Apocalypse then and now! – Political and religious interpretations of tribulations in apocalyptic mind-sets

Abstract

The article has three parts. Firstly, we give an overview on how the Greek-Hellenistic imperialism provoked apocalypticism as a way of resistance to colonization (e.g. Egypt and Judah). Secondly, we show how the early African apocalypticism is very similar to that of the Ancient Near East. In many African countries, colonization was perceived as an apocalyptic phenomenon. Within this mind-set, apocalypticism became an information system that speculated about the true nature of time, space and being. This information system also gave solutions to how the coming destruction could be ameliorated by human ingenuity and actions. This ideology informed liberation movements like the Chimurenga and others. Thirdly, we analyse how the anti-imperial apocalypticism was calmed by an imperially formatted Christianity. Elements like the belief in heaven created a naïve world-denying attitude: ‘this world is not my home I am just passing through.’ Within the African apocalyptic mind-set, COVID-19 is an ambivalent phenomenon. Initially, it was perceived as God's judgment on the ungodly West, but perceptions quickly changed as it later ravaged Africa. Many government officials voiced that COVID-19 is a well-promoted hoax by fake news of prominent western media houses. Some dismissed the existence of the pandemic while others declared that the vaccine is the dreaded 666 mark of ‘the beast’ or the protective masks were blamed the masks of ‘the beast’. COVID-19 apocalypticism thus can be understood as an anti-modern, xenophobic way of constructing identity.