Millenarianism (sometimes spelled millenarism or millennarism) is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society after which all things will be changed in a positive (or sometimes negative or ambiguous) direction. Millennialism is a specific form of Millenarianism based on a one thousand year cycle, and this form is especially significant within Christianity. Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...

Millenarian groups typically claim that the current society and its rulers are corrupt, unjust, or otherwise wrong. They therefore believe they will be destroyed soon by a powerful force. The harmful nature of the status quo is always considered intractable without the anticipated dramatic change. In Medieval millenarianism the world was seen as controlled by demons and even up to the nineteenth century Chinese millenarianism used something like this motif, but with "demon" having a slightly different cultural connotation. In the modern world economic rules or vast conspiracies are seen as generating oppression. Only dramatic change will change the world and change will be brought about, or survived, by a group of the devout and dedicated. In most millenarian scenarios, the disaster or battle to come will be followed by a new, purified world in which the true believers will be rewarded. St. ...

Millenarian beliefs can make people ignore conventional rules of behaviour, which can result in violence directed inwards (such as mass suicides) and/or outwards (such as terrorist acts). It sometimes includes a belief in supernatural powers or predetermined victory. In some cases, millenarians withdraw from society to await the intervention of God or another metaphysical force. Mass suicide occurs when a number of people kill themselves together with one another or for the same reason and is usually connected to a real or perceived persecution. ... Terrorist redirects here. ...

Millenarian ideologies or religious sects often appear in oppressed peoples, with prominent examples being early Christianity, the 19th century Ghost Dance movement, and the 19th and 20th century Cargo Cults. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... The Ghost Dance by the Ogalala Lakota at Pine Ridge. ... The article is about cargo cults as a religious phenomenon. ...

Examples of the millenarian groups, movements and writings:

• Earth changes
• Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
• Rasta
• Fifth Monarchy Men
• Plymouth Brethren
• Branch Davidians
• Shakers
• Yellow Turbans
• Taiping Rebellion
• Aum Supreme Truth
• The Native American Ghost Dance
• The Heaven's Gate cult
• Joachimites
• Dulcinian
• Nostradamus
• The Turner Diaries
• The Lord's Resistance Army
• Hojjatieh
• al-Qaeda
• Transhumanism
• Singularitarianism
• Christianity
• Mormonism
• Jehovah's Witnesses

In politics, millenarianism is often, but by no means always, linked to radical ideologies that share a similar belief in a transformation of society. These can be based in secular or religious ideas. In this way millenarianism is closely linked to Apocalypticism. The term Earth Changes describes a belief prevalent in certain segments of the New Age movement. ... Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya or Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is a monastic, renunciants[1]or semi-monastic[2] Millenarian[3][4] New Religious Movement (NRM) of Indian origin. ... Rasta hairstyle Rastafarianism is a religious movement that believes in the divinity of former emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. ... The Fifth Monarchy Men were a radical Puritan politico-religious party active from 1649 to 1661 (the Interregnum) during Oliver Cromwells government. ... The Plymouth Brethren are a Christian Evangelical movement that began in Dublin, London, Plymouth, and the continent of Europe in the late 1820s. ... The Branch Davidians are a religious sect who originated from a schism in 1955 from the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, themselves former members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who were excommunicated during the 1930s. ... The Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination, originated in Manchester, England in 1772 under the leadership of Mother Ann Lee, who moved the 9-person group to New York in 1774. ... The Yellow Turban Rebellion (simplified Chinese: 黄巾之乱, traditional Chinese: 黃巾之亂) was an AD 184 peasant rebellion against Emperor Lingdi of the Han Dynasty of China. ... Combatants Qing Empire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Commanders Xianfeng Emperor, Tongzhi Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi, Charles George Gordon, Frederick Townsend Ward Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng The Taiping Rebellion (or Rebellion of Great Peace) was a large-scale revolt against the authority... Aum Shinrikyo (also spelled Om Shin Rikyo) was a Buddhist religious group based in Japan. ... A Hupa man. ... The Ghost Dance by the Ogalala Lakota at Pine Ridge. ... The logo used by the Heavens Gate group Heavens Gate was the name of a UFO religion co-led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. ... Joachimites were a millenarian group that arose from the Franciscans in the thirteenth century. ... The Dulcinian movement was a heretic movement inspired by the Franciscans ideals, influenced by the Joachimites and derived from the Apostolics. ... Nostradamus: original portrait by his son Cesar Michel de Nostredame (December 14, 1503 – July 2, 1566), usually Latinized to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous world-wide. ... The Turner Diaries is a novel written in 1978 by William Pierce (under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald), the late leader of the white separatist group National Alliance. ... Combatants Uganda Peoples Defence Force Lords Resistance Army Commanders Yoweri Museveni Joseph Kony The Lords Resistance Army (LRA),[1] formed in 1987, is a paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda and parts of Sudan. ... Hojjatieh is a semi-clandestine Iranian organization which is radically anti-Baháí and anti-Sunni. ... Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ... Natasha Vita-Mores Primo is an artistic depiction of a hypothetical posthuman of transhumanist speculation. ... Singularitarianism is a moral philosophy based upon the belief that a technological singularity — the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence — is possible, and advocating deliberate action to bring it into effect and ensure its safety. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Mormonism is a term to describe religious, ideological, and cultural aspects of the various denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, and specifically the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). ... Apocalypticism is a worldview based on the idea that important matters are esoteric in nature (hidden) and they will soon be revealed in a major confrontation of earth-shaking magnitude that will change the course of history. ...

See also

• Premillennialism

This article specifically relates to Premillennialism in Christian eschatology; for political millenarianism and other uses of the word see Millenarianism Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the belief that Christ will literally reign on the earth for 1,000 years at his second coming. ...

External links

• US - Millenarianism in domestic politics
• Center for Millennial Studies
• BU CMS list of links sorted by group type
• The Year 1000 A.D. and the Millennial Panic
• Millennial Earthly Kingdom
• [1]

References

Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages, revised and expanded (New York: Oxford University Press, [1957] 1970). (revised and expanded 1990) ISBN 0-19-500456-6

Jeffrey Kaplan, Radical Religion in America: Millenarian Movements from the Far Right to the Children of Noah (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997). ISBN 0-8156-2687-8 ISBN 0-8156-0396-7

Other sources (anthropological): Kenelm Burridge, "New Heaven, New Earth: A Study of Millenarian Activities" (Basil Blackwell. Original printing 1969, three reprints 1972, 1980, 1986)ISBN 0-631-11950-7 pb.