Damian Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178562
- eISBN:
- 9780199785070
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178564.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book explores how members of one religious group with a strong apocalyptic tradition — Kensington Temple, a large Pentecostal church in London — reconciled doctrines of the end of the world with ...
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This book explores how members of one religious group with a strong apocalyptic tradition — Kensington Temple, a large Pentecostal church in London — reconciled doctrines of the end of the world with the demands of their everyday lives. It is shown that they subjected these doctrines to a process of scrutiny, moderating and marginalizing them in response to a so-called the “Problem of the End”, the tendency of apocalyptic discourse to predict things that do not happen. In doing so, they employed the same subjective rationality that they applied to all manner of risky religious claims, such as those relating to miraculous healing. In effect, they were testing hypotheses not in a scientific fashion, but according to the dictates of common sense. These findings are difficult to reconcile with the notion that there is a single psychological or material cause of millenarianism.Less
This book explores how members of one religious group with a strong apocalyptic tradition — Kensington Temple, a large Pentecostal church in London — reconciled doctrines of the end of the world with the demands of their everyday lives. It is shown that they subjected these doctrines to a process of scrutiny, moderating and marginalizing them in response to a so-called the “Problem of the End”, the tendency of apocalyptic discourse to predict things that do not happen. In doing so, they employed the same subjective rationality that they applied to all manner of risky religious claims, such as those relating to miraculous healing. In effect, they were testing hypotheses not in a scientific fashion, but according to the dictates of common sense. These findings are difficult to reconcile with the notion that there is a single psychological or material cause of millenarianism.
Morton D. Paley
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199262175
- eISBN:
- 9780191698828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199262175.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This epilogue discusses the discontinuation of the focus of English Romantic poetry on the topics of apocalypse and millennium. Attempts to explore the succession of apocalypse and millennium were ...
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This epilogue discusses the discontinuation of the focus of English Romantic poetry on the topics of apocalypse and millennium. Attempts to explore the succession of apocalypse and millennium were not repeated in later 19th century English poetry. This may be attributed to the possible abatement of the collective anxieties that had led to a wish for reassurance that millennium would follow apocalypse. The apocalyptic theme was then relegated to utopian and dystopian prose narratives.Less
This epilogue discusses the discontinuation of the focus of English Romantic poetry on the topics of apocalypse and millennium. Attempts to explore the succession of apocalypse and millennium were not repeated in later 19th century English poetry. This may be attributed to the possible abatement of the collective anxieties that had led to a wish for reassurance that millennium would follow apocalypse. The apocalyptic theme was then relegated to utopian and dystopian prose narratives.
Kenneth G. C. Newport
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199245741
- eISBN:
- 9780191697494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245741.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed ...
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It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed without anyone outside Waco knowing of their existence. Both these movements are very complex and previous literatures prove to be insufficient in providing an accurate account of the various aspects of the movements since these would require looking into their long history, and David Koresh cannot be isolated from an concrete understanding of these movements. While the evidence for who initiated the Waco fire would point to the Branch Davidians themselves, this concluding chapter summarizes how the book has focused on describing the act of apocalyptic self-destruction for new birth.Less
It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed without anyone outside Waco knowing of their existence. Both these movements are very complex and previous literatures prove to be insufficient in providing an accurate account of the various aspects of the movements since these would require looking into their long history, and David Koresh cannot be isolated from an concrete understanding of these movements. While the evidence for who initiated the Waco fire would point to the Branch Davidians themselves, this concluding chapter summarizes how the book has focused on describing the act of apocalyptic self-destruction for new birth.
Damian Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178562
- eISBN:
- 9780199785070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178564.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of existing academic theories of millenarianism, some of which reflect, and may even help shape, popular misconceptions of apocalyptic believers. It ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of existing academic theories of millenarianism, some of which reflect, and may even help shape, popular misconceptions of apocalyptic believers. It is argued that the most important factor distinguishing extreme from moderate millenarianism is the imminence of the End, not its violent character. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of existing academic theories of millenarianism, some of which reflect, and may even help shape, popular misconceptions of apocalyptic believers. It is argued that the most important factor distinguishing extreme from moderate millenarianism is the imminence of the End, not its violent character. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.
Grant Hardy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199731701
- eISBN:
- 9780199777167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731701.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature, World Religions
The second half of Nephi's account consists of sermons and prophecies, many of which are derived from Isaiah. Several chapters from the King James Version of Isaiah are quoted at length, but with ...
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The second half of Nephi's account consists of sermons and prophecies, many of which are derived from Isaiah. Several chapters from the King James Version of Isaiah are quoted at length, but with modifications. Within the narrative frame of the Book of Mormon, Nephi is presented as an interpreter of scripture, who adds glosses and reinterprets the biblical prophecies as applying to his own family. Nephi also lifts key phrases from Isaiah and works them into novel predictions concerning his descendants, the Book of Mormon, and the cultural context of its eventual publication (nineteenth-century America). Non-biblical prophecies ascribed to Joseph of Egypt are given particular weight as well, and Nephi reports a vision of his own that might be classified as an apocalypse.Less
The second half of Nephi's account consists of sermons and prophecies, many of which are derived from Isaiah. Several chapters from the King James Version of Isaiah are quoted at length, but with modifications. Within the narrative frame of the Book of Mormon, Nephi is presented as an interpreter of scripture, who adds glosses and reinterprets the biblical prophecies as applying to his own family. Nephi also lifts key phrases from Isaiah and works them into novel predictions concerning his descendants, the Book of Mormon, and the cultural context of its eventual publication (nineteenth-century America). Non-biblical prophecies ascribed to Joseph of Egypt are given particular weight as well, and Nephi reports a vision of his own that might be classified as an apocalypse.
Thomas Robbins and John R. Hall
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177299
- eISBN:
- 9780199785537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177299.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Research relevant to teaching about NRMs and violence suggests that internal and external factors, and their interaction contribute to the occasional involvement of religious movements in violent ...
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Research relevant to teaching about NRMs and violence suggests that internal and external factors, and their interaction contribute to the occasional involvement of religious movements in violent episodes. Charismatic leadership, “totalistic” organization, and apocalyptic beliefs are among internal factors that have been implicated in violence, while external situational pressures include persecution and confrontational interaction with opponents. Teaching students about the situated connections between religious movements and violence presents special educational opportunities as well as challenges. An effective teaching program may help students understand both that elements of violence connected to NRMs have their parallels in wider social processes, e.g., in families, and that religion has the potential to exacerbate conflict. Due consideration needs to be given to defining violence, to theoretical explanations of violence, to historical and comparative cases, and to a series of basic questions about violence and religion in order to give students a basis for seeking to explain contemporary cases of NRM violence, extending even to the consideration of religious terrorism.Less
Research relevant to teaching about NRMs and violence suggests that internal and external factors, and their interaction contribute to the occasional involvement of religious movements in violent episodes. Charismatic leadership, “totalistic” organization, and apocalyptic beliefs are among internal factors that have been implicated in violence, while external situational pressures include persecution and confrontational interaction with opponents. Teaching students about the situated connections between religious movements and violence presents special educational opportunities as well as challenges. An effective teaching program may help students understand both that elements of violence connected to NRMs have their parallels in wider social processes, e.g., in families, and that religion has the potential to exacerbate conflict. Due consideration needs to be given to defining violence, to theoretical explanations of violence, to historical and comparative cases, and to a series of basic questions about violence and religion in order to give students a basis for seeking to explain contemporary cases of NRM violence, extending even to the consideration of religious terrorism.
Colm Ó Siochrú
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265871
- eISBN:
- 9780191772030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265871.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This essay explores E. A. Freeman’s conception of the ‘unity of history’. Often presented in ‘Whiggish’ and secular terms, as the development of Roman imperialism into Teutonic liberty and ...
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This essay explores E. A. Freeman’s conception of the ‘unity of history’. Often presented in ‘Whiggish’ and secular terms, as the development of Roman imperialism into Teutonic liberty and nationality, this idea had deep religious roots and significances. Modernity, for Freeman, evolved in creative ‘continuity’ with Rome; but he considered that legacy contested by rival forms of Catholic Christianity – the papal-Roman, and the Orthodox-Anglican. From the emergence of this tension in Freeman’s youthful notions of the Church, history, and liberty, the essay charts a deepening aversion to ‘ultramontanism’, conceived as an integral programme of papal oppression – ecclesiastical, political, and scientific. The fall of papal Rome to the liberal-national campaign for Italian unification (1870) should have meant the vindication of Freeman’s liberal Catholic vision. The ambivalence marking his response, however, suggested his deepening anxieties concerning the future of modernity’s Christian order.Less
This essay explores E. A. Freeman’s conception of the ‘unity of history’. Often presented in ‘Whiggish’ and secular terms, as the development of Roman imperialism into Teutonic liberty and nationality, this idea had deep religious roots and significances. Modernity, for Freeman, evolved in creative ‘continuity’ with Rome; but he considered that legacy contested by rival forms of Catholic Christianity – the papal-Roman, and the Orthodox-Anglican. From the emergence of this tension in Freeman’s youthful notions of the Church, history, and liberty, the essay charts a deepening aversion to ‘ultramontanism’, conceived as an integral programme of papal oppression – ecclesiastical, political, and scientific. The fall of papal Rome to the liberal-national campaign for Italian unification (1870) should have meant the vindication of Freeman’s liberal Catholic vision. The ambivalence marking his response, however, suggested his deepening anxieties concerning the future of modernity’s Christian order.
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehudah Cohn, and Fergus Millar
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265222
- eISBN:
- 9780191771873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265222.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the ...
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This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the contents, dating, language, printed editions, translations, commentaries, bibliography, electronic resources and manuscripts are provided.Less
This chapter describes the following apocalyptic texts: Reuyot Yeṭezqel; Sefer Eliyahu; Sefer Zerubavel; and The Secrets of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoṭai (Rashbi). For each of these texts, details on the contents, dating, language, printed editions, translations, commentaries, bibliography, electronic resources and manuscripts are provided.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear ...
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This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear evidence that certain rabbis felt attracted to the idea of a second divine figure, enjoying equal rights with God. The angry rejection of this idea by other rabbis demonstrates that such “heretical” ideas gained a foothold within the rabbinic fold of Babylonian Jewry. The Bavli's Daniel exegesis finds its counterpart in the David Apocalypse, which gives an elaborate description of the elevated David and his worship in heaven. This unique piece is structurally similar to the elevation of the Lamb (that is, Jesus Christ) in the New Testament Book of Revelation and can be interpreted as a response to the New Testament.Less
This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear evidence that certain rabbis felt attracted to the idea of a second divine figure, enjoying equal rights with God. The angry rejection of this idea by other rabbis demonstrates that such “heretical” ideas gained a foothold within the rabbinic fold of Babylonian Jewry. The Bavli's Daniel exegesis finds its counterpart in the David Apocalypse, which gives an elaborate description of the elevated David and his worship in heaven. This unique piece is structurally similar to the elevation of the Lamb (that is, Jesus Christ) in the New Testament Book of Revelation and can be interpreted as a response to the New Testament.
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195307337
- eISBN:
- 9780199867868
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195307337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
For over two millennia, western cultural development—and particularly the western geographic imagination—has been shaped by the myth of the ten lost tribes of Israel. From biblical times to this ...
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For over two millennia, western cultural development—and particularly the western geographic imagination—has been shaped by the myth of the ten lost tribes of Israel. From biblical times to this present day, geographers and theologians, adventurers and politicians have found meaning in the idea that some core group of humanity—the ten tribes first referenced in I Kings—had been “lost,” banished to a secret place, someday to return triumphant someday. This book reveals for the first time the tremendous extent to which this notion has been embedded at the very root of key episodes in world historical development: the formation of the first “world” empires, the Christian and Jewish worlds of late antiquity and the middle ages, the age of discovery, the spread of European imperialism across the globe, the rise of modern‐day evangelical apocalypticism. All have as one of their most important origins the search for the missing tribes, and the fervent belief that their restitution marked a necessary step to global redemption. This new study charts the myth of the ten lost tribes from its biblical formation to the modern period, displaying a wealth of sources as it charts the role of the search for the ten lost tribes in the expansion of world geographical knowledge. The lost tribes, long thought to lurk at the world's very “edges,” became the means of expanding those edges: as new oceans, islands, or continents were located for the first time. The ten tribes were used as the mechanism for understanding the world. Virtually every known place on the earth's surface, from Argentina to Zululand, the American Southwest to Southeast Asia, has, at some point, been claimed as their true home. This book shows how the constant quest for the missing tribes has served as a major engine for territorial exploration and expansion, and why it has been one of our most enduring and pervasive cultural myths.Less
For over two millennia, western cultural development—and particularly the western geographic imagination—has been shaped by the myth of the ten lost tribes of Israel. From biblical times to this present day, geographers and theologians, adventurers and politicians have found meaning in the idea that some core group of humanity—the ten tribes first referenced in I Kings—had been “lost,” banished to a secret place, someday to return triumphant someday. This book reveals for the first time the tremendous extent to which this notion has been embedded at the very root of key episodes in world historical development: the formation of the first “world” empires, the Christian and Jewish worlds of late antiquity and the middle ages, the age of discovery, the spread of European imperialism across the globe, the rise of modern‐day evangelical apocalypticism. All have as one of their most important origins the search for the missing tribes, and the fervent belief that their restitution marked a necessary step to global redemption. This new study charts the myth of the ten lost tribes from its biblical formation to the modern period, displaying a wealth of sources as it charts the role of the search for the ten lost tribes in the expansion of world geographical knowledge. The lost tribes, long thought to lurk at the world's very “edges,” became the means of expanding those edges: as new oceans, islands, or continents were located for the first time. The ten tribes were used as the mechanism for understanding the world. Virtually every known place on the earth's surface, from Argentina to Zululand, the American Southwest to Southeast Asia, has, at some point, been claimed as their true home. This book shows how the constant quest for the missing tribes has served as a major engine for territorial exploration and expansion, and why it has been one of our most enduring and pervasive cultural myths.
Thomas O. Beebee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195339383
- eISBN:
- 9780199867097
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339383.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
This book compares modern literary treatments of the theme of millennium—stories of the “end of the world,” conceived as the ultimate battle between good and evil resulting in the institution of an ...
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This book compares modern literary treatments of the theme of millennium—stories of the “end of the world,” conceived as the ultimate battle between good and evil resulting in the institution of an utterly new social order. The book compares fiction, plays, poetry, and other works written in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish representing a wide spectrum of communities across the Americas, from the colonial origins to the present, from the letters of Columbus to the Left Behind series of novels. The goal is to understand better a thematic that has defined the Americas since the arrival of Europeans, as a “technology of the self” that furthers national and imperial agendas, but also as a discourse of resistance used by native populations, and that has provided an inexhaustible source of literary plots and tropes. This study brings together historical, literary, and ethnographic records to show that the repeated eruptions of millenarian conflict in the Americas have been both acts of resistance to the eradication of traditional ways of life in the process of nationalization and globalization, and also important sources in the search for origins and foundations. Americans tend to understand their origins by narrating their End. Since this End is always imagined rather than experienced, literature becomes a vital element in its propagation.Less
This book compares modern literary treatments of the theme of millennium—stories of the “end of the world,” conceived as the ultimate battle between good and evil resulting in the institution of an utterly new social order. The book compares fiction, plays, poetry, and other works written in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish representing a wide spectrum of communities across the Americas, from the colonial origins to the present, from the letters of Columbus to the Left Behind series of novels. The goal is to understand better a thematic that has defined the Americas since the arrival of Europeans, as a “technology of the self” that furthers national and imperial agendas, but also as a discourse of resistance used by native populations, and that has provided an inexhaustible source of literary plots and tropes. This study brings together historical, literary, and ethnographic records to show that the repeated eruptions of millenarian conflict in the Americas have been both acts of resistance to the eradication of traditional ways of life in the process of nationalization and globalization, and also important sources in the search for origins and foundations. Americans tend to understand their origins by narrating their End. Since this End is always imagined rather than experienced, literature becomes a vital element in its propagation.
J. K. Elliott (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198261827
- eISBN:
- 9780191600562
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198261829.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
An English translation of the oldest and most important early Christian non‐canonical writings. It is based on the earlier collection edited in 1924 by Montague Rhodes James. The book is divided into ...
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An English translation of the oldest and most important early Christian non‐canonical writings. It is based on the earlier collection edited in 1924 by Montague Rhodes James. The book is divided into the conventional categories of gospels, acts, epistles, and revelatory texts. A long subsection deals with stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood. Another section deals with fragmentary gospel texts on papyrus. The bulk of the book is given over to second‐century legends of individual apostles. Another section covers apocryphal acpocalypses. An appendix gives a selection of stories about the Virgin Mary's assumption and dormition. Each translated text is prefaced with an introduction and select bibliography. Full indexes of citations and themes are provided.Less
An English translation of the oldest and most important early Christian non‐canonical writings. It is based on the earlier collection edited in 1924 by Montague Rhodes James. The book is divided into the conventional categories of gospels, acts, epistles, and revelatory texts. A long subsection deals with stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood. Another section deals with fragmentary gospel texts on papyrus. The bulk of the book is given over to second‐century legends of individual apostles. Another section covers apocryphal acpocalypses. An appendix gives a selection of stories about the Virgin Mary's assumption and dormition. Each translated text is prefaced with an introduction and select bibliography. Full indexes of citations and themes are provided.
Kay Dickinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195326635
- eISBN:
- 9780199851676
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326635.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter examines the film and music combination in violent motion pictures. Some examples of these films include Cannibal Holocaust, The Beyond and The Cannibal Apocalypse. This chapter ...
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This chapter examines the film and music combination in violent motion pictures. Some examples of these films include Cannibal Holocaust, The Beyond and The Cannibal Apocalypse. This chapter describes how these films overlay a barrage of unflinchingly violent imagery with often smooth, mellifluous synthesizer scoring that refuses to comment negatively on the visual track. These films were banned in Great Britain under the 1984 Video Recordings Act and they were called “video nasties”.Less
This chapter examines the film and music combination in violent motion pictures. Some examples of these films include Cannibal Holocaust, The Beyond and The Cannibal Apocalypse. This chapter describes how these films overlay a barrage of unflinchingly violent imagery with often smooth, mellifluous synthesizer scoring that refuses to comment negatively on the visual track. These films were banned in Great Britain under the 1984 Video Recordings Act and they were called “video nasties”.
Norman Housley
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199552283
- eISBN:
- 9780191716515
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199552283.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This book describes and analyzes warfare that sprang from and was driven by religious belief, in the period from the Hussite wars to the first generation of the Reformation. The focus is on a number ...
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This book describes and analyzes warfare that sprang from and was driven by religious belief, in the period from the Hussite wars to the first generation of the Reformation. The focus is on a number of key theatres. At times warfare between national communities was shaped by convictions of ‘sacred patriotism’, either in defending God-given land or in the pursuit of messianic programmes abroad. Insurrectionary activity, especially when fuelled by apocalyptic expectations, was a second important type of religious war. In the 1420s and early 1430s the Hussites waged war successfully in defence of what they believed to be ‘God's Law’. And some frontier communities depicted their struggle against non-believers as religious war by reference to crusading ideas and habits of thought. The book explores what these conflicts had in common in the ways the combatants perceived their own role, their demonization of their opponents, and the ongoing critique of religious war in all its forms. The author assesses the interaction between crusade and religious war in the broader sense, and argues that the religious violence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was organic, to the extent that it sprang from deeply-rooted proclivities within European society.Less
This book describes and analyzes warfare that sprang from and was driven by religious belief, in the period from the Hussite wars to the first generation of the Reformation. The focus is on a number of key theatres. At times warfare between national communities was shaped by convictions of ‘sacred patriotism’, either in defending God-given land or in the pursuit of messianic programmes abroad. Insurrectionary activity, especially when fuelled by apocalyptic expectations, was a second important type of religious war. In the 1420s and early 1430s the Hussites waged war successfully in defence of what they believed to be ‘God's Law’. And some frontier communities depicted their struggle against non-believers as religious war by reference to crusading ideas and habits of thought. The book explores what these conflicts had in common in the ways the combatants perceived their own role, their demonization of their opponents, and the ongoing critique of religious war in all its forms. The author assesses the interaction between crusade and religious war in the broader sense, and argues that the religious violence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was organic, to the extent that it sprang from deeply-rooted proclivities within European society.
Zvi Ben‐Dor Benite
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195307337
- eISBN:
- 9780199867868
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195307337.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter describes the development of the myth during the time of the Persian and Roman empires after the “sealing” of the Bible and, later, the destruction of temple in 70 CE. The return of the ...
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This chapter describes the development of the myth during the time of the Persian and Roman empires after the “sealing” of the Bible and, later, the destruction of temple in 70 CE. The return of the Judahite exiles from Babylonia under the leadership of Ezra presented the Jews of the Second Temple period with a serious theological problem: if, as promised, God allowed the return of Two tribes of Judah from exile, why didn't He bring back the remaining Ten Tribes. The problem was also geographical: if they did not return, where are they “now”? These two questions gave rise to two paralleling sets of discussions among Jewish and Christian authors and thinkers. The theological one explained that Ten Tribes were exiled to a special place “beyond” the boundaries of this world as part of their special punishment. The geographical discussion delineated the location of that special place. Both Christian and Jewish thinkers promised the return of the tribes, but framed the ultimate return from exile as part of the “end of the days.” In both discussions geographical knowledge produced in the wake of Roman and Persian imperial expansion played a key role.Less
This chapter describes the development of the myth during the time of the Persian and Roman empires after the “sealing” of the Bible and, later, the destruction of temple in 70 CE. The return of the Judahite exiles from Babylonia under the leadership of Ezra presented the Jews of the Second Temple period with a serious theological problem: if, as promised, God allowed the return of Two tribes of Judah from exile, why didn't He bring back the remaining Ten Tribes. The problem was also geographical: if they did not return, where are they “now”? These two questions gave rise to two paralleling sets of discussions among Jewish and Christian authors and thinkers. The theological one explained that Ten Tribes were exiled to a special place “beyond” the boundaries of this world as part of their special punishment. The geographical discussion delineated the location of that special place. Both Christian and Jewish thinkers promised the return of the tribes, but framed the ultimate return from exile as part of the “end of the days.” In both discussions geographical knowledge produced in the wake of Roman and Persian imperial expansion played a key role.
David Womersley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199255641
- eISBN:
- 9780191719615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199255641.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Shakespeare Studies
With Chapter 9 attention switches to Shakespeare. It is argued that Shakespeare began his career as an historical dramatist by composing a series of plays which open in the apocalyptic key of Foxe's ...
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With Chapter 9 attention switches to Shakespeare. It is argued that Shakespeare began his career as an historical dramatist by composing a series of plays which open in the apocalyptic key of Foxe's Actes and Monuments, but that that apocalyptic mode was gradually rendered unsustainable by the difficult historiographical terrain of the Wars of the Roses. The result was that, by the time he had completed 3 Henry VI, Shakespeare had exhausted the model of the history play with which he had begun, and was in consequence forced to cast about for a new blueprint for historical drama.Less
With Chapter 9 attention switches to Shakespeare. It is argued that Shakespeare began his career as an historical dramatist by composing a series of plays which open in the apocalyptic key of Foxe's Actes and Monuments, but that that apocalyptic mode was gradually rendered unsustainable by the difficult historiographical terrain of the Wars of the Roses. The result was that, by the time he had completed 3 Henry VI, Shakespeare had exhausted the model of the history play with which he had begun, and was in consequence forced to cast about for a new blueprint for historical drama.
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter asks if the thesis that John invented, the crisis depicted in the visions of the Apocalypse, is credible. In answer to this question, the final chapter compares John's rhetoric to the ...
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This chapter asks if the thesis that John invented, the crisis depicted in the visions of the Apocalypse, is credible. In answer to this question, the final chapter compares John's rhetoric to the rhetoric used by the aggressors in the Bosnian and Kosovo crises in the 1980s and 1990s. In both the first‐ and twentieth‐century cases, there seemed to have been a great disparity between the stories told and the reality lived. In other words, a powerful story can easily overwhelm the realities of history. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on the final outcome of the crisis in the churches of the Apocalypse.Less
This chapter asks if the thesis that John invented, the crisis depicted in the visions of the Apocalypse, is credible. In answer to this question, the final chapter compares John's rhetoric to the rhetoric used by the aggressors in the Bosnian and Kosovo crises in the 1980s and 1990s. In both the first‐ and twentieth‐century cases, there seemed to have been a great disparity between the stories told and the reality lived. In other words, a powerful story can easily overwhelm the realities of history. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on the final outcome of the crisis in the churches of the Apocalypse.
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The social world of the Roman Empire as well as the social world of first‐century Christianity and, specifically, urban Christianity are the focus of this chapter. Christians in this century spanned ...
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The social world of the Roman Empire as well as the social world of first‐century Christianity and, specifically, urban Christianity are the focus of this chapter. Christians in this century spanned the social range but the majority were merchants and craftspersons, many of whom were freed persons (ex‐slaves). The communities of the Apocalypse were likely no exception. They were probably also constituted by merchants and craftsmen (including many freedpersons) who were intent on bettering themselves economically by accumulating wealth.Less
The social world of the Roman Empire as well as the social world of first‐century Christianity and, specifically, urban Christianity are the focus of this chapter. Christians in this century spanned the social range but the majority were merchants and craftspersons, many of whom were freed persons (ex‐slaves). The communities of the Apocalypse were likely no exception. They were probably also constituted by merchants and craftsmen (including many freedpersons) who were intent on bettering themselves economically by accumulating wealth.
William Franke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804759106
- eISBN:
- 9780804779739
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804759106.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book seeks to find the premises for dialogue between cultures, especially religious fundamentalisms—including Islamic fundamentalism—and modern Western secularism. It argues that in order to be ...
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This book seeks to find the premises for dialogue between cultures, especially religious fundamentalisms—including Islamic fundamentalism—and modern Western secularism. It argues that in order to be genuinely open, dialogue needs to accept possibilities such as religious apocalypse in ways which can be best understood through the experience of poetry. The author reads Christian epic and prophetic tradition as a secularization of religious revelation that preserves an understanding of the essentially apocalyptic character of truth and its disclosure in history. The usually neglected negative theology that undergirds this apocalyptic tradition provides the key to a radically new view of apocalypse as at once religious and poetic.Less
This book seeks to find the premises for dialogue between cultures, especially religious fundamentalisms—including Islamic fundamentalism—and modern Western secularism. It argues that in order to be genuinely open, dialogue needs to accept possibilities such as religious apocalypse in ways which can be best understood through the experience of poetry. The author reads Christian epic and prophetic tradition as a secularization of religious revelation that preserves an understanding of the essentially apocalyptic character of truth and its disclosure in history. The usually neglected negative theology that undergirds this apocalyptic tradition provides the key to a radically new view of apocalypse as at once religious and poetic.
H. G. M. Williamson
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263609
- eISBN:
- 9780191600821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263600.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Continues the examination begun in the previous chapter, this time focusing on Chs. 13–27, which contain the ‘oracles against the nations’ (13–23) and the so‐called ‘Isaiah Apocalypse’ (24–27). ...
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Continues the examination begun in the previous chapter, this time focusing on Chs. 13–27, which contain the ‘oracles against the nations’ (13–23) and the so‐called ‘Isaiah Apocalypse’ (24–27). Presents the case for Deutero‐Isaianic influence in the former group of chapters and assesses recent studies (such as that by B. Gosse) that challenge this hypothesis. Parallels both within the Book of Isaiah and in other Old Testament books (such as Hosea, Joel, Jeremiah, Genesis, and Amos) are then assessed in a search for evidence of the hand of Deutero‐Isaiah in the second group of chapters.Less
Continues the examination begun in the previous chapter, this time focusing on Chs. 13–27, which contain the ‘oracles against the nations’ (13–23) and the so‐called ‘Isaiah Apocalypse’ (24–27). Presents the case for Deutero‐Isaianic influence in the former group of chapters and assesses recent studies (such as that by B. Gosse) that challenge this hypothesis. Parallels both within the Book of Isaiah and in other Old Testament books (such as Hosea, Joel, Jeremiah, Genesis, and Amos) are then assessed in a search for evidence of the hand of Deutero‐Isaiah in the second group of chapters.
