Dimensions
167 x 240 x 31mm
Radical Religious Politics to the End of the Second Millennium.
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes . . . All these are the beginning of sorrows."
The image of the Apocalypse has resonated throughout the history of Christianity. St Matthew's quote from Jesus given above is characteristic of a rich vein of imagery about Armageddon and the Second Coming which has incited many sects to extraordinary acts of violence and fanaticism.
As the end of the millennium approaches there appears to be a fresh sense of crisis in some of these communities. 'Messianic Revolution' offers an invaluable guide to the history of this remarkable facet of Christian belief. Katz and Popkin describe the many charismatic, often highly disturbing figures who have shaped both ephemeral and long-lasting traditions - ranging from Seventh Day Adventists, Swedenborgians and Jehovah's Witnesses to Moonies, Branch Davidians and the followers of Jim Jones.
The authors are particularly interested in the complex web of influences which have, over the centuries, propelled these movements as each draws on earlier writings to justify its own precepts. English figures have had a crucial role in this - from Isaac Newton to the bizarre followers of British Israelism who were convinced that the Anglo-Saxon peoples were the true descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. While merely bizarre in retrospect, British Israelism was also racist and potentially brutal. This book makes explicit its crucial role in shaping contemporary millennial movements. Drawing on the full range of apocalyptic teachings, these movements have resulted in white survivalism, mass suicides in Guyana, Switzerland and California, the catastrophe of the Waco siege and the Oklahoma City bombing.
This absorbing and disturbing book will be of great interest to anyone wishing either to understand the history of millennarian belief or to make sense of a highly disordered element in contemporary life.
