Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements / Edition 1

by Thomas Robbins, Susan J. Palmer

Overview

As we approach the Millennium, apocalyptic expectations are rising in North America and throughout the world. Beyond the symbolic aura of the millennium, this excitation is fed by currents of unsettling social and cultural change. The millennial myth ingrained in American culture is continually generating new movements, which draw upon the myth and also reshape and reconstruct it. Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem examines many types of apocalypticism such as economic, racialist, environmental, feminist, as well as those erupting from established churches. Many of these movements are volatile and potentially explosive.

Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem brings together scholars of apocalyptic and millennial groups to explore aspects of the contemporary apocalyptic fervor in all orginal contributions. Opening with a discussion of various theories of apocalypticism, the editors then analyze how millennialist movements have gained ground in largely secular societal circles. Section three discusses the links between apocalypticism and established churches, while the final part of the book looks at examples of violence and confrontation, from Waco to Solar Temple to the Aum Shinri Kyo subway disaster in Japan.

Contributors: James Aho, Dick Anthony, Robert Balch, Michael Barkun, John Bozeman, David Bromley, Michael Cuneo, John Dimitrovich, John Hall, Massimo Introvigne, Philip Lamy, Ronald Lawson, Martha Lee, Barbara Lynn Mahnke, Vanessa Morrison, Mark Mullins, Ansun Shupe, Susan Palmer, Thomas Robbins, Philip Schuyler and Catherine Wessinger.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415916486
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/22/1997
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas Robbins is an independent sociologist of Religion. He is the author of Cults, Converts and Charisma (1988) and has co-edited numerous books, among them In Gods We Trust (1990) and Between Sacred and Secular (1994). Susan J. Palmer teaches at Dawson College and Concordia University and specializes in new religious movements. She is the author of Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers and AIDS as an Apocalyptic Metaphor.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCATION Patterns of Contemporary Apocalypticism in North America, Thomas Robbins, Susan J. Palmer; Part 1 Theories of Apocalypticism; Chapter 1 Constructing Apocalypticism, David G. Bromley; Chapter 2 Millennialism With and Without the Mayhem, Catherine Wessinger; Chapter 3 The Apocalypse of Modernity, James A. Aho; Chapter 4 Fifteen Years of Failed Prophecy, Robert W. Balch, John Domitrovich, Barbara Lynn Mahnke, Vanessa Morrison; Part 2 Secularizing the Millennium; Chapter 5 Secularizing the Millennium, Philip Lamy; Chapter 6 Environmental Apocalypse, Martha F. Lee; Chapter 7 Technological Millenarianism in the United States, John M. Bozeman; Chapter 8 Woman as World Savior, Susan J. Palmer; Part 3 Apocalypticism and the Churches; Chapter 9 The Vengeful Virgin, Michael W. Cuneo; Chapter 10 Christian Reconstructionism and the Angry Rhetoric of Neo-postmillennialism, AnsonShupe; Chapter 11 The Persistence of Apocalypticism Within a Denominationalizing Sect, Ronald Lawson; Chapter 12 Latter Day Revisited, Massimo Introvigne; Part 4 Violence and Confrontation; Chapter 13 Millenarians and Violence, Michael Barkun; Chapter 14 Religious Totalism, Exemplary Dualism, and the Waco Tragedy, Dick Anthony, Thomas Robbins; Chapter 15 The Mystical Apocalypse of the Solar Temple, John R. Hall, Philip Schuyler; Chapter 16 Aum Shmnky? as an Apocalyptic Movement, Mark R. Mullins]Contributors Index;

Editorial Reviews

As the year 2000 approaches, both popular culture and popular religion have painted pictures of what the end times might look like. Robbins and Palmer have gathered a number of essays that take a sober look at the phenomenon of apocalypticism in the modern world. In a first section, authors like David Bromley (religion, VCU) and James Aho (sociology, Idaho State) challenge traditional theories of apocalypse and show that apocalyptic thinking may be found beyond the borders of linear Western thinking. A second section examines the ways in which apocalypticism has been secularized in movements like the Christian militia movements. In a third section, writers examine the ways in which apocalypticism has been promulgated among organized religions. A final section explores the violence and confrontational stances of apocalyptic movements like the Christian Identity Movement, David Koresh's Branch Davidians and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult whose members loosed sarin gas in the Tokyo subway. In all of the essays, the authors attempt to show how apocalyptic groups may be defined by their attention to the signs of the millennium and the signs of a messiah, a figure who will draw to a close one epoch and usher in a new one, and the ways in which these dual beliefs often lead to mayhem. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Robbins, an independent sociologist of religion, and Palmer (new religious movements, Dawson Coll. and Concordia Univ.) have compiled a collection of articles on the import of the coming millennium and associated groups and movements. The contributorsscholars in religion, sociology, and other social sciencesdiscuss the theory of apocalypticism; secular groups such as survivalists, militias, and feminists; religious groups; and the violence and confrontation associated with the millennium. This collection gives a good overview of a complicated topic by delving into the various movements that are looking at the millennium as a watershed event for their particular sets of beliefs. The work is scholarly with extensive references; it should find a place on academic library shelves, particularly those with strong sociology or religious collections.Cynthia L. Peterson, Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr. at Dallas

Library Journal

These 16 contributions advance the notion that a wave of apocalyptic and millennial ferment has been washing over American society and culture for several decades. The authors discuss this ferment in terms of its contemporary secular forms, its manifestation in American institutionalized religion, and its connection to violence and confrontation in such groups as the Branch Davidians and the Order of the Solar Temple. Although the focus is on North America, several contributors address developments overseas. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"This is a fine collection of high-quality papers concerning millenarianism in Western culture." — American Journal of Sociology
"...a significant contribution as a general scholarly introduction to the subject of apocalyptic and millennial movements in contemporary North American society." — Nathan Rousseau, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"This is a fine collection of high-quality papers concerning millenarianism in Western culture...enlightening...fascinating." — American Journal of Sociology
"This volume makes a worthwhile contribution to the literature. There is no question that the subject matter makes this a timely and important book...the book raises the standard for future studies." — Contemporary Sociology
"This volume documents the richness and diversity of the contemporary apocalyptic imagination." — Stephan Stein, Religious Studies Review, April 2002
"Robbins and Palmer's book...goes far toward filling the need for a broad, scholarly, and yet accessible overview of contemporary millennialism in North America... The case studies that constitute the bulk of this volume are highly effective in addressing many of the fundamental questions that face scholars of millennialism... it is unquestionably a significant contribution as a general scholarly introduction to the subject of apocalyptic and millennial movements in contemporary North American society." — Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"...excellent collection of original papers by 21 qualified authors from nine academic fields... Highly recommended for seminary, graduate, and professional libraries." — R.L. Herrick Choice
"...excellent... the contributors ... analyze contemporary religious movements from the Mormons to Waco and Aum Shinrikyo, and explain the central significance of prophecy in these movements." — Elaine Showalter, Washington Post
"Robbins and Palmer have gathered a number of essays that take a sober look at the phenomenon of apocalypticism in the modern world... In all of the essays, the authors attempt to show how apocalyptic groups may be defined by their attention to the signs of the millennium and the signs of a messiah, a figure who will draw to a close one epoch and usher in a new one, and the ways in which these dual beliefs often lead to mayhem." — Publishers Weekly
"This collection gives a good overview of a complicated topic by delving into the various movements that are looking at the millennium as a watershed event for their particular set of beliefs." — Library Journal
"[This book] provide[s] a wealth of details on groups arising out of Roman Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, and Seventh-day Adventist churches, as well as those originating from a diverse number of secular movements ranging from the militas to environmentalist." —Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Baylor Univ., Waco, TX for Journal of Church and State."

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