The End of Days

Description

Teachings about the end times can clarify your beliefs and
energize your own spiritual journey.

Christian concepts of the end times involve complex beliefs that have developed over the centuries. They range from popular ideas about the rapture when believers will be swept up to meet Christ in the air, to suspicions about the Antichrist who will deceive and enslave the world, to teachings about the millennium when Christ himself will return victoriously to earth to reign in peace for a thousand years. And Christians have disagreed, sometimes violently, on exactly how and when these events will occur—or whether they will occur at all.

With insightful and broad knowledge of the historical, religious and contemporary contexts of these writings, distinguished scholar Robert G. Clouse guides you through the fascinating and intricate world of apocalyptic literature. He examines key verses from Christian and Hebrew scriptures; visionary writings from Augustine and other Church Fathers; accounts of radical millennial movements of the 1600s; bold sermons from preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and Dwight L. Moody; and popular books circulating in our own day, including 1970s prophecy sensation The Late Great Planet Earth and the mega-bestselling Left Behind novels.

Accessible facing-page commentary explains the apocalyptic writings for you even if you have no previous knowledge of Christian teachings on the end times. Will Christ come on the clouds in power and in judgment? Or is it up to us to usher in the golden age of the millennium? Or is the millennium spiritual, made real only within believers’ hearts?

This book will help you understand the complex Christian visions of the end of the world.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• The End of Days
• History of Christianity
• Eschatology

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 06 juin 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781594733208
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Selected Books in the SkyLight Illuminations Series
The Art of War-Spirituality for Conflict: Annotated & Explained
Bhagavad Gita: Annotated & Explained
The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated & Explained
Celtic Christian Spirituality: Essential Writings-Annotated & Explained
Chuang-tzu: The Tao of Perfect Happiness-Selections Annotated & Explained
Confucius, the Analects : The Path of the Sage-Selections Annotated & Explained
Dhammapada: Annotated & Explained
The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained
Ecclesiastes: Annotated & Explained
The End of Days: Essential Selections from Apocalyptic Texts-Annotated & Explained
Ethics of the Sages: Pirke Avot -Annotated & Explained,
Ghazali on the Principles of Islamic Spirituality: Selections from Forty Foundations of Religion -Annotated & Explained
Gnostic Writings on the Soul: Annotated & Explained
The Gospel of Philip: Annotated & Explained
The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained
Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained
The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained
The Hidden Gospel of Matthew: Annotated & Explained
The Infancy Gospels of Jesus: Apocryphal Tales from the Childhoods of Mary and Jesus-Annotated & Explained
John and Charles Wesley: Selections from Their Writings and Hymns-Annotated & Explained
The Lost Sayings of Jesus: Teachings from Ancient Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, and Islamic Sources-Annotated & Explained
Maimonides-Essential Teachings On Jewish Faith and Ethics: The Book of Knowledge and the Thirteen Principles of Faith-Annotated & Explained
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated & Explained
Native American Stories of the Sacred: Annotated & Explained
Philokalia: The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts-Annotated & Explained
Proverbs: Annotated & Explained
The Qur an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad: Selections Annotated & Explained
Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses-Annotated & Explained
The Sacred Writings of Paul: Selections Annotated & Explained
Saint Augustine of Hippo: Selections from Confessions and Other Essential Writings-Annotated & Explained
The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel-Annotated & Explained
Selections from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Annotated & Explained
Sex Texts from the Bible: Selections Annotated & Explained
Spiritual Writings on Mary: Annotated & Explained
St. Ignatius Loyola-The Spiritual Writings: Selections Annotated & Explained
Tanya , the Masterpiece of Hasidic Wisdom: Selections Annotated & Explained
Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained
The Way of a Pilgrim: The Jesus Prayer Journey-Annotated & Explained
Zohar: Annotated & Explained
The End of Days: Essential Selections from Apocalyptic Texts-Annotated & Explained
2007 First Printing Annotation and introductory material 2007 by Robert G. Clouse
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to SkyLight Paths Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address / fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to [e-mail].
Material included in Into the Twenty-first Century taken from Late Great Planet Earth by Carole C. Carlson; Hal Lindsey. Copyright 1970 by Hal Lindsey. Used by permission of Zondervan.
Additional material included in Into the Twenty-first Century taken from Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth s Last Days by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Copyright 1995 by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
Material included in Radical Millennialist Movements and the Church s Response in the Medieval and Reformation Eras taken from The Reformation: A Narrative History Related by Contemporary Observers and Participants by Hans J. Hillerbrand. Copyright 1964 by SCM Press Ltd and Harper & Row, Inc. Used by kind permission of Hans J. Hillerbrand.
Every effort has been made to locate copyright holders to obtain permission to reprint the material in this book. If there has been an omission and the copyright holder notifies the publisher in writing, appropriate permissions notification will be included in future editions of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The end of days : essential selections from apocalyptic texts : annotated & explained / annotation by Robert G. Clouse. p. cm. -(SkyLight illuminations series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-1-59473-170-9 ISBN-10: 1-59473-170-5 1. Millennialism-History of doctrines-Sources. 2. End of the world-History of doctrines-Sources. 3. Bible. N.T. Revelation-Criticism, interpretation, etc.-History-Sources. I. Clouse, Robert G., 1931- BT892.E53 2007 236'.9-dc22 2006101380
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cover design: Walter C. Bumford III Cover art: original image Black Rider Jiri Snaidr, courtesy of www.istockphoto.com, modified by Jenny Buono
SkyLight Paths Publishing is creating a place where people of different spiritual traditions come together for challenge and inspiration, a place where we can help each other understand the mystery that lies at the heart of our existence.
SkyLight Paths sees both believers and seekers as a community that increasingly transcends traditional boundaries of religion and denomination-people wanting to learn from each other, walking together, finding the way .
SkyLight Paths, Walking Together, Finding the Way and colophon are trademarks of LongHill Partners, Inc., registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Walking Together, Finding the Way Published by SkyLight Paths Publishing A Division of LongHill Partners, Inc. Sunset Farm Offices, Route 4, P.O. Box 237 Woodstock, VT 05091 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] www.skylightpaths.com
I would like to dedicate this volume to the following individuals who helped me in ways too numerous to mention:
Bonnidell Clouse Jackie Heighton Chris Olsen Steve and Mickey Morahn
And to my patient editors:
Mark Ogilbee and Maura Shaw
Contents
Introduction
1. Biblical Foundations
The Seventy Weeks of Years
Increase in Apostasy
The Rapture
The Tribulation
Armageddon
The Millennium
The Last Judgment
2. Premillennialism and the Church Fathers
Papias
Irenaeus
Justin Martyr
Tertullian
Hippolytus
Commodianus
Lactantius
Origen
3. Augustine s Spiritualized Amillennialism
from The City of God
4. Radical Millennialist Movements and the Church s Response in the Medieval and Reformation Eras
Anabaptist Millennialism
John Calvin
Martin Luther
Guy de Bray
The English Congregational Church
5. Seventeenth-century Revival of Premillennialism
Johann Alsted
Joseph Mede
John Archer
John Rogers
Anna Trapnel
6. Eighteenth-century Postmillennialism
Daniel Whitby
Jonathan Edwards
7. Nineteenth-century Dispensationalism
John N. Darby
William E. Blackstone
Dwight L. Moody
8. Twentieth-century Developments
Cyrus I. Scofield
William S. McBirnie
Christabel Pankhurst
Dr. Leonard Sale-Harrison
9. Into the Twenty-first Century
Hal Lindsey
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Notes
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
About SkyLight Paths
Copyright
Introduction
We have no evidence that there exists a special sense or ability to perceive future events in the way that we have the senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste, or smell. Yet the future and what it might have in store seems to be a source of endless fascination for us. From the prophecies of the French Renaissance physician Nostradamus to the cycles of the Mayan calendar that ends (and restarts) on December 21, 2012, we speculate, and worry, about what will happen tomorrow.
A class of literature called apocalyptic, which is found in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as well as in noncanonical sources, deals with this mysterious aspect of human longing. The term comes from the Greek word apocalypsis , meaning unveiling or revealing -as in revealing a secret. The book of Daniel and the book of Revelation in the Bible are the clearest examples of this type of writing, although there are many other examples of literature from the Jewish and Christian traditions that can be classified as Apocalypses.
What makes a particular work an Apocalypse? Apocalypses are stories that use symbols and visions to describe how people received an understanding of future realities from heavenly beings. These visions often describe the meaning of human history and tell of God s judgment on humanity. They usually express the hope of the coming of the kingdom of God to earth and a restoration of idealized, Edenic conditions. An important feature of an Apocalypse is God s judgment-a final confrontation between the forces of good and evil in which evil is defeated forever and God brings about a world ruled by justice and mercy (Rev. 20-22).
The knowledge of these events is communicated to special servants of God by visions, dreams, and angelic messages whose truth and meaning become clear as time passes. Mysterious numbers and strange animal symbols that represent various earthly powers and events are often used. Many parts of the Bible contain elements of apocalyptic writing. Sometimes the visions God gives are interpreted by inspired persons such as Joseph in Genesis 40 and 41. At other times, whole groups of people are affected, as when the inhabitants of Jerusalem are enlightened by the eight visions of Zechariah (Zech. 1-6).
Today, prophecy or Bible prophecy is often used as a synonym or shorthand for such apocalyptic visions and predictions, but this is an unfortunate