A History of the End of the World (55 page)

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Authors: Jonathan Kirsch

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BOOK: A History of the End of the World
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Prisca

prophecy/prophecies: apocalyptic tradition of; book of Daniel; concerning coming messiah; false prophets and; Second Coming; traditional end (538 B.C.E.) of.
See also
end-times prophecies

prophets: authentic and inauthentic; David Koresh as self-styled; The Didache on; false; link between classical and apocalyptic; Montanists as self-styled

Protestant fundamentalism.
See
Christian fundamentalism

Protestant Reformation: continued in the new world; Revelation’s influence on the

“Protoapocalypses”

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
(anti-Semitic forgery)

Protocols
(Ford)

Pseudepigrapha (“false writings”)

Puritan colonists

The Pursuit of the Millennium
(Cohn)

 

 

 

Qumran sect (Essenes)

 

 

 

Raimarus, Nicholas

Rapture

The Rapture
(film)

Rauschenbusch, Walter

Reagan, Ronald

A Rebirth of Images
(Farrer)

red dragon/pregnant woman symbolism

Revelation 10:9

Revelation: allusions to Hebrew Bible passages in; attitude toward women evident in; comparing the Gospels to; debate over canonization of; Google search hits on; Jewish roots evidenced in; linkage between Holocaust and; literature references to; medieval apocalyptic tradition and influence of; medieval church mosaic representation of; mysterious content and appeal of; night visions of; Reformation debate over; religious propaganda fueled by; as revenge fantasy; spiritual approach to reading; two witnesses vision in; villains and characters described in.
See also
End-times prophecies; New Testament

Revelation author: black-or-white morality/opposition of; characteristics evidenced about; claim of divine authorship by; debate over; discernments about the; earlier writings/ideas influencing; injustice feelings expressed by; John the Baptist as candidate for; John the Evangelist as; presbyter John as candidate for; theological origins evidenced by.
See also
John the Evangelist

Revelation symbolism: the beast; Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; Great Whore of Babylon; opposition; woman (pregnant)/red dragon.
See also
Number symbolism

Richard the Lion-Hearted (King of England)

Robertson, Pat

Roberts, Oral

Robison, James

Rockefeller, John D., Jr.

Roman Catholic Church: apocalyptic revolution within; “the Babylonian Captivity” of; The Church Militant and Triumphant as; inquisitor actions against women of; medieval development of; Revelation used by Martin Luther against.
See also
Christianity

Roman Empire: decline and fall of the; Emperor worship in; end-times prophecy on rebuilding of; evidence in Revelation of author’s hatred for; Great Whore of Babylon symbol of; Maccabean Revolt against; New Testament authors’ treatment of; symbol of the spirit (or
genius
) of; various Jewish responses to

Rosenberg, David

Rosen, George

Rowley, H. H.

Russell, Charles Taze

 

 

 

Sabbath Age

Sacchi, Paolo

Satan: as Antichrist; battle in heaven between Michael and; bound by Christ; final battle between God and; Hebrew Bible characterization of; Revelation on nature of

Savonarola, Girolamo

Schoepflin, Rennie B.

Schweitzer, Albert

science fiction films

Scivias
(Hildegard of Bingen)

Scofield, Cyrus R.

Scofield Reference Bible
(1902)

Second Coming: dating the; Great Disappointment (nineteenth century) and; Jewish state established prior to; premillennialists and postmillennialists on the; Rapture of; signs of the; Tribulation prior to the.
See also
end-times prophecies; millennium

The Second Coming
(Yeats)

Second Epistle to the Thessalonians

Second Great Awakening (nineteenth century)

Second World War

Seleucid dynasty

September 11, 2001

Septuagint (Greek Bible)

Seven symbolism

Seventh-day Adventists

The Seventh Seal
(film)

Sexual conduct

Shakespeare, William

Shaw, George Bernard

The Shepherd of Hermas

Sibylline Oracles

Sibyl of Tivoli

Signs of the Times
(Millerite periodical)

Simon Bar Kochba

Simony practice

666 alphanumeric code

Smith, Joseph

Social Gospel

Son of Man

Sontag, Susan

Soviet Union

Spirituals (Zealots)

Stein, Stephen J.

Steward, Lyman

Stewart, Milton

Stifel, Michael

Suetonius

Sulpicius

Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds
(Akenson)

Suskind, Ron

Sweet, Leonard

symbolism.
See
number symbolism; Revelation symbolism

Szittya, Penn

 

 

 

Tertullian

A Theology for the Social Gospel
(Rauschenbusch)

Thérèse of Lisieux

Thompson, Damian

Thompson, Hunter S.

Tiburtine Sibyl

Tolkin, Michael

Torah

Torrey, Reverend Reuben A.

Tribulation

Trinity (Atomic bomb, 1945)

Tripoli Prophecy (Cedars of Lebanon Prophecy)

The Twelve Caesars
(Suetonius)

two witnesses vision

Tyconius

Tyler’s Rebellion (1381)

 

 

 

Ubertino da Casale

 

 

 

Vermeer, Jan

Voltaire

 

 

 

Waco Branch Davidians cult

Watchers (angels)

Watts, James

wealth/possessions

Weber, Timothy P.

Weinberger, Caspar

Wesley, John

West, Samuel

Whisenant, Edgar

Whiston, William

White, Ellen

The White Goddess
(Graves)

White Jacket
(Melville)

White, James

Who Wrote the Bible?
(Friedman)

Wieseltier, Leon

Wigglesworth, Michael

Wilkerson, David

William the Conqueror

Wills, Garry

Winthrop, John

woman (pregnant)/red dragon symbolism

women: Beguines community of; condemning attitude toward; inquisitor actions against; John’s attitude toward sexual conduct and; Revelation readings by

World War I

World War II

 

 

 

year 1000 belief

Yeats, William Butler

Yeshua bar Yosef.
See also
Jesus (historical)

 

 

 

Zealots (Franciscan order Spirituals)

Zealots (Jewish)

Zelazny, Roger

Zevi, Shabbatzi

Zionism: Christian; Jewish

Zoroastrian writings

Zwingli, Ulrich

Acknowledgments
 

As always, my first thought is for my wife and lifelong best friend, Ann Benjamin Kirsch, and my children, Jennifer Rachel Kirsch and Adam Benjamin Kirsch, whose love, encouragement and support were and are indispensable to the writing of this book and to every aspect of my life and work.

Along with my family, this book is dedicated to my brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Caroline Kirsch, my sister and brother-in-law, Marya and Ron Shiflett, and my aunt, Lillian Conrad Heller, cherished relations and, more than that, gracious and generous human beings.

I am deeply grateful to Gideon Weil, my editor at HarperSanFrancisco, and Laurie Fox, my agent and friend, who have brought their vision and wisdom to bear in the making of this book.

Among the many people at Harper San Francisco with whom I also worked, with both pleasure and admiration, were Michael Maudlin, Mark Tauber, Kris Ashley, Krista Holmstrom, Lisa Zuniga, Cynthia DiTiberio, Carl Walesa, and Joseph Rutt.

All of my work is supported and improved, literally every day of the week, by my colleague and dear friend, Judy Woo.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to Jack Miles, Karen Armstrong, and K.C. Cole, whose books have always been a source of illumination and inspiration, and whose friendships are among the greatest rewards of my life.

I am also grateful for the support of David Noel Freedman, Leonard Shlain, Don Akenson, and David Rosenberg, each of whom has offered encouragement at crucial moments and in an important ways.

I have been supported and encouraged by family, friends, and colleagues to whom I now express my heartfelt appreciation:

My beloved daughter-in-law, Remy Elizabeth Holzer, and her family, Harold, Edith and Meg Holzer.

My niece, Heather Kirsch, and my nephew and his wife, Joshua and Jennifer (Kibrick) Kirsch.

Eui Sook (Angie) Yoon, Charlie Alexiev, Jacob Gabay, and Inge-Lise DeWolfe.

Leslie A. Klinger, gifted author and attorney.

Candace Barrett Birk and Raye Birk, Maryann Rosenfeld and Shelly Kadish, Pat and Len Solomon, John Rechy and Michael Ewing, Diane Leslie and Fred Huffman.

Jane Fitch, Carolyn See, Bernadette Shih, Dora Levy Mossanen, Rhoda Huffey, and Dolores Sloan.

Linda Chester and her colleagues at the Linda Chester Agency.

Michele Goldman, who provided research assistance into Jewish apocalyptic texts and traditions.

David Ulin, Nick Owchar, Orli Low, Kristina Lindgren, Sara Lippincott, Susan Salter Reynolds and Ethel Alexander at the
Los Angeles Times Book Review
.

Doug Brown, Tom Crouch, Barbara Morrow, Maret Orliss, and Kristine Erbstoesser at the
Los Angeles Times
.

Jan Nathan and Terry Nathan at the Publishers Marketing Association.

Sarah Spitz and Ruth Seymour at KCRW-FM.

Larry Mantle, Patt Morrison, Aimee Machado, Jackie Oclaray, Linda Othenin-Girard and Polly Sveda at KPCC-FM.

Rob Eshman at
The Jewish Journal
.

Gwen Feldman and Jim Fox at Silman-James Press, and Tony Cohan at Acrobat Books.

Connie Martinson, host of
Connie Martinson Talks Books
.

Doug Dutton, Lise Friedman and Ed Conklin at Dutton’s Books in Brentwood.

About the Author
 

Jonathan Kirsch is the author of ten books, including the national bestseller
The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible, King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel, Moses: A Life,
and his most recent work,
God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism.
Kirsch is also a book columnist for the
Los Angeles Times,
a broadcaster for NPR affiliates KCRW-FM and KPCC-FM in Southern California, and Adjunct Professor on the faculty of New York University, and an attorney specializing in publishing law and intellectual property in Los Angeles. Visit the author online at www.jonthankirsch.com

 

 

 

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Credits
 

Jacket design: Jim Warner

Copyright
 
 

A HISTORY OF THE END OF THE WORLD:
How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization.
Copyright © 2006 by Jonathan Kirsch. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

 

Mobipocket Reader August 2006 ISBN 0-06-119928-1

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