic millenialism to refer to premillenialism and progressive millennialism to refer to postmillennialism. These terms better distinguish the difference (Robbins, Wessinger 48-49). Over time, wars and the introduction of such things as nuclear weapons, have made Americans more pessimistic and almost all groups are premillennialists or "catastrophic" believing a catastrophe is imminent.9
William Miller began one premillennialist group and his followers became known as "Millerites." Influenced by Darby's literal approach, Miller used the Bible to calculate that the end would occur somewhere between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When the end did not occur, Miller recalculated the date to October 22, 1844. This time many followers quit their jobs, sold their farms, and invested a large amount into "Millerism."
When the prophecy failed again, Miller never set another date. Yet his followers had invested so much into the movement, that it was hard to die. His follows splintered into groups that today form the Adventist tradition. Primary among the Adventists are the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses, two of the fastest growing religious movements of the twentieth century. Jehovah's Witnesses have predicted Armageddon over nine times and they continued to grow.
Judaism and Zionism
Historical Looks at Christianity
Calculative Strategies for An ImmeImminentcalypse
Additional Interesting Reading:
The Millennium Page was created by Christopher W. Smith (cws2p@virginia.edu), an undergraduate history major at the University as partial fullfulfillmentan independent research project in the Department of Sociology. Mr. Smith was earlier a student in the New Religious Movements course and created a most interesting project on direct sales organizations as parapara-religiousements. He would welcome your thoughts and comments on The Millennium Page.
Jeffrey K. Hadden
hadden@virginia.edu
07/01/99