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Summary
Summary
Covering religious traditions ranging from Buddhism to Christianity to Zoroastrianism and modern apocalyptic movements such as Arun Shinrikyo and the Branch Davidians, this book addresses prophesied end of days from a breadth of perspectives and includes material on often-neglected themes and genres.
End of Days: An Encyclopedia of the Apocalypse in World Religions describes apocalyptic writings in the world's major religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The cross-referenced entries address ancient traditions--Zoroastrianism, as one example--as well as modern apocalyptic movements, such as Arun Shinrikyo, the Branch Davidians, and the Order of the Solar Temple.
This book's broad scope offers coverage of overlooked traditions, such as Mayan Apocalyptic, Norse Apocalyptic, Native American eschatological literatures, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Readers seeking detailed information on the eschatological and apocalyptic movements and proponents of End Times can reference entries about individuals such as Harold Camping, Jerry Falwell, David Koresh of the Brand Davidians, and James Jones and the People's Temple.
This single-volume encyclopedia also contains numerous historical entries on subjects such as the Great Disappointment, the Great Awakening periods of religious revival, Joachim of Flora, the Maccabean Revolt, and the Plymouth Brethren. The influence of apocalyptic ideas far outside the realm of religion itself is documented through entries on film, including well-known modern movies such as The Hunger Games and Apocalypse Now , literature by writers such as Dante, and works of fine art like Wagner's Götterdämmerung . The inclusion of entries related to literature, film, and other art forms further attests to the wide-ranging social influence of belief in the end of days.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Doomsday themes can be found not only in established religious traditions, cults, and new religious movements but also abound in popular culture. This single-volume work introduces an eclectic selection. In addition to entries that describe end-of-days views in Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, there are entries that explore such beliefs among the Maya, Australian Aborigines, and Native Americans. Cults and new religious movements are represented in entries such as Heaven's Gate and Order of the Solar Temple. Finally, apocalyptic ideas in popular culture are treated in such entries as Y2K, Zombies, and the novel series the Hunger Games. Appropriate for college and large public libraries.--McConnell, Christopher Copyright 2017 Booklist
Choice Review
The broad scope of this volume--the Apocalypse in world religions--will ensure its appeal; the excessive attention paid to the end-times views of a few faith traditions gives the distorted, perhaps even harmful, impression that other traditions lack such a tenet. This volume offers a broad sweep of apocalyptic thinking from a vast range of religions, for a general audience. The more than 100 entries surrounding such a complex and bewildering theme demand a sizable and diversely international roster of nearly 50 contributors representing an impressive variety of backgrounds (a spot check reveals specialties in Jewish studies, American studies, medieval history, etc.); the publisher, unfortunately, lists only author affiliations, not disciplinary background or academic rank. This reviewer is impressed with the entries' eclecticism, ranging from the essential ("Millennialism") to the esoteric ("Zurvanism"), and from the ancient ("Day of the Lord") to the contemporary (The Hunger Games). It also helpfully includes entries on individual persons whose influence has been exceptional (e.g., Christian evangelist Harold Camping). Contributors offer suggestions for further reading. The editor's introduction provides short definitions of essential terminology, and there is an index of more than 20 pages. Johnson (Northern Illinois Univ.) is an academic reference librarian with graduate degrees in religion; this helps to explain the thoroughness and rich detail of this valuable work. Summing Up: Recommended. All libraries. All levels. --David R. Stewart, Bethel University