End-Time Visions : The Road to Armageddon [Hardcover]

Richard Abanes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

Thousands of would-be seers and prophets throughout the ages have claimed to predict Doomsday. Some of them have attracted masses of followers. And some of these have led their trusting believers to grim ends. These doomsayers and their organizations have names that are chillingly familiar to us: David Koresh, Aum Shinrikyo, Heaven's Gate, the Order of the Solar Temple.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Abanes, an investigative reporter and director of the Religious Information Center in Southern California, has written a well-researched, highly entertaining, and informative book about the human fascination with apocalyptic events. He asserts that doomsaying prophets throughout history were not only often wrong but spectacularly wrong, and he backs up his conclusions with a tremendous amount of documentation. He covers a great deal of ground: from the nightmare worlds of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Shoko Asahara, to the biblical battles between Gog and Magog, a scenario that was often used as a prediction that the former Soviet Union "will" invade Israel. Of special note are his investigations into the prophecies of the "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce and Nostradamus, whose work, under a clear light, proves unreliable and false. As the millennium approaches, the public's hunger for more books prophecizing the end of history, earth, and time will grow and public libraries will be forced to satiate it with more purchases of such materials. It is therefore paramount that this book also be purchased and be placed among those "end-of-the-world" books as a reasoning and enlightening voice. Highly recommended for public libraries and all collections dealing with the supernatural or the occult.?Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

"Interestingly, nearly all the faiths now experiencing rapid growth throughout the world promote a common doctrine: at some point in the near future, our world will be destroyed," Abanes says. Writing neatly, footnoting nicely, he visits the world of millenarians and others mining the current doomsday craze, explaining their views and expatiating on their histories. Ordinarily, this might not make entertaining reading, but Abanes' skepticism stands him in good stead in this regard as he enumerates and explains the twisting strands of prophecy and belief of which the fabric of Armageddon is made without ever becoming enamored of them. Thus he produces great stuff for those who want to know the specifics about what happened the other times--1900, 1666, 1000--the end of the earth loomed so clearly for so many. Buy his book now and get a few years' circulation out of it before the world and everything in it become moot points. Mike Tribby

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 420 pages
• Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581041
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581040
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,949,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making sense of nonsense, November 7, 2001

By 

justin (Lowell,Ma.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: End-Time Visions : The Road to Armageddon (Hardcover)

Richard Abanes, a former cult member himself, takes on apocolyptic ideoligies in his book, "End Time Visions."This is a remarkable work, one that had a great influence on my outlook on several aspects of my own religion. I am a Christian, but I was greatly impressed by Mr. Abanes unmasking of some of the more extreme Doomsday prophets of our times. It is refreshing to see someone throw a proverbial wet blanket on the armegeddon fires raging in several Christian circles today without ridiculing Christianity itself. This is a fascinating, wonderful book that I would highly reccomend to anyone that is suffering from "end of the world tension", or anyone that is interested in making informed decisions for themelves. This book was one of the most delightful finds I ever encountered in my search of non-fiction material.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well researched review of end time date setters., January 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: End-Time Visions : The Road to Armageddon (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading End-Time Visions - The Road to Armageddon? The author relates many fascinating stories about end time date setters who have consistently failed to foretell "the end of the world" (i.e. second coming of Christ). Especially interesting were the accounts of Nostradamus, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Heaven's Gate cult. However, the author never presented his own views regarding the end times. In addition, based on the author's own conclusions regarding biblical prophecy, it is evident that he does not have a good understanding of the prophetic scriptures.

For example, in discussing the subject of the coming False Messiah or Antichrist, the author states that "there are a few biblical passages which suggest that biblical writers did indeed have a specific individual in mind..." and then goes on to say: "But this does not mean that a future one world government leader is destined to rise to power. Many historians and theologians theorize that these may be references to Nero..." (page 120). After which the author quotes a lengthy passage from "Doomsday Delusions" by C. Marvin Pate and Calvin B. Haines regarding their theory that Nero may have been the Antichrist predicted in the book of Revelation. The author believes this to be a viable scenario and concludes his argument by stating that "placing the concept of Antichrist in the historical and cultural context of the first century makes a great deal of sense." (page 122)

The Bible declares that the Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8). However, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68, near Rome. As the author repeatedly points out, the second coming of Christ has not occurred yet, so Nero could not have been the Antichrist. He does not fulfill the prophetic scriptures.

What is even more revealing about the author's view of biblical prophecy is his position on the infamous "mark of the beast" passage (Revelation 13:16-18) in the book of Revelation. Regarding this passage of scripture the author states: "When we allow the Bible to interpret itself, it becomes clear that the mark in Revelation 13:16-18 is a symbolic representation of people who have turned their minds and actions over to beliefs that are against Christ (i.e. anti-Christ). The Revelation passage is addressing where a person's heartfelt allegiance lies. It has nothing to do with a literal mark, but rather a rejection of the Christian concept of God." (page 127)

But that isn't what the Bible says! It explicitly states that a person cannot buy or sell unless they possess the mark. An attitude of the heart does not prevent anyone from buying or selling. Whereas, a lack of the proper currency or credit does.

Despite the apparent misinterpretations of scripture, this book still provides a valuable balanced look at end time date setters.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent counterpoint to end-of-the-world predictions, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: End-Time Visions : The Road to Armageddon (Hardcover)

End-Time Visions by Richard Abanes is an engrossing history of the last 2,000 years of doom sayers. Readers will find the tone of the book especially pleasing not insulting to religions or to skeptics; it is not a scathing indictment of the predictors nor condescending toward their followers. He simply provides the reader with the repeatedly missed predictions by past and current doom criers documented in their own words. He provides insight into the human condition that drives people to follow even after failure. Yet he warns of the creeping intrusions of false doctrines into the belief systems of many of today's fervent Christians. There is great detail in the book's 348 pages of text supplemented with another 66 pages of footnotes, which should be read with along with the text. This book provides surprising, illuminating responses to many of the end-time events cited by all of history's prognosticators. A good read, well indexed, worth keeping as a reference.