Doomsday ideas in Western history have been both persistent and diverse. Public opinion polls indicate that a substantial number of Americans anticipate the return of Christ or some catastrophic event. In Apocalyptic Fever, Richard Kyle shows how dispensational premillennialism has been the driving force behind doomsday ideas. While several chapters are devoted to this topic, Kyle also surveys end-time views in modern America from a wide range of perspectives: traditional denominations, fringe religions, Islam’s Mahdi, science, fiction, Y2K, politics, the Mayan calendar, and more.
For traditional interpretations of eschatology, check out Four Views on the Book of Revelation.
“In both religion and politics, America is deeply populist, meaning that the wisdom of the common person is superior to that of the so-called experts.” (Page 19)
“First, the historic Christian faith teaches that Jesus Christ will return to Earth personally and visibly” (Page 13)
“In Disaster and the Millennium, political scientist Michael Barkun argues that disasters are the chief factor in producing apocalyptic millennial movements.” (Page 16)
“for the most part, they begin with current events and interpret biblical verses in the light of their beliefs” (Page 5)
“For the first two hundred years or so, Christians intensely expected Christ to return and usher in a golden age. Over the next two hundred years a transition took place. The intense expectancy regarding Christ’s return waned, and Christians began to make peace with the world.” (Pages 21–22)
We are indebted to Kyle for his outstanding survey of the end times. These concepts have developed over many centuries, but they have found fertile soil in our own land. Kyle deals with an astonishingly wide range of ideas with insightful and broad knowledge of the historical, religious, and contemporary contexts. This is by far the best guide to the fascinating and intricate world of the end times.
—Robert G. Clouse, senior research scholar in Liberal Arts, Indiana State University
Apocalyptic enthusiasm rarely receives calm and thoughtful consideration. Kyle is a most welcome exception. His book is careful, nuanced, insightful, and charitable toward a subject that is usually treated as incredible, unbelievable, mad, or deadly certain. Apocalyptic Fever takes the temperature of a serious disease and provides just the right calming prescription for bringing the fever under control.
—Mark Noll, professor of history, University of Notre Dame
Apocalyptic Fever is one of those must-read books. Kyle, a veteran observer of radical evangelical and conservative religion in America, addresses the wide variety of end-time preachers, writers, and movements in the contemporary world . . . Such an explanatory work is sorely needed in an age where polemical treatises richly abound.
—Richard V. Pierard, professor emeritus of history, Indiana State University
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