ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the false innocence of churches that entertain views of the end of history in which the Christian faith will dominate what is left of the world. It is too easy to denounce the radical right in the USA for keeping alive the most chauvinistic, nationalistic, violent, and apocalyptic aspects of the Christian faith. The Christian right believes that, to fulfil the biblical promises to Israel, the USA must engage in a world-saving battle: the sooner the better, since the faithful are getting tired of waiting for their promised satisfactions. The Christian right continues to harbor the illusion of a saving remnant consisting of true Christians and of the converted survivors of Israel's Armageddon. Both Christianity and Islam draw their apocalyptic visions from the same sources in the world of Hellenistic, Persian, and Greco-Roman antiquity.