A History of the End of the World

Jonathan Kirsch

I just finished "A History of the End of the World" by Jonathan Kirsch. It's about the impact the Book of Revelation has had on history.

Kirsch's book is annoying at times -- he uses the phrases "as we shall see" and "as we have seen" (and similar) far too often -- but it's got some fascinating stuff in it. For example: the Rapture is NEVER mentioned in Revelation.

According to Revelation, 144,000 (or maybe it's 110,000, I forget) virginal priests will go to heaven. Everyone else will be annihilated. So Tim LaHaye: You're doomed, too. Ha! (The Rapture barely comes up in two lines of Thessalonians, and that's it.)

Also, until about a century ago, the main idea among millennial Christians was that the world had to be fixed BEFORE Jesus came. (The same idea permeates

Judaism -- "tikkun olam," repair of the world -- except that Jews hope a messiah may show up someday but don't count on it, as opposed to the Christian

idea that Jesus IS coming back.) It was only in the late 1800s that some evangelists said that hey, the world is a crappy, doomed place, and if you're saved

you'll get out of it with Jesus, leaving everyone else to rot. Which is the kind of idea that now infects a broad range of religious extremists, with all its consequences.

Revelation, in its vengefulness, is also far different than the rest of the New Testament. A number of theologians through the ages didn't even want Revelation included in the Biblical canon. But revenge is often the refuge of those who feel persecuted -- which is so many people, nowadays -- and thus remains attractive even when forgiveness is encouraged.

Anyway, if you can wade through Kirsch's sometimes mediocre writing, there's a lot to learn.