Eschatology and Apocalypticism

Scholars have commonly located the source of Paul’s analogy for the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:39–49 in the enumerated creatures of Genesis 1. Some interpreters have suggested Sir 43:1–10 lies behind the reference to the variegated glory of the celestial bodies mentioned in 1 Cor 15:41. Paul seems to list each of the respective terrestrial creatures and their bodies in a hierarchical order, as he does with the celestial bodies, relating the resurrection body to the later. Rather than the eschatological egalitarianism presumed in some attempts to appropriate Pauline eschatology for theological purposes, this text suggests that Paul envisioned the imminent resurrection of the dead would result in a kind of celestial hierarchicalism, a point often overlooked by interpreters. In this paper, I will argue for an alternative source for the celestial hierarchicalism apparent in the formulation of Paul’s resurrection mythos in 1 Cor 15:41, namely, an apocalyptic reception of Exodus tradition rooted in the hierarchical ascent of the cosmic mountain in Exodus 24 and its later reception. As is the case for other apocalypticists before, contemporary with, and after Paul, this paper will provide further evidence that Paul's own particular construal of Jewish eschatological mythoi, while recognizable, would place him squarely alongside other Jewish contemporaries who operate at the fringes of their own tradition in the wider ancient Mediterranean religious landscape.

I have held this book back many years.  It is now time for it to see the light of day (being part of the larger work, A Great And Terrible Love:  A Visionary Journey from Woodstock’s Sorceries to God’s Paradise).  With the gained perspective of years it needed some adding to.

Of course for a Poet to stand among the people of Israel—that Israel which cleaves to its King, Messiah, as well the children of that apostate Jewry who spurned Him—and speak truly to both camps without fear of man, this must needs be—simultaneously—an act of war and of love.  The prophetic office in Israel closed when the last prophet, John son of Zebedee (Matthew 10:2), finished writing the apocalyptic vision and prophecy given him around 95 CE—the culmination of all Old and New Covenant prophecy—so what I write is not “immediate” prophecy given me, yet as a student of prophecies the prophetic word of those who came before us is in my mouth.  Paul the apostle of Messiah put it like this, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), and John was instructed by the angel, “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).  The word of our prophets is precious to us who heed them.

I say this is war because of the tearing down of spiritual/intellectual strong holds many have invested their lives building and defending.  To err in this area of theology and vision allows actual blood to be spilled, much blood, precious blood.  We Jews know this first hand, the Arabs also.  But the Christian—and some of the Jewish—West do not; it mostly just sits in its easy chairs in front of the TV and drinks in the fruit of its unseeing.  A storm coming will turn these chairs over.

I do not know how many of my own family have perished because of the blind and blinding rabbinate, and when I say “perished” I mean in the prophesied Gehenna of eternal Hell, so this is no idle theology with me, and I mean it to be war, that the falsity plaguing my people may be challenged on the world stage, what I call, “Apocalypse Field, global arena of consciousness”.  Will my opponents resort to the old tricks of murder, slander, and lies?  What do I care, for I am given a heart and tongue to speak by Him who is Lord of poets, and there could be no power against me were it not given from above, so I will bear this testimony and love not my life even if it be unto the death.  I mean to cut down the lies and hatred that have cost the eternal lives of so many Jews I cannot count them.

What I say is in accord with both the Old Covenant (Tanakh) and the New Covenant Scripture (B’rit Chadashah), despite the opposition of some, both Christians and Jews.  These things impact the wider world also, as Gentile believers in Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah are grafted into the spiritual faith of Israel, from which flows the river of eternal life to all nations—the ancient promise to Abraham fulfilled.

Mark you, the poet’s pen is not filled with lifeless ink.  It is a sword of the Spirit of YHWH, and His vessel.  It is among the foremost weapons of the Apocalypse—if so be it have the wind of Heaven filling its sails, and speeding its missiles, even as Heaven’s power sped David’s stone into the brain of the giant.

Claude Eatherly, pilota e metereologo,
era un ragazzo texano di
27 anni quando ordinò lo sgancio
della prima bomba atomica della
storia, Little Boy, che colpì Hiroshima
il 6 agosto 1945.
Nonostante la giovane età, non
era certo un dilettante: per quella
missione vennero scelti i migliori
piloti della US Army, e Eatherly
aveva già dato prova del suo valore
militare, abbattendo, nel corso
della sua fulminante carriera,
più di trenta aerei nemici. Dopo
lo sgancio della bomba, tuttavia,
lasciò l’esercito e rifi utò qualsiasi
riconoscimento al valore da parte
degli Stati Uniti. Compì anche
maldestre rapine e altri piccoli
crimini, con la speranza di trovare
sollievo nel biasimo collettivo. Ma
ciò non bastò a placare i suoi dilanianti
sensi di colpa e Eatherly
venne internato in un ospedale
psichiatrico. Fu in questo momento,
quattordici anni dopo Hiroshima,
che iniziò un carteggio con
Günther Anders, il fi losofo tedesco
autore del capolavoro L’uomo
è antiquato. Il risultato è questo
libro: un commovente scambio
epistolare tra Anders e un’anima
persa, in cerca di un’espiazione
tanto impossibile quanto necessaria.
Dopo anni di assenza dalle
librerie, torna disponibile una delle
testimonianze più toccanti sul
disastro che cambiò per sempre
la coscienza collettiva.

Who, or what, is the beast of Revelation? We cannot know the Mark of the Beast or any other details until we trace the history of kingdoms, both spiritual and earthly.

The symbols of Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 give us enough information to compare with other passages like Daniel so we can find the true meaning of the beast.

We will find that the end-time beast can be considered as the devil's spiritual kingdom, or the driving force behind religio-political systems on earth.

This translates Paul Casanova, "Mohammed et la fin du monde", collected and published in Paris, 1911. This is just the main section with footnotes; not the Complementary Notes. I have further corrected some typo's, and for the footnotes I have redirected what I could find into modern and/or English references.

In this paper, the author wants to demonstrate that the demise of Pentecostal dispensationalism along with some further contemporary factors are removing the bedrock upon which Pentecostal premillennialism was standing. For this reason, premillennialism is currently being downplayed as the core Pentecostal eschatological doctrine. By the end of this paper, it is proposed that Pentecostal eschatology should still remain premillennial.

It is common to find, in the literature or audios distributed by some dissident ministries, the affirmation that the seven heads of the beast of Revelation 17 represent seven popes (seven kings). Those who make this affirmation usually consider the seven popes starting from 1929, the year when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Benito Mussolini was signed. This article highlights certain problematic presuppositions and historical weaknesses of this point of view.

Es común encontrar, en la literatura o audios distribuidos por algunos ministerios disidentes, la afirmación de que las siete cabezas de la bestia de Apocalipsis 17 representan siete papas (siete reyes). Quienes hacen esta afirmación suelen considerar a los siete papas a partir de 1929, año en que se firmó el Tratado de Letrán entre la Santa Sede y Benito Mussolini. Este artículo destaca ciertas presuposiciones problemáticas y debilidades históricas de este punto de vista.

Background: This thesis aims to show that the narratives of the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul and First Apocalypse of James are written for a Valentinian audience. The purpose is to broaden the field of research on Valentinianism by showing how the authors and their implied readers composed and perceived the texts in question.

Method: Comparing the mythological language of the two narratives and their description of a hero’s journey in a transcendent reality it is possible to disentangle the Valentinian material from the imaginative world of the reader, a world consisted of ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology as well as Jewish apocalypticism and early Christian legends and traditions. The texts are also compared with new research in the field, other related Valentinian scriptures, the New Testament, and Christian Apocrypha.

Results: The texts are pseudepigraphic and written within a Jewish apocalyptic genre sometime during the late second or early third century. The symbolism and the diverse metaphors of the narratives indicate that the texts incorporate a specific soteriological message through embedded Valentinian mythology. The implied reader is to understand that the material world is an illusion and that the purpose of the initiate is to awaken the mind and acquire knowledge about the truth. By doing so the redemption of the believer’s spirit from its human body and soul leads to the reunion of the spirit with God.

Conclusion: The analysis of the texts points toward the fact that the narratives could very well have been used for catechetical or other educational purposes within a Valentinian community. The language and form of the two narratives fit to serve this purpose. In many ways, the reader has to be initiated within a Valentinian context in order to grasp the intended message.

The dissertation focuses on the texts of a religious movement known as Tianshidao (the Way of the Celestial Masters) from the 2nd to the 5th century CE. Tianshidao is presented as a multifaceted tradition that should not be reduced by a predefined essence or a teleological vision of history. Instead of reconstructing one coherent cosmology, the author interprets the texts as representing various alternative cosmologies. They are compared according to the theory of cultural bias of Mary Douglas, in terms of grid and group. Special attention is paid to the employment of the bureaucratic imagery and the representations of time which are interpreted in the context of the cultural bias and the various modes of relationship towards the institutions of Tianshidao and the state. The author also analyses the millennialist character of the movement which was noted by previous research and distinguishes between various types of millennialism.

Trotz zahlreicher und fundierter Einblicke in die Gattung und den theologischen
Inhalt der Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus (NHC V,2) bleibt die genaue
Valenz des Textes umstritten: Ist der Text valentinianisch, wie oft behauptet, oder
nicht, und was bedeutet die Antwort für unser Verständnis der gnostischen Apokalypsen im Allgemeinen? Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über das Problem und belegt, dass der Nachweis für eine valentinianische Herkunft des Textes problematisch ist. Vor allem ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die berühmten valentinianischen Lehrer des 2. Jahrhunderts Bedarf an Pseudonymität gehabt hätten. Ganz im Gegenteil zeigt die Beleglage für die Beziehung zwischen Gruppendefinition und Pseudonymität, dass die bekannten valentinianischen Lehrer ihre Autorität durch ihre kirchlichen Institutionen und hohe Ausbildung begründeten – im Unterschied zu den namenlosen Autoren der pseudonymen Apokalypsen und der sogenannten „sethianischen“ Literatur. Hier erscheint die Möglichkeit, dass die Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus eher ein späterer Text wäre, geschrieben nach der Blüte des Valentinianismus, in einer Zeit, als die valentinianische Theologie eine Art Geheimwissen unabhängig von irgendeiner Schule geworden war.

This collection of essays originates from the 2014 Evil in Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity conference hosted by the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St Mary's University, Twickenham. Featuring an international collection of senior and junior scholars, it represents the cutting edge of scholarship on portrayals of evil in the Second Temple period and the earliest centuries of Christianity. The individual essays consider the significance of “evil” as it relates to a diverse set of topics, including Qumran and its texts, images of disability in 2 Maccabees, dissociations of Jesus from evil in early Christian manuscripts, the “apocalyptic Paul,” Jesus' exorcisms, Gospel cosmologies, the epistle of James, 4 Ezra, the Ascension of Isaiah, Marcion, John Chrysostom, and the Acts of the Martyrs. Contents Christopher A. Rollston: An Ur-History of the New Testament Devil: The Celestial שׂטן (śāṭān) in Zechariah and Job – Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer: Evil at Qumran – Benjamin Wold: Demonizing Sin? The Evil Inclination in 4QInstruction – Louise J. Lawrence: Evil and the Body of Antiochus IV Epiphanes: Disability, Disgust and Tropes of Monstrosity in 2 Maccabees 9:1–12 – Tommy Wasserman: Variants of Evil: The Disassociation of Jesus from Evil in the Text of the New Testament – James G. Crossley: Jesus, Healings and Mark 2:1–12: Forgiveness, a Release, or Bound Again to the Great Satan? – Christopher W. Skinner: Overcoming Satan, Overcoming the World: Exploring the Cosmologies of Mark and John – Jonathan A. Draper: Darkness as Non-Being and the Origin of Evil in John's Gospel – Loren T. Stuckenbruck: How Much Evil Does the Christ Event Solve? Jesus and Paul in Relation to Jewish “Apocalyptic” Thought – James P. Davies: Evil's Aetiology and False Dichotomies in Jewish Apocalyptic and Paul – Chris Tilling: Paul, Evil, and Justification Debates – Steve Walton: Evil in Ephesus: Acts 19:8–40 – Lloyd K. Pietersen: Artemis, Demons, Mammon and Satan: The Construal of Evil in First Timothy – Susanne Luther: The Evil of the Tongue: Evil and the Ethics of Speech in the Letter of James – Nicholas J. Ellis: A Theology of Evil in the Epistle of James: Cosmic Trials and the Dramatis Personae of Evil – Robbie Griggs: Apocalyptic Experience in the Theodicy of 4 Ezra – Jonathan Knight: The Portrayal of Evil in the Ascension of Isaiah – Chris Keith: “The Scriptures are Divine Charms”: Evil, Books, and Textuality in Early Christianity – Dieter T. Roth: Evil in Marcion's Conception of the Old Testament God – Paul Middleton: Overcoming the Devil in the Acts of the Martyrs

This groundbreaking study reveals the distinctive impact of apocalyptic ideas about time, evil and power on church and society in the Latin West, c.400–c.1050. Drawing on evidence from late antiquity, the Frankish kingdoms, Anglo-Saxon England, Spain and Byzantium and sociological models, James Palmer shows that apocalyptic thought was a more powerful part of mainstream political ideologies and religious reform than many historians believe. Moving beyond the standard 'Terrors of the Year 1000', The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages opens up broader perspectives on heresy, the Antichrist and Last World Emperor legends, chronography, and the relationship between eschatology and apocalypticism. In the process, it offers reassessments of the worlds of Augustine, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Charlemagne and the Ottonians, providing a wide-ranging and up-to-date survey of medieval apocalyptic thought. This is the first full-length English-language treatment of a fundamental and controversial part of medieval religion and society.

One of Jesus' memorable phrases is " there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. " It is an apocalyptic phrase without identical extant parallels in ancient literature. The presence of " weeping " often leads to the conclusion that this language is about sorrow and mourning. This study argues that the " gnashing of teeth " is an act of rage. First, it considers parallels with usage in the NT, OT, and extra-biblical literature. Second, it examines how this phrase is used within the narrative scenes of Matthew and Luke. Third, it highlights how this phrase contributes to the identification of Jesus' opponents.

У овом раду полазим од две методолошке претпоставке: 1) Култура се може очитати из језика; 2) Култура је целина, те се може објективно испитати само огледањем с другом целином. Полазећи од лексике, примењујем широку филолошку методологију да бих упоредио православну и модерну језичку слику света, предвиђајући да ће се православна догма показати релевантним и ревелаторним поредбеним еквивалентом савременог дискурса. Нагласак стављам на учење о апокалипси и на појам прелести. Утврђујем да је тај негативни појам у више језика претрпео нормализацију кроз губљење наслеђених речи осуде (прелест) те њихову дискредитацију (лаж), семантичку рестрикцију (превара) и неутрализацију (мнење); кроз афирмативно превредновање (машта) и еуфемистичко преименовање (пи-ар); најзад противосуду (теорија завере) која инкорпорира критичке неологизме (дезинформација). Појам истовремено бележи ширење које обухвата савремене праксе манипулације и кључне речи цивилизације (информисање, ИТ, јавно мнење). Прелест је тиме увећана а њена критика онемогућена променом лексичке и семантичке структуре. Ова промена демонстрира на који начин језик обликује и изражава постистински поглед на свет. Очигледна, битна и епохална, она представља знак времена, који по православној догми јесте апокалиптичан.

In this paper, I proceed from two methodological assumptions: 1) Culture can be read from language; 2) Culture is a whole, and it can be objectively examined only in comparison with another whole. Starting from the lexicon, I apply a broad philological methodology to compare the Orthodox and the modern linguistic picture of the world, predicting that Orthodox dogma will prove to be a relevant and revelatory comparative equivalent of contemporary discourse. The emphasis is on the teaching of the apocalypse and the notion of deception. I find that in several languages this negative notion has undergone normalization through: the disappearance of the inherited words of condemnation (srp. prelest), their disrepute (lie), semantic restriction (fraud) and neutralization (seduction); affirmative revaluation (dream) and euphemistic renaming (PR); finally counter-condemnation (conspiracy theory), which incorporates critical neologisms (disinformation). At the same time, the notion is experiencing an extension which includes modern practices of manipulation and key words of civilization (information, IT, public opinion). The deception is thus increased and its critique prevented by the change of lexical and semantic structure. This change demonstrates how language shapes and expresses a post-truth world view. Obvious, essential and epochal, the change represents a sign of the times, one which according to Orthodox dogma is apocalyptic.

In Book 5 of his Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses), Irenaeus envisions an eschaton that coheres with the beginning of creation and serves God’s purpose of perfecting man in His divine dispensation. For this argument, Irenaeus cites extra-biblical traditions about end times. His depiction of the earthly Messianic Kingdom demonstrates striking similarities to the eschatological visions in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch), a Jewish apocalypse written around the end of the first century, thus indicating shared traditions. In this regard, Irenaeus is rather unique among early Church Fathers. While others show influences of the strand of Jewish apocalyptic tradition that features heavenly journeys, spiritual ascents and angelic theoria, Irenaeus, on the other hand, shows to be heir to the strand of Jewish apocalyptic tradition that envisions an end with the blessing of union with God that is materially abundant, concretely earthy, upon this world created by God from the beginning.

Summary
The literary pattern of Asael’s punishment in the Enochic myth does not seem to stem from biblical literature or Greek mythology. It is far more probable that one has to look for its antecedents in Babylonian anti-witchcraft literature. The Jewish author who lived in Mesopotamia in Late Babylonian period treated Asael and other Watchers as warlocks against whom exorcistic rituals have to be applied. The elimination of Asael and other Watchers from the earthly realm paved the way for the Jewish context of knowledge transmission, exemplified by Enoch and his insight into the structure of the world, revealed to him by angels faithful to God of Israel.

The Bible contains a motif often overlooked, but which is highly significant. That is the Absent Master motif. This is just one short article examining the significance of this motif for understanding Biblical Eschatology. I have also produced a series of YouTube videos exploring the subject in deeper detail

While there can be a blessing in reading any part of God’s Word, the promise in Revelation 1:3 motivated me all the more toward this study project, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (NIV).  This "Revelation Haiku Project" is the summarization of a study of the New Testament book of Revelation by writing one haiku per chapter using the 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable Japanese poetic pattern in English.

This chapter builds on, modifies, and criticizes recent provocative arguments concerning post-political environmental apocalyptic discourses. We develop a notion of contestatory apocalyptics, provide some examples and differences between rightward and progressive apocalyptic contestations. We then outline some of the key examples of a radical apocalyptics and advocate for the emergence of an emancipatory subject capable of crafting alliances with progressive contestatory movements, allowing for a radicalization of the movement as a whole towards post-capitalist politics and ecologies. We conclude by proposing the eco-precariat as a possible name for this emancipatory subject and provide a radical apoclayptics manifesto for the Anthropocene.

Installment #5 in our examination of the so-called contrasts between the AD 70 judgment and the traditional claim of an "end of the world" coming in Matthew 24-25. Our examination demonstrates that the Olivet DIscourse is not a discussion of two events, but one.

An schematic outline of a coherent alternative to the "Anselmian" greatest-being theology that develops themes from the existential tradition, panentheism, process thought, and contemporary open theism. This approach depends centrally on a process-conception of perfection.

THE MESSAGES OF THE APOCALYPTICAL WRITERS
THE BOOKS OF DANIEL, AND REVELATION AND SOME UNCANONICAL APOCALYPSES WITH HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIONS AND A FREE RENDERING IN PARAPHRASE

Author: FRANK CHAMBERLIN PORTER , PH.D. , D.D.
Winkley Professor of Biblical Theology in Yale University
NEW YORK: 1918

Eschatological expectations reached a very high pitch in Russia at the end of 2012. The state media found it necessary more than once to calm the citizens' agitation, and even President Putin took part in this. In the end the world did not come to an end, but this did not remove the actual idea, which is worthy of special analysis. Where did it come from, how did it survive to the present day, in what circles is it perpetuated, and, above all, how is it understood today? Having arisen in a religious context, it has received many interpretations and been borrowed from one religious tradition to another, receiving new forms and being expertly adapted to particular milieux in response to their expectations (see, for example, [De Laubier 2004; Bultmann 2012]). In essence, it is a broad, many-faceted problem which has disturbed people for two millennia and still troubles them today. Here I shall consider only how it is represented in the most popular Christian and esoteric doctrines-how they understand the end of the world, with what they connect it and whom they see as its agents, and, finally, wherein the differences between Christian and esoteric understandings of the historical process lie, and how the approaches of the main esoteric doctrines differ. 2 1 The research was funded by the RGNF under the terms of research project 12-01-00312, 'Contemporary Religion: Tolerance or Radicalism?' 2 At this level the subject has hardly been studied [Bokov 2010]. But as the Swiss author acknowledges, eschatology as a whole has rarely received specialist attention [De Laubier 2004: 8].

In 1372, Milíč – a former notary of Charles IV’s chancellery and a popular preacher – bought a house in the Old Town of Prague, which used to be a brothel before. He founded there a shelter for repented prostitutes and lay preachers and called the place “New Jerusalem”. Until the preacher’s death in 1374, the members of this penitential community practiced communal prayers and mortification of the flesh, promoted the purification of the Church, and preached about the end of times. Several years before establishing the “Jerusalem”, the preacher produced three texts commenting apocalyptic message from the Bible and urging for the Church moral reform.
What sources did Milíč use for composing these texts, and what was his message? Some Czech historians regarded him as the first author in Bohemia to compose original apocalyptic works and to use them as the cornerstones of his reformist activity. However, it will be argued that Milíč’s views partly stemmed from the tradition established by Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202), and it was Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo who stayed in Prague and might have functioned as a link between Milíč and Joachim . To support this argument, I will put into the historical context and critically compare Milíč’s Libellus de Antichristo, Epistola ad papam Urbanum V, and Sermo de Die Novissimo, Oraculum Cyrilli of Joachim, and Cola’s selected letters to Charles IV and his officials. The investigation will also demonstrate that Milíč combined in his doctrine elements of curialism and conciliarism and utilized them in his program for the Church’s moral reform.

Keywords: Milíč z Kroměříže, Joachim of Fiore, Cola di Rienzo, Late-Medieval Bohemia, apocalypticism, theology.

This article proposes a periodisation of the narrative work of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). Two meta-literary notions guide the first period: that of an absolute text and that of a text governed by chance, in which the former is linked to the Kabbalah and the latter to Gnosticism. The next period, which is the focal topic of this study, is governed by the notion of figure in the biblical sense of the term. Borges introduces this notion in his 1949 essay "The Mirror Of Enigmas" that summons texts by Léon Bloy, Thomas de Quincey and Novalis. Through these influences, Borges sketches a figurative poetics whose apocalyptic character situates the work thus produced in the indecision between the eschatology and the scatology.
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Este artículo propone una periodización de la obra narrativa de Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). Dos nociones metaliterarias signan la primera etapa, la noción de un texto absoluto y la de un texto gobernado por el azar, vinculadas, la primera a la Cábala, la segunda al Gnosticismo. La etapa siguiente, tema principal del presente estudio, está gobernada por la noción de figura en el sentido bíblico del término. Borges presenta esta noción en "El espejo de los enigmas", ensayo de 1940 en el que son convocados textos de Léon Bloy, Thomas de Quincey y Novalis.  A través de estas influencias, Borges esboza una poética figurativa cuyo carácter apocalíptico deja la obra así producida en la indecisión entre las dos acepciones del término "escatología"
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Cet article propose une périodisation de l’œuvre narrative de Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). Deux notions métalittéraires signalent la première étape, celle d’un texte absolu et celle d’un texte gouverné par le hasard, liées pour l’une à la Cabbale, pour l’autre au Gnosticisme. L’étape suivante, objet principal de cette étude, est gouvernée par la notion de figure dans le sens biblique du terme. Borges présente cette notion dans « Le Miroir des énigmes », essai de 1940 où sont convoqués des textes de Léon Bloy, Thomas de Quincey et Novalis. À travers ces influences, Borges ébauche une poétique figurative dont le caractère apocalyptique laisse l’œuvre ainsi produite dans l’indécision entre l’eschatologie et la scatologie.

The Jehovists-Il’inites are a little known millenarian movement
founded in the mid-nineteenth century by a Russian army officer
and religious thinker, Nikolai Il’in. Still active in parts of the former
Soviet Union, the Jehovists-Il’inites are an example of how the survival
of a marginal religious group depends on its ability to employ elements
of discourse that resonate with people in a given geographical, social,
and cultural environment. The history, doctrine, and present circumstances
of the Jehovists-Il’inites illustrate aspects of the emergence, development,
and perseverance of sectarian movements in the modern and
late modern period.

Statistically speaking, American Evangelical Christians are uniquely attracted to apocalyptic conspiracy theories when it comes to the topic of climate change. Since Evangelicals constitute a powerful voting/lobbying/shopping bloc, it is worth asking why this might be the case and what (if anything) can be done about it. To this end, my study considers the relevance of two major cultural tributaries to American Evangelical pop apocalyptic culture. In the first section I consider biblical apocalyptic culture and argue that the characteristic apocalyptic promise to disclose hidden divine plans to a misunderstood but soon-to-be-vindicated elect group naturally entails conspiracy-theory thinking. I argue further that apocalyptic imagination and conspiracy-theory thinking are powerful tools for the definition of identity and community. In the second section I turn my attention to the kind of Evangelical pop apocalyptic culture that helped push climate science denial into the Christian mainstream. I argue that in pop apocalyptic productions like the influential tracts and comics of Jack T. Chick, the image of the elect as the persecuted and powerful bearers of special knowledge found a new lease on life, and continues to fascinate millions with the attractive offer of somebody special to be and somewhere special to belong. I conclude that apocalyptic questions of crisis and conspiracy have a sociological function, as means to the end of defining social identity. Understanding this concrete function of conspiracy-theory thinking in Christian apocalyptic imagination can help in assessing and addressing the troubling phenomenon of Evangelical climate denial.