Politics

The apocalyptic drama begins when someone says the world is about to be changed in every respect, down to its very physical form. Commonly he or she foretells that nearly everyone will die, or at least suffer, in the process. But there is hope for a tiny number of very special people. They will survive the changes, and afterwards they will be (at least) demigods, who will live forever. Generally speaking, at the end the earth will return to its original condition: paradise.

This kind of prophecy involves a familiar form of belief about the end of human life as we know it. Many religious systems have their own versions of this account, and they all involve destruction of the way things are, a sort of cosmic recycling. Life starts over on a cleansed planet, all things made new and perfect.

Eschatology is generally understood to refer to ideas about last things. Catherine Keller gives a somewhat more nuanced translation of this root word, saying it is best rendered as ‘edge’, which suggests an important difference. Prophets and commentators refer to apocalypse as The End, but its focus ultimately is always on a new beginning, a sudden shift in the order of the world. There's always something beyond the edge for the millenarian believer.

Prophets threaten us with falling stars, titanic earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and wars.