Prophecy in the New Millennium: When Prophecies Persist PDF
Preview Prophecy in the New Millennium: When Prophecies Persist
ProPhecy in the new MillenniuM This is a rich text full of significant insights for both new comers to the field of study and established experts. Uniquely combining the views of scholars and participants in prophetic movements, the essays in this volume make important contributions to our theoretical and empirical grasp of why and how prophecies generate, sustain, and sometimes strain religious movements, ranging from the lengthy legacy of Christian apocalypticism to the recent preoccupation with the Mayan 2012 prophecy and many other contemporary revelations. lorne Dawson, university of waterloo, canada Seasoned scholars are joined by new researchers in this rich and lively collection. Coverage is broad and comparative, chapters are written in an accessible yet scholarly style, and a sure editorial hand is evident throughout. The volume as a whole makes a persuasive case for restoring prophecy to a central place within the comparative study of religion. Steven J. Sutcliffe, university of edinburgh, uK Secular and spiritual prophets of doom abound in the information-rich twenty-first century – as they have for millennia. But there has yet to be worldwide floods, meteor impact, global computer failure, obvious alien contact, or direct intervention from God to end the world as we know it. considering the frequency with which prophecy apparently fails, why do prophecies continue to be made, and what social functions do they serve? this volume gives a concise, but comprehensive, overview of the rich diversity of prophecy, its role in major world religions as well as in new religions and alternative spiritualties, its social dynamics and its impact on individuals’ lives. Academic analyses are complemented with contextualized primary source testimonies of those who live and have lived within a prophetic framework. the book argues that the key to understanding the more dramatic, apocalyptic and millenarian aspects of prophecy is in appreciating prophecy’s more mundane manifestations and its role in providing meaning and motivation in everyday life. Ashgate inform Series on Minority religions and Spiritual Movements Series Editor: eileen Barker, london School of economics, chair and honorary Director of inform Advisory Board: Afe Adogame, university of edinburgh, uK, Madawi Al-rasheed, King’s college, london, uK, François Bellanger, université de Genève, Switzerland, irena Borowik, Jagiellonian university, Krakow, Poland, Douglas e. cowan, university of waterloo, ontario, canada, Adam Possamai, university of western Sydney, Australia, James t. richardson, university of nevada, reno, uSA, Fenggang yang, Purdue university, uSA inform is an independent charity that collects and disseminates accurate, balanced and up-to-date information about minority religious and spiritual movements. the Ashgate inform book series addresses themes related to new religions, many of which have been the topics of inform seminars. Books in the series will attract both an academic and interested general readership, particularly in the areas of religious Studies, and the Sociology of religion and theology. Other titles in this series: Spiritual and Visionary communities out to Save the world Edited by Timothy Miller Prophecy in the new Millennium when Prophecies Persist Edited by SArAh hArVey Inform, UK SuzAnne newcoMBe Inform, UK © Sarah harvey and Suzanne newcombe 2013 All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Sarah harvey and Suzanne newcombe have asserted their right under the copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing limited Ashgate Publishing company wey court east 110 cherry Street union road Suite 3-1 Farnham Burlington, Vt 05401-3818 Surrey, Gu9 7Pt uSA england www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Prophecy in the new millennium : when prophecies persist. -- (Ashgate inform series on minority religions and spiritual movements) 1. Prophecy--history--21st century. 2. Prophecy--Social aspects. i. Series ii. harvey, Sarah. iii. newcombe, Suzanne. 203.2-dc23 The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Prophecy in the new millennium : when prophecies persist / edited by Sarah harvey and Suzanne newcombe. p. cm. -- (Ashgate inform series on minority religions and spiritual movements) includes bibliographical references and index. iSBn 978-1-4094-4995-9 (hbk) -- iSBn 978-1-4094-4996-6 (pbk) -- iSBn 978-1-4094-4997-3 (ebook) 1. eschatology. 2. Prophecies. 3. Prophecy. 4. religions. i. harvey, Sarah. ii. newcombe, Suzanne. Bl500.P76 2013 202'.117--dc23 2012031450 iSBn 9781409449959 (hbk) iSBn 9781409449966 (pbk) iSBn 9781409449973 (ebk – PDF) iSBn 9781472400611 (ebk – ePuB) V Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG PrintGrouP Contents Notes on Contributors ix Acknowledgements xv 1 From the Extraordinary to the Ordinary: An Overview of Prophecy 1 Suzanne Newcombe and Sarah Harvey Part I: PersPectIves on ProPhecy 2 Messages from Beyond: Prophecy in the Contemporary World 17 Michael Barkun 3 Prophecy: Social Scientific Perspectives and Lubavitch 27 Simon Dein 4 Prophecy on the Margins: A Case Study of the Apocalypse in Later Seventeenth-Century England 43 Warren Johnston 5 Prophecy: A Perspective from the Early Church and the Contemporary Experience of a Methodist Minister 57 Andrew Maguire Part II: PerennIal ProPhecy In MaInstreaM tradItIons 6 The New Apostolic Reformation: Main Street Mystics and Everyday Prophets 75 Margaret M. Poloma and Matthew T. Lee 7 The Mahdi and the End-Times in Islam 89 Hugh Beattie 8 The Coming Golden Age: On Prophecy in Hinduism 105 Luis González-Reimann vi Prophecy in the New Millennium 9 Divination, Prophecy and Oracles in Tibetan Buddhism 123 Christopher Bell 10 Chasing the Horizon: Prophecy in Secular Contexts 137 Wendy M. Grossman Part III: conteMPorary case studIes 11 Living in the Time of the End: A Personal Commentary from My Experiences with the Children of God and the Family International 155 Abi Freeman May 12 Mormonism and The Family International: Toward a Theory of Prophecy in the Development of New Religious Movements 165 Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd 13 The Dispensation of Providence: Growing Up as a Blessed Child in the Unification Church 185 Hani Zaccarelli 14 Waco: Living Prophecy 195 Livingstone Fagan 15 (Always) Living in the End-Times: The ‘Rolling Prophecy’ of the Conspiracy Milieu 207 David G. Robertson Part Iv: 2012 ProPhecIes 16 From Mushrooms to the Stars: 2012 and the Apocalyptic Milieu 225 Andrew Fergus Wilson 17 Viral Email and the 2012 Apocalypse Contagion: Seven Reasons Why the World WON’T End in 2012 239 Kristine Larsen 18 Remembering the Future: 2012 as Planetary Transition 255 Suzanne Rough Contents vii 19 2012 and the Revival of the New Age Movement: The Mayan Calendar and the Cultic Milieu in Switzerland 261 Jean-François Mayer 20 Looking into the Future: Why Prophecies Will Persist 277 J. Gordon Melton Index 285 This page has been left blank intentionally Notes on Contributors Professor Michael Barkun is Professor Emeritus of Political Science in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. His books on millennialism include A Culture of Conspiracy (2003), Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement (1997), and Disaster and the Millennium (1974). His most recent book, Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11 was published in 2011. He edits the Religion and Politics series for the Syracuse University Press and sits on the editorial boards of several journals. Dr Hugh Beattie is Lecturer in Religious Studies at The Open University. After reading history at Cambridge, he moved into social anthropology at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies), and undertook field research in Afghanistan in the late 1970s. Subsequently he has conducted extensive research in the British Library’s Oriental and India Office archive. His interests include Islam, state and society in Afghanistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwa, the history of Sikhism, and end-times religion. Author of Imperial Frontier Tribe and State in Waziristan (2002), he is currently working on religious leadership in Waziristan in the twentieth century. Christopher Bell received a BA in English Literature and Religious Studies (2003), and an MA in Asian Religions (2006), both from Florida State University. His Master’s thesis focused on the cult of Tsiu Marpo, one of the central protector deities of Samyé, Tibet’s first Buddhist Monastery. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia, concentrating on Tibetan and Buddhist History. His dissertation research will examine the seventeenth-century rise and ritual systematization of the Nechung protective deity cult under the auspices of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s burgeoning government. Dr Simon Dein is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Medicine at University College London and Honorary Professor at Durham University. He is also Visiting Professor in Psychology at Glendwyr University, Wales and is a part-time psychiatrist working in the NHS. He has written extensively on religion and health and on millennialism in Judaism and is the author of Religion and Healing among the Lubavitch Community of Stamford Hill: A Case Study in Hasidism (2004) and Lubavitcher Messianism: What Really Happens When Prophecy Fails? (2010). He is one of the editors of the journal Mental Health, Religion and Culture.
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