Vision and Violence

by Mendel, Arthur P.; Landes, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780472086368
• ISBN10: 0472086367
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

Vision and Violence argues that throughout Western history, the Apocalypse has changed nothing but its guise -- from God to Reason, to History, and then to Nature -- all the while holding us rapt with its prophecy of universal devastation. While in Judaism and Christianity it inspires efforts to uplift societies spiritually, the apocalyptic fantasy serves in secular thought -- as in today's environmental movement -- to bring about much-needed policy reforms.

Much of the book is devoted to an examination of the persistence of the apocalyptic heritage from ancient Greek and Hebrew civilizations, through the religious revivals of the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment belief in progress, to its importance in Hegelian and Bolshevik thought, and finally to its expression today in the resurgence of religious fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Mendel concludes his remarkable book with an appeal for the more modest and humane philosophy of the "repair of the world, " which, he argues, is central to biblical teaching.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(3)
Apocalypse and God: Ancient Theory	3	(44)
Apocalypse and God: Medieval Practice	47	(48)
Apocalypse and Reason	95	(42)
Apocalypse and History	137	(58)
Apocalypse and Nature	195	(28)
Paradise Now: The Counterculture	223	(42)
Full Circle: Fundamentalism	265	(44)
The Middle Ground	309	(14)
Bibliography of Recent Books on the Millennium	323	(4)
Index	327