There are strong apocalyptic elements to each of the major Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Among the events prophesied are things like the appearance of a messiah, huge cataclysms, a last judgment, and the end of the world. Given the current awful conflicts in the Middle East–home to these religions–and the religious passions involved, the following articles and books might provide some food for thought.
Apocalypse: An Overview // Eschatology: An Overview // Armageddon, battle of// Millennialism // Mahdi // Messiah // Antichrist // Judgment of the Dead //Revelation, book of // Shia: Imami (Twelver) // Jerusalem in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam // Prophecy // Isaiah
Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism // Left Behind Series // Rapture, Revelation, and the end times // Contemporary Muslim apocalyptic literature // The resurrection and the afterlife // Eschatological themes in medieval Jewish philosophy // The fate of the dead : studies on the Jewish and Christian apocalypses // On the road to Armageddon // The battles of Armageddon
Evangelical Solidarity with the Jews // Ideological Roots of Christian Zionism //The Legend of al-Dajjal (Antichrist) // Eschatology: Some Muslim and Christian Data // Time, Culture and Christian Eschatology // Bin Ladin: The Man Who Would Be Mahdi // Waiting for the Messiah // Romance Between Christian Right, Jewish Establishment Seems to Be Cooling Off // Farrakhan: This is time of doom// Jerusalem in Islamic fundamentalism
–Fred Rowland
I wonder if millennial thinking actually contributes to the collapse of states and civilizations. Do societies with strong apocalyptic traditions — Mesoamerica comes to mind — fulfill their own prophecies? Does China, the only ancient state with a continuous tradition lasting to the present day, not have a strong apocalyptic tradition? Guess I’ll have to read the Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism, above, to find out!