Eschatological Movements

Abstract

Abstract Eschatological movements (Greek eschatos , last things) are religious groups down through church history that look for the imminent end of the world. Sometimes they are violent movements which seek to overthrow the existing order. Others are peaceful movements which seek to live by themselves, cutting themselves off from the world around them. They are characterized by a literalist emphasis on the reading of scripture, often seeking to find the exact year and time of Christ's Second Coming, the millennium, and end of the world. They also endeavor to interpret how Bible prophecy found in books like Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament fit together, since they seem to speak of eschatological events. In the past few years, television preachers such as John Hagee, and the popular video film series Left Behind , produced by Tim Lahaye's organization, have emphasized this theme. Most of these preachers rely on a 19th century eschatological belief called dispensationalism, invented by John Nelson Darby and popularized by the Scofield Bible and the best‐selling book The Late Great Planet Earth .