End-Time Visions : The Road to Armageddon

914 Pages·1998·3.23 MB·English

by  Richard Abanes

End-time Visions : The Road to
title:
Armageddon?
author: Abanes, Richard.
publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows
isbn10 | asin: 1568581041
print isbn13: 9781568581040
ebook isbn13: 9780585235301
language: English
End of the world--History of doctrines,
subject
Christian sects--History, Cults--History.
publication date: 1998
lcc: BT876.A22 1998eb
ddc: 291.2/3
End of the world--History of doctrines,
subject:
Christian sects--History, Cults--History.
Page i
End-Time Visions
The Road to Armageddon?
Page ii
Other books by Richard Abanes
Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family
American Militias: Rebellion, Racism and Religion
Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions
Journey into the Light: Exploring Near Death Experiences
Page iii
End-Time Visions
The Road To Armageddon?
By Richard Abanes
Page iv
© 1998 Richard Abanes
Published in the United States by:
Four Walls Eight Windows
39 West 14th Street, room 503
New York, N.Y., 10011
U.K. offices:
Four Walls Eight Windows/Turnaround
Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate
Coburg Road, Wood Green
London N22 6TZ, England
Visit our website at http://www.fourwallseightwindows.com
First printing April 1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
data base or other retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any
means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Abanes, Richard.
End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon?/by Richard Abanes.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-56858-104-1
1. End of the worldHistory of doctrines. 2. Christian sectsHistory. 3. Cults
History. 4. End of the worldControversial literature. I. Tide.
BT876.A22 1998
291.2'3dc21 97-44524
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States
Printed in the United States
Page v
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
Part 1: Apocalypse Now
1. 1990s: Decade of Death 3
2. Seers, Sages, and Soothsayers 43
3. "Thus Saith The Lord". 81
4. Patriots and Militiamen 113
Part 2: The Annals of Armageddon
5. A Timeless Obsession 159
6. Nostradamus 187
7. Miller's Millennial Madness 209
8. Jehovah's Witnesses: Armageddon, Inc 229
Part 3: a Return to Sanity
9. Signs of the Times Revisited 255
10. The Bible Tells Me So ? 279
11. Millennial Mindsets 303
Appendix A: The NDE Mystery Solved 329
Appendix B: Calendar Confusion 335
Appendix C: Timeline of Doom 337
Appendix D: Inside Heaven's Gate. 343
Notes 349
Index 417
Page vii
INTRODUCTION
There is no common denominator in the worm today except religion.
Billy Graham, American Evangelist
1
Religion has fascinated me for most of my life. I was raised a Roman
Catholic, dabbled in occultism as an adolescent (e.g., Edgar Cayce
and ouija boards), and became an evangelical Christian at the age of
seventeen. Then, in my twenties, I found myself involved with a cult
known as The Way International. Upon leaving this group, I continued
my search for spiritual fulfillment among hyper-Pentecostals who
writhed on the floor during church services and wailed their praises to
God in "tongues." Now, after more than thirty years of involvement
with religion, it seems only natural that I would earn my living as an
investigative reporter specializing in cults, the occult, world religions,
and new religious movements.
There is no lack of work for someone in my field of interest. Since the
1980s a wave of spirituality has been steadily engulfing numerous
countries, especially the United States. According to scholars in
American religious thought, we are "witnessing a spiritual awakening
unprecedented in modern times."2 Church historian and University of
Chicago professor Martin Marty observes, "spirituality is back, almost
with a vengeance. . . . I find myself treating the concern for
spirituality as an event of our era."3
One need only glance through a few periodicals to see the validity of
Marty's comment. Articles bearing titles such as "Desperately Seeking
Spirituality," "The New Spin Is Spirituality," "The Power of Faith,''
"In Search of the Sacred," and "Exploring Spiritual Approach to
Business-World Challenges" are now common.4 Early indications of
this renewed interest in religion appeared in a 1987 Better Homes and
Gardens survey of more than 80,000 readers. Sixty-two percent of
those polled said that in