Longing for the End: A History of Millennialism in Western Civilization

by Frederic J. Baumgartner

Jonestown, Waco, and Heaven's Gate resonate in the contemporary mind in the same way that Masada or Mount Tabor resonated in the minds of others long past. The members of these movements believed that the end of the world was at hand and that they had to act through violence or suicide to ensure its occurrence. Frederic Baumgartner explores the long, often violent, history of millennialism as it has affected Western civilization. From ancient Zoroastrians to Concerned Christians of 1998, a belief in the imminent end of the world and the coming of the new age has motivated hundreds of sects and cults, some of which have burned out in an orgy of violence to become a permanent part of Western history.

Genres: Religion, History, Christianity, Spirituality, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

A specialist in the history of early modern France, Frederic Baumgartner is Professor of History at Virginia Tech University.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the first 100 pages Baumgartner commits the capital office of a writer: he seems bored by his topic. The ancient millenialist orders are handled woefully with Baumgartner sighing and yawning his way through - I wondered if someone had not forced him (at gunpoint? academic grant?) to write the book. Thankfully the more recent history is handled somewhat more enthusiastically. I am fascinated by collapsology and eschatology and this covered the ground adequately helping to point out some further directions for research.

[Ali Juhdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that explains the history of every generation for the past 2 thousand+ years thinking they’re “The Last Generation” .
The book is especially relevant today with the rise of the doomsday Christian Zionism and its influence on American foreign policy. As well as right wing and left wing accelerationism.
The belief that one future is set and inevitable has caused so much pain and suffering in our world.