A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization [Hardcover]

Jonathan Kirsch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006

The mysterious author of the Book of Revelation (or the Apocalypse, as the last book of the New Testament is also known) never considered that his sermon on the impending end times would last beyond his own life. In fact, he predicted the destruction of the earth would be witnessed by his contemporaries. Yet Revelation not only outlived its creator, this vivid and violent revenge fantasy has played a significant role in the march of Western Civilization. Ever since Revelation was first preached as the revealed word of Jesus Christ, it has haunted and inspired hearers and readers alike. The mark of the beast, the antichrist, 666, the whore of Babylon, Armageddon, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse are just a few of the images, phrases and codes that have burned their way into the fabric of our culture. The questions raised go straight to the heart of the human fear of death and obsession with the afterlife. Will we, individually or collectively, ride off to glory or will we drown in hellfire for all eternity? As those who best manipulate this dark vision learned, what side we fall on is often a matter of life or death. Honed into a weapon in the ongoing culture wars between states, religions, and citizenry, Revelation has significantly altered the march of history. Kirsch, whom the Washington Post calls -a fine storyteller with a flair for rendering ancient tales relevant and appealing to modern audiences-, delivers a far-ranging, entertaining, and shocking history of this scandalous book that was nearly cut from The New Testament. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Black Death, the Inquisition to the Protestant Reformation, the New World to the rise of the Religious Right, this chronicle of the use and abuse of the Book of Revelation tells the tale of the unfolding of history and the hopes, fears, dreams, and nightmares of all humanity.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The question of how and when the world will end has captivated thinkers for centuries. Wars, natural disasters, social upheaval and personal suffering often send believers back to the writings of their prophets and seers, whose gift is to bring satisfying answers to such questions. The book most studied in the Western tradition is Revelation, the last entry in the Christian canon. Kirsch, an attorney and book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, takes the reader on a delightful 2,000-year journey as he explores a text he describes as "a romantic tale, full of intrigue and suspense" and shows how churches, philosophers, clergy and armchair interpreters have promoted their political, social and religious agendas based on their belief that the end was imminent. Some of this history can be quite sobering, as the powerful have waged wars and built societies based on their varying perceptions of Revelation's message. However, consistent with Kirsch's earlier literary efforts, in particular The Harlot by the Side of the Road, the author exercises great care while treating his material with both sobriety and a healthy sense of the ironic. Written clearly and for a general audience, this is a fine book that merits wide readership. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

Kirsch has written an important study of the "little book" that almost didn't make it into the New Testament: the book of Revelations. For many, Revelations is a pastiche of symbolism impossible to wade through, so difficult that even scholarly St. Jerome threw up his hands. Christians have often been advised to read it symbolically, but throughout history, it has been read very literally indeed, with adherents calculating dates for the last days and condemning others to a lake of fire. Today it has a massive effect on politics, popular culture, and even foreign policy, evident especially in Lehaye and Jenkins' popular Left Behind series. Kirsch, author of the best-selling The Harlot by the Side of the Road (1997), does a masterful job of leading readers through the labyrinth of Revelations, exploring why it was written (and with sound speculation on who wrote it), what it means, and how it has affected history. Kirsch is like a tour guide, making stops in Florence, to show how Savonarola used Revelations as he stoked the bonfire of the vanities; in America, to explore how Protestants used the book's imagery; and in Israel, to elucidate how the predictions in Revelations have formed the basis of an unlikely alliance between Jews and the Christian Religious Right. Throughout, in highly readable style, Kirsch highlights how Revelations has been used as a justification for culture wars from the earliest times to the present. Fascinating--and sure to provoke heated discussion. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060816988
• ISBN-13: 978-0060816988
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN ENGROSSING, CONTROVERSIAL LOOK INTO THE ORIGINS OF ESCHATOLOGY!, August 28, 2006

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RBSProds "rbsprods" (Deep in the heart of Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization (Hardcover)

Three and a Half Engrossing Stars!!
"A History of the End of the World" makes it's appearance at a crucial time: when there seems to be so much war and terrorism, death and destruction, and political tension taking place across the world and in the Middle East. This book begins by citing a famous bumper sticker which says "I know the ending. God wins". This book focuses on, but is not confined to, the last book of the Bible. The Revelation (aka The Apocalypse) is a book so heavily coded that "names, numbers, colors, and images in {John's} visions are ciphers that must be decoded to yield their actual meanings". Many try to use it as comparison to today's events to determine if we are nearing "the end times" or the "left behind" phase of redemptive history.

Mr Kirsch's book diligently sorts through the optional views and influences of this magnificent biblical book of prophesy, as he digs deeper than most in this area. In fact, he surveys the history of other "apocalyptic" writings that preceded Revelation, especially noting the effect of Hellenism and Antiochus the Madman on some of those writings. And he cites the biblical Book of Daniel as a direct source for Revelation or even a mini-Apocalypse because of it's prophesies. (But Christians would state it is God who is doing the writing and the comparing.)

Many believe The Revelation was written by (Saint) John, the 'beloved' apostle. Mr Kirsch notes that despite the specific mention of John as the author, some people question the 'true' authorship of Revelation. And he makes no bones about the fact that he believes Revelation's author actually used "models and sources" from ancient biblical writings that he "knew, loved, and copied"(p.24). He relates that Satan even is given a lesser adversarial role in the heavenly court prior to the New Testament and John's Revelation which paints Satan as "the Beast". And he takes issue with statements by not only John, but Jesus himself with regard to the timing of the "end times", which may upset some Christians. Mr Kirsch may have opened himself to controversy with some of his statements, but this book is more of a survey of everything rather than a definitive study taking a hard-line position. So a Christian Fundamentalist may read some things he would rather not see. OR maybe not. I know I had some trepidation, but I kept reading. And he documents well the controversy as to whether Revelation should have been included in the Bible at all, which it finally was, according to him, in most manuscripts by the tenth century. Then he documents the twists and turns of each century, including the madness of the millennial year 1000, in dealing with Revelation. Centuries of seers, visionaries, and believers each weighing in on their interpretation.

The overall focus of this book is on the influence that Revelation has had on Western Civilization. The author states it "Changed the Course of Western Civilization". A very lofty and speculative claim. The author begins to state his case, however, by citing many common everyday terms as originating in The Revelation: "Satan", "grapes of wrath", "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", "grim reaper", "anti-Christ", "lake of fire", "fire and brimstone", the number "666", "thousand year reign", "last judgement", "Battle of Armageddon", the number "7" "a great sign appeared in the heavens", "Gog and Magog" (he makes an interesting point about these terms) and so on. Add to that the centuries old guessing game of the identity of "the Beast" and you have a book that fires the imagination, but will cause the Christian adherents to brand it as a strictly a SECULAR work of biblical scholarship.

Elsewhere he cites the effect of The Revelation on western civilization and the likes of Richard the Lion-Hearted, Hitler, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. & George W. Bush (Presidents #41 and #43), among others. In light of the controversial statements, many Christians who 'walk by faith and not by sight' may find this book ultimately disappointing and they may want to be headed in the direction of Billy Graham, Dallas Willard, or Scott Hahn for a more traditional Christian treatment of The Revelation. But, even so, it serves a double purpose of being a fascinating and exhaustive history of apocalyptic writings pre- and post-dating Revelation, whether you believe Revelation is divinely inspired or not divinely inspired. Sign me up with the former. Otherwise, buckle up, dig in, and prepare to be amazed at the incredible interest in eschatology that many of us have had over the centuries. The words of Dionysius reverberate through this book, "[T]hose things which I do not understand I do not reject, but I wonder the more that I cannot comprehend". Faith must carry the day!
Three and a Half Rigorous Stars for scholarship and diligence, with a caution for the religious squeamish!

67 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cuts Through Evangelical Fundamentalist Garbage.., August 25, 2006

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G. W. Hansen (Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization (Hardcover)

I happened to come across this tasty volume by accident and found myself up half the night sucked into its pages. The author covers all aspects of Revelations and does an exhaustive, yet entertaining critique of the stories aka metaphors contained therein. For End of the World Enthusiasts and Conspiracy Buffs, some of your paranoia will dissipate. For die hards, forget it. They'll believe what they want to believe. For Evangelicals and Fundamentalist Yahoos, you might just lose some steam. This book has something for everyone. It's an intelligent cultural study of a book in the Bible that's been bandied about for centuries. There will be no absolutes when you get to the end. But you will have learned what all the fuss is about. Sure to tick off more than a few know it all holier than thou folks for its bold candor. Maybe that's why I like it so much.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent History Of The Search For The End, January 21, 2007

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John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization (Hardcover)

This is an engrossing study of the most enigmatic book of the Bible: Revelation, and the impact it has had over the last two millennia. I have read and studied Revelation several times over the years. As a child the idea of the Last Judgment and the end of the world used to terrify me, and as an adult I found the bizarre imagery and even more bizarre interpretations of Revelation off-putting and ridiculous. I'm glad Jonathan Kirch has provided this history, which helps to make sense out of much that seems senseless.

Revelation is supposed to have been written by the Apostle John, but as Kirsch demonstrates, that identification is highly doubtful. I enjoyed reading the first few chapters in which Kirsch analyzes the origins of and early reception given to Revelation, but the later chapters, which trace the influence of Revelation down through the centuries, were particularly interesting. I was struck by how similar so many prophets of Apocalypse seem, even when they lived many centuries apart, and by how often they misinterpreted the same segments of Revelation.

The most important parts of Kirsch's work deal with the effect Revelation has had on the present world, particularly through what I believe is its willful misinterpretation by some so-called religious and political "leaders", whose cynical exploitation of the hopes and fears of many sincerely religious people has allowed them to gain influence and power. Hopefully, Kirsch's expose of the fraudulent nature of these misinterpretations will help repair some of the damage done to our world by those who would exploit those who fear its imminent ending.