millenarianism

millenarianism (or millennialism) The belief in the imminent end of the present world order and the establishment of a new and radically different one. Millenarian movements, which are found all over the world in many different societies, usually occur at times of change and upheaval. The millenarian idea that divine intervention will bring about a reversal of worldly expectations resulting in an earthly paradise, tends to appeal to those who are dispossessed both culturally and economically. Much millenarianism has its roots in the Jewish expectation of the coming of the Messiah. It takes its name from the early Christians' anticipation of Christ's Second Coming, to be followed by a millennium, or thousand-year reign of peace and tranquillity. In Christianity, the early expectation of Christ's imminent return to this world was replaced by the theologian St AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO's allegorical model of an other-worldly City of God. Millenarian Christian beliefs thereafter became associated with dissident sects, and are expressed today in the beliefs of sects such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Christadelphians, and MORMONS. In Islam, Shiite Muslims and sects such as the DRUSE await the return of the hidden imam or mahdi; in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the spiritual leader, the Walī Faqīh, is stated to be the leader in the absence of the mahdi. The BAHA'I religion originates from a millenarian proclamation in 1844, the 1000th anniversary of the hidden imam's disappearance. For many Jews, the establishment of the state of Israel was the fulfilment of millenarian beliefs (see ZIONISM), and the Afro-Caribbean RASTAFARIAN cult envisages the Black people's repatriation to Africa. Millenarian beliefs are less prominent in Buddhism, but in Hinduism, Kalki, the last avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, is expected to destroy the degeneration of this age and instigate a new cosmic era.