Apocalypticism
"The belief in an approaching confrontation, cataclysmic event, or transformation of epochal proportion, about which a select few have forewarning so they can make appropriate preparations. From a Greek root word suggesting unveiling hidden information or revealing secret knowledge about unfolding human events. The dualist or demonized version involves a final show-down struggle between absolute good and absolute evil. In Christianity there are competing apocalyptic prophetic traditions based on demonization or liberation. Central to Christianity, the tradition also exists in Judaism, Islam, and other religions and secular belief structures. Believers can be passive or active in anticipation; and optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome. Sometimes used similarly to the term millenarianism." [1]
SourceWatch Resources
- absolutely good versus absolutely evil
- Bush regime
- Dominionism
- evil-doers
- evil ones
- out of evil comes good
- religion and empire
- theocracy
- dispensationalism
External links
- Jane Lampman, The end of the world, Christian Science Monitor, February 18, 2004: "A 2002 survey showed that 59 percent of Americans believe that the events in the Bible book of Revelation will occur in the future. ... The theology behind end-time prophecy - premillennial dispensationalism (from the idea that God has divided history into ages, or dispensations) - emerged in 19th-century England. It was brought to America by missionary John Nelson Darby and spread at evangelistic conferences. ... While believers say it spurs righteous living and helps discern God's plan for the world, others see it as fostering a skewed sense of history and of what Christianity is about."
