Apostles of the Apocalypse: Are we ready for the end?

By Steve Nettleton
CNN Interactive

"There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people -- everyone whose name is found written in the book -- will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." -- Daniel 12:1-2

(CNN) -- Even after the last bottle of flat bubbly rolls to a stop next to a host of empty champagne flutes, drained beer cans and crumpled party favors on New Year's morning, one countdown will trudge on, fatefully ticking down to a day of doom.

The clock of the apocalypse has entered its 11th hour, proclaim some self-professed contemporary prophets, and Judgment Day is nigh.

The signs are evident, these latter-day prophets say. Devastating earthquakes, waves of terrorism and a continuing descent into moral depravity all point to the end. Perhaps it will be the Y2K bug that opens the seven seals of Revelation. Or we could see the long-awaited arrival of the Jewish Messiah to establish a kingdom of justice and peace.

Celebrations • The celebrations guide • Your Millennium Pictures • Panorama: New Year's in New York • 2000 chat calendar • Gallery: Enter another world Stories • Apostles of the Apocalypse: Are we ready for the end? • The great millennium misunderstanding Y2K • Preparation pays off • Your Y2K forum The Future • A virtual peek into what's to come The Past • A thousand years of history

One fear of public officials, academics and others is that some radicals among the doomsayers may attempt acts of violence in the name of satisfying such prophecies.

Although this year's millennial fervor actually has been milder than researchers expected, there is still no shortage of end-time believers of all faiths, from some Protestant evangelists warning of the imminent reign of the Antichrist to Muslim extremist groups endorsing a "jihad" against Israel.

Many of those listening to these religious soothsayers are average Americans who would not consider themselves predisposed to apocalyptic thinking.

According to a poll in April, 44 percent of Americans think Jesus will likely return to Earth within the next 50 years. The poll was conducted by Princeton Research Associates for Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Another Princeton Research Associates poll conducted for Newsweek magazine in November found that 40 percent of Americans believe the world will end with the battle of Armageddon as described in the New Testament book of Revelation. Of those, some 47 percent believe the Antichrist is already on Earth.

Such findings are not surprising in an age of revolutionary advances in technology, researchers say.

"Any time of radical and rapid change is a great candidate for apocalyptic expectations," says Richard Landes, director of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University. "The idea that modernity is a runaway juggernaut that's leading us ultimately to destruction and only God can save us from it is obviously a tremendous stimulant to the apocalyptic imagination, 2000 or not, and will continue to stimulate the apocalyptic imagination after the passage of 2000."

Few soothsayers, however, are reserving an exact date for the end. Some Christian ministers are making vague predictions of a cataclysm somewhere around the year 2000. Many leave their calendars blank, warning followers to be prepared "at any time."

"Most organized religious groups -- denominations, churches and so on -- are going to stay away from formal apocalyptic expectations," Landes says. "But all Christians, all Jews and all Muslims have built into their religion the belief that at some point all these things are going to happen."

'Jesus is coming soon -- perhaps today'

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.'" -- Revelation 21:1-3

Much of Christian eschatology (doctrine of last things) focuses on the final book of the New Testament, Revelation, written by the apostle John while he was in exile on the Greek island of Patmos. Revelation seethes with terrifying imagery -- of devilish beasts, earthly destruction and heavenly wrath, culminating in a final battle between Jesus and the Antichrist.

Scores of preachers have seized upon Revelation's compelling visions to evoke various interpretations of the end of days.

In his book, "Israel's Final Holocaust," Jack Van Impe, founder of one of the world's largest evangelical Christian ministries devoted to prophecy, applies an almost literal view of Revelation to a modern context.

"Following the defeat of Russia and her armies by Israel, the final world dictator, the Antichrist, will be revealed for who he is -- a ruthless, satanically controlled, evil person," Van Impe writes. "The length of his reign after the Israeli defeat of Russia will be three and one-half (forty-two months; see Rev. 13:5) and during that time he will bring the world to its most violent hour."

Most scholars contend, however, that John was merely writing in code to Christian churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey).

"It is written to Christians who are suffering under the persecution of the Roman Empire. And the Roman Empire is the great beast that is persecuting the Christian Church," says Paul D. Hanson, Lamont Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. "It is a word of comfort that those who are faithful even unto death will not be abandoned by God, because ultimately God is the sovereign king."

As for preachers who read more into the book, Hanson says they are taking the wrong approach.

"The use of the Bible to predict the end of the world ... constitute[s] an abuse of scripture," Hanson says. "The message that these groups derive from scripture through their perverted reading is one of cruel vindictiveness against the vast majority of the human race."

Prophesiers such as Van Impe say their message is not hateful; it gives hope to modern Christians that Jesus is coming soon.

"Current international events reflect exactly the conditions and happenings predicted throughout the Bible for the last days of this age," Van Impe writes on his Web site. "Remember that this special message has been given to reveal God's truth, not conceal it; and to clarify God's eternal purpose, not mystify it. Millions need to be alerted to the fact that Jesus is coming soon -- perhaps today!"

Israel: An ark of Noah

"'Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,' says the Lord Almighty. 'Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.'" -- Malachi 4:1-2

Like Christianity, Judaism features a wildly diverse range of interpretations of an apocalyptic end. Most center on the Messiah -- a savior who will restore Israel to its proper state and inaugurate an era of universal peace.

At the end of the Messiah's reign, the wicked throughout history will be brought back to life and judged, while the righteous will be transported into a new world.

While most Jewish groups avoid trying to predict when the Messiah will come, some are finding a striking coincidence in the year 2000.

In the Jewish year 5760, according to a 16th century Kabbalistic (traditional) text, "the depths will rise up and flood the world, and there will remain the Land of Israel, which will be like the Ark of Noah."

Conveniently, the Jewish year 5760 began in September 1999 and overlaps the Gregorian year 2000, leading some followers to wonder if some global disaster may befall the earth in the coming months.

Avraham Sheinman, director of an organization based in Israel called Operation Homeward, takes it a step further. He fears the Y2K computer bug could trigger widespread unrest, possibly igniting a backlash against the Jewish Diaspora. Therefore, Sheinman is encouraging Jews to return to Israel to protect themselves against a wave of anti-Semitism that could spread across the globe.

But Gershom Gorenberg, a senior editor of the Jerusalem Report, believes the excitement over the year 5760 would not have surfaced if it were not for the hype of the year 2000.

"My guess would be that if the year 5760 had come out to be the year 1967 in the Gregorian calendar and nobody was particularly excited about it as an apocalyptic marker, these Kabbalistic texts would have gone virtually unnoticed," Gorenberg says.

In fact, many Jews do not read much into Jewish numerology or the apocalypse.

"Our emphasis is on the here and the now. Our purpose on Earth is to make it a better place," says Rabbi Barry Konovitch, of the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center in Miami. "Our purpose on Earth is to transform the Earth, and you transform the Earth for the better by transforming yourself. The rest is just speculation."

Islam's final 'jihad'

For Muslims, the world is destined to witness a great final battle between a demonic being called the Dajjal (Arabic for "the Deceiver"), similar to the Christian Antichrist, and the Mahdi, a descendant of Mohammed. The Mahdi's victory will usher in a millennium of peace, followed by final judgment.

Islamic fundamentalists today often associate the Dajjal with Israel or the United States, countries perceived to be enemies of Islam. Consequently, extremists such as Osama bin Laden, who has declared a holy war against these nations, are considered by some Muslims as candidates for the Mahdi, the Muslim messianic figure.

Islamic moderates, on the other hand, tend to associate the Mahdi with mainstream leaders such as Jordan's King Abdullah, according to Landes of the Center for Millennial Studies.

Apocalypse Soon?

So what happens if the expected apocalypse does not materialize on schedule?

Millennial scholars fear we will see a backlash against various religious groups as conservative Christian leaders seek to explain why their predictions did not come true.

Religious movements out of the mainstream, such as Jehovah's Witnesses or the Wiccans, could be targeted, according to Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, an organization that promotes understanding of all religions.

Another concern: agents provocateurs. Some radical doomsayers could act to ignite a religious war, thus triggering Armageddon.

"If you see a situation in which things are getting worse and your side is losing, you'd rather provoke an all-out battle than slowly have your position slip away," Landes says.

Hanson agrees: "If you have people perceiving all kinds of things are going to happen, and they take prophecy into their own hands and arrogate themselves to being agents of divine wrath or whatever, horrible things can happen."

Many prognosticators, however, simply push back their timetables when the foretold events do not occur. So even after the passing of 2000 and the formal arrival of the 3rd millennium in 2001, we will likely continue to enjoy a wealth of new prophecies and warnings of TEOTWAWKI, as it is known on the Internet -- the End of the World as We Know It.