The End is Near…Right?
November 20, 2023 | By Zeki Tan MY ‘25
image description: silhouette of mountain under cloudy sky during daytime
In 1534, a radical sect of Anabaptists, a Christian group that distinguished itself from other Christians for only baptizing adult believers, seized control of the city of Münster in present-day Germany. These Anabaptists were convinced that the world would end that year, and that Jesus Christ would return to the earth to rule over it, with Münster as the capital. Among other things, they made polygamy compulsory, abolished money and private property, and burned all books except for the Bible. It took eighteen months for the ruling Catholic authorities to regain control of the city, and the Anabaptist leaders who led the rebellion were tortured and executed brutally. Their remains were left to rot in cages hanging from the church steeple, while the prediction of Jesus’ imminent reign did not come to pass. [1]
Although this episode was exceptionally strange and violent, even against the background of ongoing religious wars in sixteenth-century Europe, it is not distinct for its doomsday message. Apocalyptic thinking seems to express itself in every generation, and it occurs just as frequently in our time as it did in 1534. Across the political and religious spectrum, different groups have proclaimed the same message of impending civilizational and terrestrial collapse. Activists from Extinction Rebellion, an environmentalist group founded in 2018, made headlines in the United Kingdom for gluing themselves to subway trains and blocking roads in London during rush hour. [2], [3] These actions were intended to compel the British government to take more drastic action to avoid an ecological “tipping point” from climate change that would guarantee a “sixth mass extinction” of terrestrial life. [4] In the United States, adherents of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon hold that the world is currently controlled by the Deep State, a cabal of Satanist pedophiles from the Democratic Party who engage in child sex trafficking and human sacrifice. [5] Former President Donald Trump is seen as a messianic figure chosen to dismantle the Deep State during “The Storm,” a day of judgment in which Democratic politicians will be exposed for their crimes and sent to prison. [5] As a nine-year-old boy, I remember hearing from classmates that the end of the world would occur on December 21, 2012, which marked the end of a 5,126-year cycle in a calendar used by the Maya.
None of these prognostications—not to mention dozens more throughout the centuries—have been fulfilled. Christmas 2012 came and went; Extinction Rebellion lost much support for its disruptions of daily life while a catastrophic mass extinction event remains elusive; and Trump left office without the ringleaders of the alleged Deep State being brought to justice. This is of course not to say that all of these predictions are entirely beyond reality. Climate change continues to pose a major threat to virtually all life on Earth, and the health risks of a warming world are multiplying. While neither “The Storm” nor the “Deep State” have turned out to be true in any real sense, income inequality has continued to concentrate financial and political power in the hands of a shrinking number of people. And although the long cycle in the Mayan calendar has restarted, the Mayan civilization largely disappeared five hundred years ago.
Apocalyptic predictions seem rather fantastical and absurd, especially when they are revisited half a millennium later. That doesn’t explain why so many people are attracted to them in the first place. One explanation, archaeologist Chris Begley posits, is that for many people, apocalypse represents an opportunity to fulfill an unmet desire: “the chance to do it all over, to simplify, or to get out from under something like debt or loneliness or dissatisfaction.” [6] It is a chance to be “the kind of hero we cannot be in our current lives.” [6] For those desperately attempting to construct meaning in their lives, especially if they have experienced grief, trauma, or suffering that defies any explanation, these predictions can renew their hopes for transformation and escape from present hardship. Another possibility is that prophecies of doom paradoxically make otherwise unpleasant or terrifying events like sickness and death predictable, taking away a source of anxiety for people. [7] Death is a journey in which we lose all control over our bodies and lives, but fixing the hour of our demise restores some sense of agency, allowing us to make plans and say our goodbyes.
Christianity is well-equipped to give a voice to these sentiments. For one thing, Christians believe that the clock has been ticking toward the end of time since the creation of the church. Christianity is in agreement with virtually every doomsday prophecy that the end of the world is coming very soon. The Christian story does, however, differ from these narratives by articulating that the disrepair in the world is so grave that no action taken on the part of humanity will be enough to save it. Ending the use of fossil fuels and overthrowing corrupt elites will not suffice. In other words, there is no room in the Christian apocalypse for tales of heroism. On the other hand, Christianity breaks decisively from every other apocalyptic story by proclaiming a message of hope and not despair in the face of catastrophe. It claims, rather unashamedly, that Jesus Christ is returning to restore a fallen world and reconcile all human beings to Himself. The end of all things for the Christian is not oblivion; it is love that is experienced, expressed, and propagated through action. Never again do people have to suffer and grieve needlessly.
But perhaps such hopes remain foolish to many, especially as evil seems to strengthen its grip. Yet as the character Don Quixote says in Man of La Mancha, “[w]hen life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams—this may be madness… Too much sanity may be madness—and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!” [8] If acquiescing to the senseless violence and destruction of the world is indeed the height of insanity, then perhaps it is no longer as mad to believe still in an inexplicable promise of redemption, all while staring into the chaotic rage of evil.
[1] Carlos M.N. Eire. Reformations. Published 2016.
[2] Eleanor Rose. “Extinction Rebellion 'swarming' protests block traffic for the third day running as angry commuters slam them as 'pests'.” Published November 23, 2018. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/extinction-rebellion-swarming-protests-block-traffic-for-the-third-day-running-as-angry-commuters-slam-them-as-pests-a3997841.html
[3] Damien Gayle and Ben Quinn. “Extinction Rebellion rush-hour protest sparks clash on London Underground.” Published October 17, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/17/extinction-rebellion-activists-london-underground
[4] Alison Lowe. “XR Fundamentals: Tell the Truth.” Published December 11, 2020. https://rebellion.global/blog/2020/12/11/tell-the-truth/
[5] Anti-Defamation League. “QAnon.” Published October 28, 2022. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/qanon
[6] Chris Begley. “Why apocalyptic fantasies appeal to us psychologically.” Published December 24, 2021. https://bigthink.com/the-present/the-next-apocalypse/
[7] Daisy Yuhas. “Psychology Reveals the Comforts of the Apocalypse.” Published December 18, 2012. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/psychology-reveals-the-comforts-of-the-apocalypse/
[8] Peter O’Toole. Man of La Mancha. Produced 1972. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068909/characters/nm0000564