Hey everyone,
I just finished watching a program on the History Channel called “The Antichrist.” I thought that it was fascinating how it seems to tie together the areas of interest to the fields of quite a few of you. I’m sorry that I didn’t know how to contact you guys in time. The program just ended. It’s probably a little sad though that I’m sitting home alone on Saturday watching this, but it was enlightening for me nonetheless!
Roy, a Professor Bernard McGinn from the University of Chicago spoke on the program and I think that he might be of interest to you. He interprets The Revelations as a symbolic struggle of the good and evil forces within the individual, extending from ideas from San Augustus, who stressed the need for introspection, similar to the idea of the “Mirror” (?) or “Looking Glass” (?) idea that you explore. McGinn further explores the manifestation and exploitation of this fear of the Antichrist during the Crusades. The use of the term of the Antichrist then becomes a convenient tool of justifying violence and persecution.
Jesse, I am not sure how useful this may be, but I thought that I should let you know some of the ideas explored in the program as well. The scholars credit current apocalyptic thought, often associated to The Revelations, to the model of Dispensationism of John Nelson Derby, a Protestant of the late eighteenth century, who argued that the Bible was a sort of jigsaw puzzle and then proceeded to form and popularize a connective myth of the apocalypse from different fragments of the Bible.
Scholars also mention that the increased publishing and globalized industries escalated fears of the Antichrist and the apocalypse to another level. “The Late, Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey in 1970 is credited as having a significant influence on reinterpreting the model set by The Revelations, foretelling of a slick deceptive political figure who will rise to power as the Antichrist and then gain control of the world. However, unlike the art explored in Jesse’s research, where the apocalypse bears more of a fantastical element, these novels and another series called “Left Behind” by Christian writers exploit the thought of the Antichrist and take on a “supernatural view” as one speaker calls it, that interprets the text to another absolute, adding specific circumstances to the Antichrist, such as that he will bring peace to the Middle East or become the head of the UN in order to destroy mankind. There is also skepticism of technologies such as barcodes and credit cards (666) as well as large institutions, from multinational organizations such as the UN and the European Union as well as large corporations. The figure of the Antichrist seems reflects a symbol for fear of change and the coercion of power and provides a means of interpreting a chaotic world.
Have a great Sunday!
Chris
Hi Chris, it may be sadder still that a documentary on the AntiChrist sounds like a Saturday night highlight to me! Thanks for alerting us all to this; perhaps we will be able to track down another showing of it. Bernard McGinn is a renowned scholar, with Visions of the End considered a definitive study of apocalyptic belief in the Middle Ages. John Nelson Darby is the one we have to thank for the Rapture as a major belief in Fundamentalist Christianity. And Hal Lindsey is one of those writers who simply never apologizes for having been so wrong so many times about the endtime date! Perhaps Jesse and Roy and I have found a new “disciple” for the study of apocalypse and its cultural impact. Lots of western literature has the theme running through it.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the info, I believe I’ve already seen this show (at least parts of it). The History channel seems to be in an apocalyptic mood this month, they’ve had doomsday stuff on all of November. I’m not really sure why November is the end times month, but perhaps it has something to do all the papers I have due. That’s my guess. Thanks again
– Jesse
Thanks for the shout-out, Chris. I didn’t even know about Visions of the End until this thread! looks like I’ll have to read it over break and incorporate it into my second part.
I’m pretty sure binary is necessary for apocalyptic thought. I can’t imagine how one can have apocalyptic thought withing sharply contrasting between the characteristics of old world and new world orders. Otherwise you just conceive of the world as it is- gradually changing over time and making no distinctions between here and there, this and that.