Millenarianism

Millenarianism, belief in the millennium that takes distinct forms in different religions, perhaps the best known of which is the Christian concept of a future 1,000-year reign of Christ. Underlying all of these beliefs is the sense of intense anticipation that life on Earth is soon to undergo a sudden, profound, divinely inspired transformation that will produce the perfect world.

In Judaism millenarianism takes two main forms. The first is political and concerns the establishment of peaceful rule by King Simon (Maccabees, 14:4). The second is spiritual and looks to the advent of a divine or supernatural figure,—referred to by titles such as the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah, 9:6) and the “son of man” (Daniel, 7:13)—who will judge the world, preside over the resurrection of the dead, deliver the good from the dominion of the wicked, and rule the world in peace and righteousness for all eternity.

Christianity placed much greater emphasis than Judaism on the belief in the second coming of the Messiah. Although the early Christians believed that Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of all hopes and expectations they also believed that he would return “soon” to bring these hopes and expectations to their final completion. Depending on their interpretation of the timing of Jesus’s second advent, Christians may be defined as either pre-millennialists or post-millennialists.

The pre-millennialist position follows closely the account in The Book of Revelation, which speaks of the fall of Babylon—heartland of paganism and evil and sometimes interpreted as equivalent to Rome—the defeat of the “beast” and other powers, and then of the triumphant 1,000-year reign of Christ, to be shared by those martyrs who had died to bear witness to him and whose reward was to enjoy the fruits of the first resurrection. The rest of the faithful would rise at the end of the 1,000-year reign. The pre-millennialists are so called because of their belief that the second coming will precede the millennium period. Post-millennialists believe that the millennium will come first, possibly brought about as a result of the work of the faithful in spreading God’s word throughout the world and in preparing the way for Christ’s advent.

Islamic millenarianism shares much in common with Christian ideas including its belief in the advent of the Mahdi (“rightly guided one”), a belief that bears a close resemblance to that of the second coming of Christ. Some Muslim traditions or Hadith identify the Mahdi with Jesus, while others say that he will be accompanied by Jesus as he comes to destroy the anti-Christ (Al Dajjal: the Deceiver) and rid the Earth of injustice and evil. This, they believe, will ensure worldwide peace and harmony before the Day of Judgement.

The term millenarian is applied more widely than to the religions mentioned here, and has been used by some secular movements, such as communism. A religious group with the following characteristics is generally designated millenarian: a strong expectation of salvation in the sense of the total and sudden transformation of this world with the complete triumph of good over evil, the belief that this salvation will be enjoyed by its members as a collectivity, that it is imminent, and that it will be accomplished on Earth by supernatural means.

Whether viewed from Jewish, Christian, or Muslim perspectives, or from the more general sociological understanding of the term, millenarianism has undoubtedly been one of the most widespread and powerful beliefs in religious history. Examples include the Shiite Muslims of Iran, the Jodo Shu (Pure Land) and Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) Buddhist traditions of Japan, the Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Jews, the Nation of Islam, the Rastafarian Movement, the Japanese religion Omotokyo (Religion of Great Origin), the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Shakers, the Zionist Church of southern Africa, the Tupí-Guaraní of South America and their search for the Land without Evil, the Cargo Cults of Melanesia, and the modern form of the New Age Movement.