Episode 7: Apocalypse Then and Now

Christian Rightcast

If you’ve read Left Behind, seen A Thief In The Night, or watched any three episodes of Supernatural, you’ve witnessed the basic elements and cultural ubiquity of Biblical prophecy about The End Times. From Jewish resistance literature under Babylonian and Roman rule, to Martin Luther’s theory that the Pope was the Antichrist, to the rise of dispensationalism in the 1800s, the idea of an impending conflict between Light and Darkness has both inspired and terrified believers. More recently, the strong presence of QAnon conspiracy theorists at the January 6th attacks on Washington D.C. have raised questions about the role of “final conflict” narratives in modern cults and reactionary movements.

In this episode, Jeff and Kristin dive deep into the origins, evolution, and modern renaissance of these Apocalyptic Narratives and their importance to modern fundamentalism.

Have questions? Feedback? Stories of other interesting or enlightening apocalypse narratives in Christian, Right, or Christian Right history? Join in on this episode’s comments section, or follow us on Twitter at @CRightcast…

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Footnotes and reference materials

Insurrection and Apocalypse

• Inside TikTok’s Wild Covid—19 Vaccine As Christian Persecution Meme, by Tyler Huckabee at Relevant Magazine

• For some Christians, the Capitol riot doesn’t change the prophecy: Trump will be president by Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post

• The Flight 93 Election, by Michael Anton at the Claremont Review of Books

• Why pro-Trump evangelicals brought shofars to DC this week, by Alissa Wilkinson at Vox

• QAnon: The alternative religion that’s coming to your church, by Katelyn Beaty at the Religion News Service. Beaty was also interviewed about the article on NPR.

• Self-described Trump supporter rethinks her support in real time, by Dylan Matthews at Vox

Core reference materials

• Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, by Elaine Pagels

• Frontline: Apocalypse, with material from L Michael White, aired on PBS in 1998

• The Real History of the End of the World, by Sharan Newman

• Superchurch: The Rhetoric and Politics of American Fundamentalism, by Jonathan J. Edwards (also discussed in this review)

Additional notes and reading

• From Jesus to Christianity, by L Michael White

• Jewish Apocalypse Literature as Resistance Literature, by A. Portier-Young, Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature, 2014

• Roman and Christian Anti-Judaism, from 70 TO 1200CE, at ReligiousTolerance.org

• List of Dates Predicted for Apocalyptic Events, at Wikipedia

• William Miller and the Great Disappointment, by L Michael White, from Frontline: Apocalypse

• Tell The World, an Adventist film about Millerism

• Dispensationalism at Wikipedia

• John Nelson Darby, Father of dispensationalism by Christianity Today

• Is Moody Church Dispensational at Moody Media, and Statement of Faith at Moody Bible Institute

• Clarence Larkin’s Charts of Scripture, at the Blue Letter Bible

• Jesus Is Coming, by William E Blackstone, 1841

• 200 years ago, John Adams promoted a Jewish state in the Holy Land, at The Times of Israel

• Why Christians keep appropriating Jewish ritual symbols, by Alissa Wilkinson at Vox

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Special Bonus Chart

One of Clarence Larkin’s best-known diagrams, intended to align prophecies from the book of Daniel to those in the book of Revelation