Apocalypticism
This is the religious belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one’s own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of catastrophic global event.
Apocalypticism is 1 aspect of eschatology in certain religions, the part of theology concerned with the final events of human history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity (societal collapse, human extinction, & so on). Religious views & movements often focus on cryptic revelations about a sudden, dramatic, & cataclysmic intervention of a god in human history; the judgment of humankind; the salvation of the faithful elect; & the eventual rule of the elect with the god in a heaven &/or upon a renewed Earth.
Arising originally in Zoroastrianism, apocalypticism was developed more fully in the eschatological speculations of Judaism, Christianity, & Islam (Abrahamic religions). Religious apocalypticism often involves themes such as God’s judgment, salvation of the faithful, & the eventual establishment of a renewed world.
Apocalypticism is often combined with the belief that esoteric knowledge will likely be revealed in a major confrontation between good & evil forces, destined to change the course of history. Apocalypse can be seen as good, bad, ambiguous, or neutral. This is highly dependent on the particular religion/belief system promoting them. It’s not exclusively a religious idea.
It’s not exclusively a religious idea. There are end times/transitional scenarios based on modern science, technology, political discourse, & conspiracy theories.
Various Christian eschatological systems have developed among different Christian denominations throughout the history of Christianity. Providing different frameworks for understanding the timing & nature of apocalypse vision. While others like postmillennialism & amillennialism.
While teaching that the end of the world could come at any moment tends to focus on the present life & contend that 1 shouldn’t attempt to predict when the end will come. Though there have been exceptions, such as postmillennialist Jonathan Edwards, who estimated that the end times would occur around the year 2000.
In Western Europe, during the year 1,000, Christian philosophers held many debates on when Jesus was actually born & the debates continue to today. This caused confusion among the common people about whether or not the apocalypse would occur at a certain time. Because both literate & illiterate people commonly accepted this idea of the apocalypse, they could only accept what they heard from religious leaders on when the disastrous event would occur.
Religious leader Abbo of Fleury believed that Jesus was born 21 years after the year 1, which was commonly accepted by close circles of his followers. Abbot Heriger of Lobbes argued that the birth of Jesus occurred not during the year 1 but rather during the 42nd year of the common era.
Many scholars came to accept that the apocalypse would occur sometime between 979 & 1042. Under the influence of the Sibylline Oracles & figures such as Otto III & Abbot Adso of Montier-en-Der, many believed that the apocalypse would soon occur.
Some historians think there were ample apocalyptic expectations at the approach of the year 1000 & again at the approach of 1000 anno passionis (1033). Other historians claim that the fear of the year 1000 is a myth & there was no widespread apocalypse sentiment.
As evidence, on December 31, 999, Pope Sylvester II granted certain privileges & guarantees to the Abbey of Fulda, without any indication that either the Pope or the abbot believed that the world was soon to end. There’s also a document from October 3, 999, in which Otto III grants future concessions to Farfa Abbey.
Another document in 999 shows 2 brothers taking a 29-year loan on lands of the abbey of San Marciano in Tortona, suggesting that even common people didn’t believe the world was ending. On the other hand, the fact that Otto III visited the tomb of Charlemagne, the emperor of the year 6,000 (Annus Mundi) on Pentecost of the year 1,000, suggests that even the man who appointed Sylvester pope had his own views on the matter.
The Crusades were filled with apocalyptic expectation & prophecy, beginning with the preaching of figures like Peter the Hermit to inspire knights, nobles, & commorers to March to the Holy Land, & take Jerusalem. Count Emicho, a leading figure of the People’s Crusade, claimed that Christ appeared & ordered him to fulfill apocalyptic prophecy by marching on Constantinople, seizing Jerusalem, triggering the Second Coming, & beginning the end times struggle against the Antichrist.
Leaders of the following Prince’s Crusade, such as Raymond of Aguilers (he was a participant & chronicler of the 1st Crusade & became the chaplain of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Provençal army of crusaders), understood their conquest of Jerusalem as being a victory of Christendom over the Saracen “pagans” & as a sign of the oncoming Apocalypse & Second Coming.
Christian chronicles (like Matthew of Edessa) illustrated the Crusades in an apocalyptic framework, connecting the Frankish rule with the 4th kingdom in Daniel’s prophecy. Many other European writers emphasized the bloodlines during the massacre of Jerusalem as fulfilling the violent prophecies of Revelation.
Joachim of Fiore & other millenarian thinkers perceived the Crusades as temporary, foreseeing the voluntary conversion of the Islamic world over time.
The Fifth Monarchists/Fifth Monarchy Men were an extreme Puritan sect active for 11 years (1649-1660) during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel (which we, personally, can’t wait to get into!! Well, our founder, anyway. They adore apocalyptic prophecies! They’ll probably end up writing the whole Book of Daniel. With a TON of commentary.), that 4 ancient monarchies (Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, & Roman) would precede the kingdom of Christ.
The Great Disappointment in the Millerite Movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller’s predictions that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 prophecy during the Second Great Awakening led him to the conclusion that Daniel’s “cleansing of the sanctuary” was cleansing of the world from sin when Christ would come, & he & many others prepared. But October 22, 1844, came & they were disappointed.
These events paved the way for the Adventists who created the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They contended that what had happened on October 22 wasn’t Jesus’ return, as Miller had thought, but the start of Jesus’ final work of atonement, the cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary, leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.
The Mormon tradition teaches that followers are living shortly before the Second Coming of Christ. The term “latter days” is used in the official names of several Mormon churches, including the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints. LDS president Wilford Woodruff (1889-1898) preached multiple times that many then-living followers “wouldn’t taste death” before witnessing the return of Christ.
According to LDS Church teachings, the true Gospel will be taught in all parts of the world before the Second Coming. Church members believe that there’ll be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, & other man-made & natural disasters before the Second Coming.
The eschatology of Jehovah’s Witnesses is central to their faith & religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in Heaven as king since 1914. This was a date they believed was prophesied in Scripture. After that time, a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in Charles Taze Russell being his people in 1919.
They also believe the destruction of those who reject their message & thus willfully refuse to obey God will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.
The Watch Tower Society has stated that its early leaders promoted “incomplete, even inaccurate concepts.” The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible aren’t inspired or infallible.
Witness publications say that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who didn’t understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter & lighter until the day is firmly established,” to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during “the time of the end,” as mentioned in Daniel 12:4.
Jehovah’s Witnesses state that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God’s Kingdom & they don’t call their core beliefs into question.
For Christadelphians, Armageddon marks the “great climax of history when the nations would be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon,” & “the judgment of them would herald the setting up of the kingdom of God.”
After this, Christadelphians believe that Jesus will return to the earth in person to set up the kingdom of God in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham & David. This includes the belief that the coming kingdom will be the restoration of God’s First Kingdom of Israel, which was David & Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the Gospel taught by Jesus & the apostles.
Realized eschatology is a Christian eschatology theory popularized by J.A.T Robinson, Joachim Jeremias, Ethelbert Stauffer, & C.H. Dodd that holds the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to the future. But instead refers to the ministry of Jesus & his lasting legacy.
Eschatology is therefore not the end of the world, but its rebirth instituted by Jesus & continued by his disciples, a historical (rather than transhistorical) phenomenon. Those holding this view generally dismiss end-times theories, believing them to be irrelevant. They hold that what Jesus said & did, & told his disciples to do likewise, are of greater significance than any Messianic expectations.
David Meade is the pen name of an American end-times conspiracy theories & book author who has yet to disclose his real name. He’s best known for making numerous predictions, which have passed, regarding the end times, including that a hidden planet named Nibiru (a.k.a. Planet X) would destroy the Earth.
Meade predicted that planet Nibiru would collide with Earth on September 23, 2017, destroying it. After his prediction failed, he revised the apocalypse to October, where he stated that the 7-year tribulation would possibly start, followed by a millennium of peace.
In 2008, Meade again made several predictions for that year. For example, North Korea would become a superpower in March 2018, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth in spring. But didn’t predict the exact date this time. After March 2018 passed, he moved the apocalypse to April 23, 2018, in which he also predicted the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, & Virgo would signal the Rapture, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth that day.
However, before that date, he said that reports that he predicted at the end of April 23 were “fake news.” But that the Rapture – but not the end of the world – would take place on an unspecified date between May & December 2018.
UFO religions (think Heaven’s Gate, but without the unaliving) sometimes feature an anticipated end-time scenario in which extraterrestrial beings will bring about a radical change on Earth &/or “lift” the religious believers to a higher plane of existence.
Some followers of UFO religions believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies, & spirituality will enable human beings to overcome current ecological, spiritual, political, & social problems on planet Earth.
Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty, & so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology & spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millennial in their outlook.
The Zoroastrian eschatological ideas are only alluded to in the surviving texts of the Avesta, in particular in the 9th-century text Bundahishn. The accompanying story, as it shows up in the Bundahishn, says: At the end of the “3rd time” (the 1st being the age of creation, the 2nd of mixture, & the 3rd of separation), there will be a great battle between the forces of good (yazata) & those of evil (daeva), in which the good will triumph.
On Earth, the Saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a Last Judgment through an ordeal. The yazata Airyaman & Atar will melt in the hills & mountains, & the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river.
But for the righteous (ashavan), it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to Hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu & the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe. The narrative continues with a projection of Ahura Mazda & the 6 Amesha Spentas solemnizing a final act of worship (Yasna), & the preparation of parahaoma from “white haoma.” The righteous will partake of the parahaoma, which will confer immortality upon them.
Therefore, humankind will become like the Amesha Spentas, living without food, without hunger or thirst, without weapons or possibility of bodily injury. The material substance of the bodies will be sol ight as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single purpose & goal, joining with the divine for a perpetual exaltation of God’s glory.
Although Frashokereti is a restoration of the time of creation, there’s no return to the uniqueness of the primordial plant, animal, & human. While in the beginning there was 1 plant, 1 animal, & 1 human, the variety that had since been issued would remain forever.
Similarly, the host of divinities brought into existence by Ahura Mazda continue to have distinct existences, “& there is no prophecy of their reabsorption into the Godhead.”
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