Millenarianism

This article is about the belief in a coming major transformation of society, as upheld by religious, social, or political groups. For a specific type of Christian millenarianism, see Millennialism. For the teachings of William Miller, see Millerism.
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Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin millenarius 'containing a thousand' and -ism) is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed".[1] Millenarianism exists in various cultures and religions worldwide, with various interpretations of what constitutes a transformation.[2]

These movements believe in radical changes to society after a major cataclysm or transformative event.[3]

Millenarianist movements can be secular (not espousing a particular religion) or religious in nature,[4] and are therefore not necessarily linked to millennialist movements in Christianity.[3]

  1. ^ Baumgartner, Frederic J. 1999. Longing for the End: A History of Millennialism in Western Civilization, New York: Palgrave, pp 1-6
  2. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay. 1997. Questioning the millennium: a rationalist's guide to a precisely arbitrary countdown. New York: Harmony Books, p. 112 (note)
  3. ^ a b Millenarianism Archived 2021-04-26 at the Wayback Machine. In James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart (eds.) Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. 2021
  4. ^ Gordon Marshall, "millenarianism", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (1994), p. 333.