Скачать книгу - Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism

The planet is sick. Human beings are guilty of damaging it. We have to pay. Today, that is the orthodoxy throughout the Western world. Distrust of progress and science, calls for individual and collective self-sacrifice to ‘save the planet’ and cultivation of fear: behind the carbon commissars, a dangerous and counterproductive ecological catastrophism is gaining ground. Modern society’s susceptibility to this kind of thinking derives from what Bruckner calls “the seductive attraction of disaster,” as exemplified by the popular appeal of disaster movies. But ecological catastrophism is harmful in that it draws attention away from other, more solvable problems and injustices in the world in order to focus on something that is portrayed as an Apocalypse. Rather than preaching catastrophe and pessimism, we need to develop a democratic and generous ecology that addresses specific problems in a practical way.

This accessible and enlightening history provides insights into the fascinating genre of apocalyptic literature, showing how the apocalypse encompasses far more than popular views of the last judgment and violent end of the world might suggest. An accessible and enlightening history of the «apocalypses»–ancient Jewish and Christian works – providing fresh insights into the fascinating genre of literature Shows how the apocalypses were concerned not only with popular views of the last judgment and violent end of the world, but with reward and punishment after death, the heavenly temple, and the revelation of astronomical phenomena and other secrets of nature Traces the tradition of apocalyptic writing through the Middle Ages, through to the modern era, when social movements still prophesise the world’s imminent demise

Winner of the American Sociological Association's 'Distinguished Book Award' in the Religion category. For most of us, «Apocalypse» suggests the cataclysmic end of the world. Yet in Greek «apocalypse» means «revelation,» and the real subject of the Book of Revelation is how the sacred arises in history at a moment of crisis and destiny. With origins in ancient religions, the apocalyptic has been a transformative force from the time of the Crusades, through the Reformation, the French Revolution and modern communism, all the way to the present day «Islamic Jihad» and «War on Terror.» In Apocalypse, John R. Hall explores the significance of apocalyptic movements and the role they have played in the rise of the West and «The Empire of Modernity.» This brilliant cross-disciplinary study offers a novel basis for rethinking our social order and its ambivalent relations to sacred history. Apocalypse will attract general readers seeking new understandings of the world in challenging times. Scholars and students will find a compelling synthesis that draws them into conversation with others interested in religion, theology, culture, philosophy, and phenomenology, as well as sociology, social theory, western civilization, and world history.

Explication of John’s Revelation, the most mysterious book of the New Testament, containing prophetic eschatalogical visions of the future preceding the end of the word. This interpretation is a combination of the ancient patristic tradition with a more contemporary approach which is based on the prophecies already fulfilled.