ABSTRACT
It may seem churlish to point out that in all probability we have for some time been retreating from the end of the second calendar millennium, but it is nevertheless the case. Even more disturbingly, our well-chronicled dithering over the form our rejoicing should take suggests that we harbour only the haziest idea of what exactly the significance of ‘the millennium’ might be. In fact, there are at least four sharply distinguishable trains of millenarial thought. For the purposes of marking the year 2,000 we seem to have dissolved them all into one roseate and steamy cloud, but it will be useful to remind ourselves of them here.
