Longing for the end : a history of millennialism in western civilization / Frederic J. Baumgartner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baumgartner, Frederic J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Millennialism--History.

Millennialism.

Civilization, Western.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 286 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, [1999]

Summary:

Jonestown, Waco, and Heaven's Gate resonate in the minds of contemporary Americans in the same way that Masada or Mount Tabor resonated in the minds of others long past. All of these were movements that believed the end of the world was at hand and their members had to act through violence or suicide to ensure its occurrence. Frederic Baumgartner explores the long, often violent, history of millennialism as it has affected Western Civilization. From the ancient Zoroastrians to the Concerned Christians of 1998, a belief in the imminent end of the present world and coming of the new age has motivated hundreds of sects and cults, some of which burned out in an orgy of violence, to become a permanent part of Western society. Not confined to cults, millennialism has also been part of the motivation behind the Crusades, Columbus's voyages, Marxism and the Third Reich. In this fascinating work, Baumgartner shows why the year 2000 occupies such a powerful place in the Western imagination.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [265]-276) and index.

ISBN:

0312210922

OCLC:

40912582