Dreams of Glory: The Sources of Apocalyptic Terror

166 Pages·2006·1.14 MB·English

by  Richard K. Fenn

DREAMS OF GLORY
This is a very timely book. It touches a nerve. The issue of apocalyptic is dealt
with inan immediately apparentway that links contemporary, biblical andother
historical periods together in a way that displays the naturalness of apocalyptic
withinthehumancondition.‘Itreadstrue’.Thethemeofhopeanddespairisalso
influentialandwellmade andintegratedintotheapocalypticspirit.Ithinkmany
would not only enjoy this book but would almost find themselves awaiting its
message.
Professor Douglas Davies
Department of Theology and Religions
Durham University, UK
Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are engaged not in a ‘clash of
civilizations’ but in a sectarian conflict among branches of a single
civilization traditionally steeped in apocalyptic imagery and beliefs.
Apocalypticism is a religious luxury that modern civilizations can no
longer afford. Many would agree that the propagandists of the
Christian Right have raised apocalyptic tensions to a dangerous level
since 9/11, but in this book Richard Fenn takes on the mainline church
leadersfortheirroleinpromotinganapocalypticviewofhistory.Those
whokeepapocalypticbeliefsinarespectableplaceinreligiousfaithand
practicemustbeartheirshareofresponsibilityforglobalterror.Itisnot
onlytragicbutironicthatthechurcheshavegivenapocalypticliterature
such a respectable place in their sacred texts, because the apocalyptic
imagination itself has its sources in non-Biblical literature: the
Hellenistic prophesies that gave comfort and courage to the victims of
war in the near and middle east from the time of Alexander the Great
and Darius. Fenn goes on to hold apocalyptic enthusiasts in the
mainline churches, as well as on the Right, responsible for keeping old
grievances alive in their demands for a day of final reckoning, and he
demonstratesthat totalitarianand imperial regimes have madeeffective
use of apocalyptic literature to justify their own violence and to terrify
their subjects and enemies.
For Robert MacLennan, Friend
Dreams of Glory
The Sources of Apocalyptic Terror
RICHARD K. FENN
Princeton Theological Seminary, USA
#Richard K. Fenn 2006
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permis-
sion of the publisher.
Richard K. Fenn has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Croft Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hampshire GU11 3HR USA
England
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Fenn, Richard K.
Dreams of glory: the sources of apocalyptic terror
1.Fundamentalism–UnitedStates2.Eschatology3.Religionandpolitics–
United States – 4. Terrorism – Religious aspects – Christianity 5.
Apocalyptic literature – History and criticism 6. Religion and international
affairs 7. United States – Foreign relations – Philosophy
I. Title
280.4’0973’09051
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fenn, Richard K.
Dreams of glory: the source of apocalyptic terror/Richard K. Fenn.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7546-5450-8 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Apocalyptic literature—History and criticism. 2. End of the world—
Comparative studies. 3. Terrorism—Religious aspects. 4. Civilization, Mod-
ern—21st century. I. Title.
BL501.F46 2005
202’.3—dc22
2005006172
ISBN 0 7546 5450 8
Typeset by Tradespools, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Printed and bound by Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction: Contemporary Christian Mullahs and Their
Apocalypticism 1
1 The Apocalyptic Vision as Bad Seed 12
2 Radical Preachers and Mullahs 27
3 Terror and the Apocalyptic Imagination 44
4 Apocalyptic Visions as Reaction to Disaster 66
5 The Apocalyptic Attack on the Self 80
6 Apocalyptic Visions as Ideology 92
7 The Test of Time 104
8 The Theater and the Courtroom 118
9 Free Association 130
Bibliography 147
Index 153
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Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to Robert MacLennan, whose extraordinary
capacitytoengageandquestionthesacredhaveenrichedourfriendship
and conversations over many years. He is a gift not only to the church
but to all those attempting to find common ground beneath religious
difference.
AfewyearsagoIhadlunchwithMichaelWood,whointroducedme
to the problem of understanding why it is that people may be troubled
by possibilities even when they know the outcome in advance. That
conversation has haunted me in the writing of this book, and so, rather
than a single footnote to that conversation, I am thanking Michael
Wood here for setting in motion a train of thought that has not begun
to reach its destination but has to stop somewhere. This book is that
station, but not yet, thanks to Michael Wood, a terminal.
James Moorhead, who knows more about apocalypticism than
anyone else I know, is also a dear friend and colleague, whose
conversationsalwaysremindmeofhowhardandnecessaryitistokeep
the end in sight, even when neither of us wants to. He is steadfast,
illuminating, and always kind.
I also want to thank another indispensable colleague, Sally Brown,
for an invitation to think and talk about last things. She has brought
intellectualhonesty,depth,andrigortoourconversations,alongwith a
compassion that always makes me wonder if I have yet even begun to
understand what it is like to live in a world where nothing lasts. I can
only hope that her voice will be heard for years to come.
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INTRODUCTION
Contemporary Christian Mullahs and
Their Apocalypticism
Many are rightly concerned about the apocalyptic fervor that infects
American politics in the twenty-first century. A global crusade against
evil,inwhichvictoryisalwaysimminent,strikescriticsoftheRepublican
administrationasafantasythatwillcometogriefontheveryhardsoilof
Iraq and the Middle East. It is a fantasy, however, that dies hard.
ApocalyptichopesandfearshavebeendrivingAmericanpoliticsatleast
sincethegreatAwakeningofthe1700s,initiatedinNewEnglandbythe
NorthamptonpreacherJonathanEdwards,whoscaredhisflocktodeath
withvisionsofhell.Inthemovementthatfollowedevangelistsdrewtens
of thousands of souls eager to be saved from damnation. As the
American historian Stephen D. O’Leary describes this ‘Awakening’:
this was a ‘moment of madness’ – a revolutionary, romantic
moment when an entire society seems to be up for grabs. In these
moments, fundamental change appears irresistible; for a brief
moment, ‘all seems possible, all within reach’. Across time, people
who get caught up in moments of madness imagine that their own
‘radiant vision’ is at hand: a workers’ paradise, a grassroots
democracy, fraternite-egalite-liberte, or the Second Coming of
Jesus. The utopian imagination is – suddenly, powerfully, briefly –
inflamedbytheimmediateprospectofradicalchange,byvisionsof
an apocalypse now.1
Even among Protestant churches that are historically suspicious of
enthusiasm, the apocalyptic vision is like a black hole that draws
everything into itself. To be sure, Presbyterians, for instance, under-
standthattheyshouldneverspeculateonhoworwhentheKingdomof
God will come. Rather, they must live like ‘the One who participates
already in God’s eschatological Kingdom.’2 That means that evil is to
beconfrontedandrevealedineverydaylife,withoutwaitingfortheEnd
or speculating on the time that remains before its final advent. Thus
Christians live between a time that is not yet come and one that has
already begun: a perennial, continuous, mundane, existential, and
fateful way of life that intensifies the pressure of the past and the future
on the present. Even so, however, orthodox belief still insists on a