(no subject)
The number of events that have predicted where the end of the world is happening “now” and the call to repent is staggering and one of the great constants through human history. There have been many “boy who cried the end of the world” stories through the ages. This has also led to people attempting to crack the Bible Code, the idea that the Bible has secret messages, like when the end of the world will occur, if you translate it correctly. One interesting story is that of William Miller, veteran of the War of 1812, Baptist, and farmer. He looked at various words, and decided they were code for other words, and used the numbers that he found within the Bible to find the “correct date” for the end of the world.
What makes this man so interesting is that he wasn’t a fire and brimstone preacher. He was described as a man who kept the same even cadence as a teacher. Even with his light demeanor, hundreds of evangelicals who were used to rousing speeches came to hear him speak. He experienced his original conversion on the battlefield, and people loved to hear him speak.
On the day that Miller prophesied, amazing things happened. People quit their jobs and boarded up businesses. Unsolved crimes that people had given up hope of ever solving were confessed to. Unfortunately, it is also the day that historians cite as “The Great Disapointment.” People were saddened by the lack of appearance of the end of the world and more importantly, the arrival of Jesus Christ, even so many continued with the faith. Over time, many others have predicted the end of the world, but with each failed prophecy, only two more spring up in its place.
In contrast to more peaceful endeavors towards the end of the World, the Apocalyptic literature has been used for other reasons as well. It was also a tool of war, in this case, the Civil War. The War that pitted family and friends against each other, so undoubtedly it would have a spiritual side as well. The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” blatantly borrows from the imagery of Revelation in its conception, and of course both sides were claiming the other to be the prophesized evil from the Bible. Thus, war was waged spiritually and physically.
Apocalyptic evolution continued to advance, and only gain in popularity over time. Religion after Religion and prophecy after prophecy cropped up. The Apocalypse was popping up more and more in history, till, if you have the right lenses, all you can see is Apocalypse after Apocalypse. It really gets fun in the modern period.
Apocalypticism
Apocalypticism is a worldview based on the idea that important matters are esoteric in nature ("hidden") and they will soon be revealed in a major confrontation of earth-shaking magnitude that will change the course of history. Apocalypticism can be tied to religious or secular views, and the expected outcome can be seen as positive, negative, or ambiguous. It can appear as a personal and group tendency, outlook, perceptual frame, or rhetorical style; and can lead people toward passivity while awaiting the inevitable end, or active preparation in anticipation of an "apocalyptic" event.
Apocalypticism is a frequent theme of literature, film and television. It also influences political policy like in the case of apocalyptic preacher and many-time Presidential advisor Billy Graham, doomsayer extraordinaire. The Cold War brought in new ideas on how the Apocalypse could happen. It also was the headway into new, modern fears closely tied to Apocalypticism.
William “Billy” Franklin Graham Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is a prominent career evangelist and an Evangelical Christian. He is not the first, nor the last Evangelical predictor of Apocalypses, but he has been the most influential, in at least the last century. He has been a spiritual adviser to multiple U.S. presidents. He has had close relationships with Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, and the Bush family. Graham has been very outspoken against communism and generally supportive of U.S. Cold War policy, including the Vietnam War.
The Reverend Graham was a huge fan of Apocalypticism. He took to announcing often that the world was about to end. Back in 1950, he had this to say about 1952,
I sincerely believe that the Lord draweth nigh… We have another year, maybe two years to work for Jesus Christ and [then] ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is all going to be over… Two years and its all going to be over.
Though this was a younger Graham at the start of his career, he gave the fire and brimstone speeches all the time. However, he only set dates a couple times and only at the beginning of his career.
When the time approached that he had speculated upon, 1952, he gave another statement.
Unless this nation turns to Christ in the next two months, I despair of its future.
Graham still believed that the world was about to end, but he had given himself an opening. He didn’t necessarily say they’re going to hell in two months; however, he left that idea open to be thought upon. Graham is now left with an out when the time comes, also, his political message is set up that he favors America over other countries. Whether God likes them more to give them a warning or feels that they have the greatest possibility to be saved are possible messages here. It also matters on how the messages got out
Along with the immense political power that Graham had, he rode the starting wave of mass communications. This could either be mutually exclusive or why he had so much political power, but he used this new medium to reach people all over the world. So the reverend Billy Graham exploded in popularity almost over night.
The Cold War helped Apocalypticism. People become more religious when they live in fear. When something horrible was happening to the ancient Babylonians, like a flood destroying all of their crops, it was because the Gods were fighting. It only stands to reason that people would do the same today when our ancestors have firmly learned such an instinct. Instead of using myths, we told our tales with science.
New expressions have been inserted into our vocabulary, and with them, the fears that we took from Cold War. WMDs, MAD, UN, EU, and the fictional GC. With WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) giving us the idea that we don’t need some higher power to cause damage on a massive scale enough to end the world, we can do it ourselves. The UN (United Nations), EU (European Union), and the GC all cause fear in the hearts of those who know that one world government leads to one world religion and both of these are the signs of the times according to some people’s views on Revelation.
Fear has seeped into our culture. It wasn’t just those fundamentalist Christians anymore. The monopoly on the ability to end existence as we know it had been taken out of the hands of God. It was in the hands of man now as well. So, with the fear and knowledge that we know had, we wrote about it, and told people about our fear.
Culture clash or contemporary history? Idea
Branch Davidians
Rebuilding the Temple
Many Protestants believe in the importance of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. They grasp this from passages in the Old Testament including Ezekiel.
Some Latter Day Saints also believe the Temple needs to be rebuilt. Joseph Smith, Jr. believed that not only would the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt, but that its counter-part would be constructed in Independence, Missouri. This temple is also referred to as the temple of New Jerusalem, or Zion. Originally the temple was planned to be constructed in the 1830s, but this date was postponed. One Latter Day Saint sect, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), attempted to build the temple in the late 1920s, but it was not completed due to the Great Depression. This is a minority as most modern Mormons that each temple is a symbolic representation of the Temple of Jerusalem.
What makes this man so interesting is that he wasn’t a fire and brimstone preacher. He was described as a man who kept the same even cadence as a teacher. Even with his light demeanor, hundreds of evangelicals who were used to rousing speeches came to hear him speak. He experienced his original conversion on the battlefield, and people loved to hear him speak.
On the day that Miller prophesied, amazing things happened. People quit their jobs and boarded up businesses. Unsolved crimes that people had given up hope of ever solving were confessed to. Unfortunately, it is also the day that historians cite as “The Great Disapointment.” People were saddened by the lack of appearance of the end of the world and more importantly, the arrival of Jesus Christ, even so many continued with the faith. Over time, many others have predicted the end of the world, but with each failed prophecy, only two more spring up in its place.
In contrast to more peaceful endeavors towards the end of the World, the Apocalyptic literature has been used for other reasons as well. It was also a tool of war, in this case, the Civil War. The War that pitted family and friends against each other, so undoubtedly it would have a spiritual side as well. The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” blatantly borrows from the imagery of Revelation in its conception, and of course both sides were claiming the other to be the prophesized evil from the Bible. Thus, war was waged spiritually and physically.
Apocalyptic evolution continued to advance, and only gain in popularity over time. Religion after Religion and prophecy after prophecy cropped up. The Apocalypse was popping up more and more in history, till, if you have the right lenses, all you can see is Apocalypse after Apocalypse. It really gets fun in the modern period.
Apocalypticism
Apocalypticism is a worldview based on the idea that important matters are esoteric in nature ("hidden") and they will soon be revealed in a major confrontation of earth-shaking magnitude that will change the course of history. Apocalypticism can be tied to religious or secular views, and the expected outcome can be seen as positive, negative, or ambiguous. It can appear as a personal and group tendency, outlook, perceptual frame, or rhetorical style; and can lead people toward passivity while awaiting the inevitable end, or active preparation in anticipation of an "apocalyptic" event.
Apocalypticism is a frequent theme of literature, film and television. It also influences political policy like in the case of apocalyptic preacher and many-time Presidential advisor Billy Graham, doomsayer extraordinaire. The Cold War brought in new ideas on how the Apocalypse could happen. It also was the headway into new, modern fears closely tied to Apocalypticism.
William “Billy” Franklin Graham Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is a prominent career evangelist and an Evangelical Christian. He is not the first, nor the last Evangelical predictor of Apocalypses, but he has been the most influential, in at least the last century. He has been a spiritual adviser to multiple U.S. presidents. He has had close relationships with Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, and the Bush family. Graham has been very outspoken against communism and generally supportive of U.S. Cold War policy, including the Vietnam War.
The Reverend Graham was a huge fan of Apocalypticism. He took to announcing often that the world was about to end. Back in 1950, he had this to say about 1952,
I sincerely believe that the Lord draweth nigh… We have another year, maybe two years to work for Jesus Christ and [then] ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is all going to be over… Two years and its all going to be over.
Though this was a younger Graham at the start of his career, he gave the fire and brimstone speeches all the time. However, he only set dates a couple times and only at the beginning of his career.
When the time approached that he had speculated upon, 1952, he gave another statement.
Unless this nation turns to Christ in the next two months, I despair of its future.
Graham still believed that the world was about to end, but he had given himself an opening. He didn’t necessarily say they’re going to hell in two months; however, he left that idea open to be thought upon. Graham is now left with an out when the time comes, also, his political message is set up that he favors America over other countries. Whether God likes them more to give them a warning or feels that they have the greatest possibility to be saved are possible messages here. It also matters on how the messages got out
Along with the immense political power that Graham had, he rode the starting wave of mass communications. This could either be mutually exclusive or why he had so much political power, but he used this new medium to reach people all over the world. So the reverend Billy Graham exploded in popularity almost over night.
The Cold War helped Apocalypticism. People become more religious when they live in fear. When something horrible was happening to the ancient Babylonians, like a flood destroying all of their crops, it was because the Gods were fighting. It only stands to reason that people would do the same today when our ancestors have firmly learned such an instinct. Instead of using myths, we told our tales with science.
New expressions have been inserted into our vocabulary, and with them, the fears that we took from Cold War. WMDs, MAD, UN, EU, and the fictional GC. With WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) giving us the idea that we don’t need some higher power to cause damage on a massive scale enough to end the world, we can do it ourselves. The UN (United Nations), EU (European Union), and the GC all cause fear in the hearts of those who know that one world government leads to one world religion and both of these are the signs of the times according to some people’s views on Revelation.
Fear has seeped into our culture. It wasn’t just those fundamentalist Christians anymore. The monopoly on the ability to end existence as we know it had been taken out of the hands of God. It was in the hands of man now as well. So, with the fear and knowledge that we know had, we wrote about it, and told people about our fear.
Culture clash or contemporary history? Idea
Branch Davidians
Rebuilding the Temple
Many Protestants believe in the importance of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. They grasp this from passages in the Old Testament including Ezekiel.
Some Latter Day Saints also believe the Temple needs to be rebuilt. Joseph Smith, Jr. believed that not only would the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt, but that its counter-part would be constructed in Independence, Missouri. This temple is also referred to as the temple of New Jerusalem, or Zion. Originally the temple was planned to be constructed in the 1830s, but this date was postponed. One Latter Day Saint sect, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), attempted to build the temple in the late 1920s, but it was not completed due to the Great Depression. This is a minority as most modern Mormons that each temple is a symbolic representation of the Temple of Jerusalem.