End-Time Visions: The Doomsday Obsession

by Richard Abanes

Book Overview

Covers the history of theories of the end of the world, how contemporary cult leaders approach the coming of the millenium, and how the Bible is sometimes misunderstood as forecasting specific dates. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805419659
• ISBN13: 9780805419658
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A good but depressing catalog of late 20th century silliness

Contrary to many reviewers, this is an extremely fair-minded account of doomsday groups and movements (I wonder what he or she would consider fair-minded or impartial). The inescapable fact is that all of the groups and movements covered in this book base their beliefs on a weird, indefensible blend of speculation and misreading of the past. The onus is on these groups to prove that they deserve to be taken seriously and not merely clumped together with the others. Over the past few years I have found myself increasingly interested in what might be called (borrowing a phrase from Isaiah Berlin) "the counter enlightenment," which in my opinion embraces a wide variety of attempts to escape the demands placed by rationality and human reason on claims to knowledge. This does not mean that only what is completely rational is meaningful (at the end of the TRACTATUS and in his NOTEBOOKS 1914-1916 Wittgenstein insisted that the more important components of life cannot be encapsulated by that which is rationally demonstrable). But it does point to the fact that an enormous number of people since the 18th century have attempted to escape the demand that our beliefs be grounded upon something solid and demonstrable. New Age religion, esoteric religions, Christian fundamentalism (especially in its more apocalyptic forms), modern astrology (ancient and renaissance astrology in the West, while not in my opinion valid, was based entirely on Greek scientific theories--when those were proven wrong in the early 17th century, astrology collapsed as a belief system, only to be resurrected in its current irrational form in the 19th century), theosophy, psychics, the Christian Identity movement, and all of the myriad of groups discussed by Abanes in this book are by their very nature unassociated with anything that could be described as rational or supported by demonstrable proof of any sort whatsoever (the fact that virtually none of these groups predictions ever come to pass and yet many people continue to adhere to them indicates that proof and disproof are not very important elements in their make up). I found this book to be fascinating and depressing at the same time. Many of the instances of apocalyptic nuttiness detailed in this book I had heard of before, from Edgar Cayce to the Christian Identity movement to the Heaven's Gate outfit. Too many others I had not, like the Great White Brotherhood in Russia. It is important that we keep abreast of the outer fringe of society. It is depressing to realize that it is so large and varied. One more word about the previous review. There are no impartial positions on the groups mentioned in this book (the complete lack of specific instances leads me to suspect that he or she did not read the book at all, but merely reacted to what they thought the book was about). You are either a member of the suicidally inclined Great White Brotherhood or you consider it a form of insantiy. You are either a member of one of the Chr

Making sense of nonsense

Richard Abanes, a former cult member himself, takes on apocolyptic ideoligies in his book, "End Time Visions."This is a remarkable work, one that had a great influence on my outlook on several aspects of my own religion. I am a Christian, but I was greatly impressed by Mr. Abanes unmasking of some of the more extreme Doomsday prophets of our times. It is refreshing to see someone throw a proverbial wet blanket on the armegeddon fires raging in several Christian circles today without ridiculing Christianity itself. This is a fascinating, wonderful book that I would highly reccomend to anyone that is suffering from "end of the world tension", or anyone that is interested in making informed decisions for themelves. This book was one of the most delightful finds I ever encountered in my search of non-fiction material.

Excellent Historical Review of End-Times Movements

This book is a very important read for those who may be tempted to believe many of the highly speculative views which are passing today for legitimate biblical scholarship. It shows how many people throughout history have followed both Christian, and non-Christian movements that were tragically flawed in their thinking regarding the end of the world. Overall, the book offers an excellent survey on the history of end-times movements. In addition, you will also find the book provides a thorough bibliography which is useful for further research on the topic.

A well researched review of end time date setters.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading End-Time Visions - The Road to Armageddon? The author relates many fascinating stories about end time date setters who have consistently failed to foretell "the end of the world" (i.e. second coming of Christ). Especially interesting were the accounts of Nostradamus, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Heaven's Gate cult. However, the author never presented his own views regarding the end times. In addition, based on the author's own conclusions regarding biblical prophecy, it is evident that he does not have a good understanding of the prophetic scriptures.For example, in discussing the subject of the coming False Messiah or Antichrist, the author states that "there are a few biblical passages which suggest that biblical writers did indeed have a specific individual in mind..." and then goes on to say: "But this does not mean that a future one world government leader is destined to rise to power. Many historians and theologians theorize that these may be references to Nero..." (page 120). After which the author quotes a lengthy passage from "Doomsday Delusions" by C. Marvin Pate and Calvin B. Haines regarding their theory that Nero may have been the Antichrist predicted in the book of Revelation. The author believes this to be a viable scenario and concludes his argument by stating that "placing the concept of Antichrist in the historical and cultural context of the first century makes a great deal of sense." (page 122)The Bible declares that the Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8). However, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68, near Rome. As the author repeatedly points out, the second coming of Christ has not occurred yet, so Nero could not have been the Antichrist. He does not fulfill the prophetic scriptures.What is even more revealing about the author's view of biblical prophecy is his position on the infamous "mark of the beast" passage (Revelation 13:16-18) in the book of Revelation. Regarding this passage of scripture the author states: "When we allow the Bible to interpret itself, it becomes clear that the mark in Revelation 13:16-18 is a symbolic representation of people who have turned their minds and actions over to beliefs that are against Christ (i.e. anti-Christ). The Revelation passage is addressing where a person's heartfelt allegiance lies. It has nothing to do with a literal mark, but rather a rejection of the Christian concept of God." (page 127)But that isn't what the Bible says! It explicitly states that a person cannot buy or sell unless they possess the mark. An attitude of the heart does not prevent anyone from buying or selling. Whereas, a lack of the proper currency or credit does.Despite the apparent misinterpretations of scripture, this book still provides a valuable balanced look at end time date setters.

Excellent counterpoint to end-of-the-world predictions

End-Time Visions by Richard Abanes is an engrossing history of the last 2,000 years of doom sayers. Readers will find the tone of the book especially pleasing not insulting to religions or to skeptics; it is not a scathing indictment of the predictors nor condescending toward their followers. He simply provides the reader with the repeatedly missed predictions by past and current doom criers documented in their own words. He provides insight into the human condition that drives people to follow even after failure. Yet he warns of the creeping intrusions of false doctrines into the belief systems of many of today's fervent Christians. There is great detail in the book's 348 pages of text supplemented with another 66 pages of footnotes, which should be read with along with the text. This book provides surprising, illuminating responses to many of the end-time events cited by all of history's prognosticators. A good read, well indexed, worth keeping as a reference.