Apocalypticism

Apocalypticism ‘denote(s) the world view in which certain people come to believe that their group is set apart from the rest of humanity, that it is righteous and all others are sinners, and, more particularly, that an event will soon occur which will sort things out once and for all. The sun and the moon will be darkened, literally not metaphorically; the Lord will descend from heaven and snatch the saints up in the air, literally not metaphorically; the Mount of Olives will be split in two, and rivers of fresh water will flow down to the Dead Sea, literally not metaphorically. And of course if you believe this sort of thing about yourself and your group, certain social practices follow: a tight drawing of boundaries within the group, a rigid exclusion of those outside, a carelessness or even downright rejection of most of the concerns of ongoing society, a focus on particular styles of worship and holiness. As history both ancient and modern will show, such groups are often internally fissiparous, fragmenting into smaller groups that then reserve for one another their bitterest anathemas.

N.T. Wright – The Millennium Myth, Publisher:Westminster John Knox Press, 1999, p32-33

Apocalyptic

Apocalyptic “involves vivid metaphors which enable the writer to say, and hopefully the reader to understand the significance, within God’s dimension of reality, of events that happen within our dimension, within the world of space, time and matter. “

N.T. Wright – The Millennium Myth, p 30, Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999