Millennialism in America Charismatic Prophets Term Paper

For Jehovah's Witnesses, that millennium was supposed to begin already, first in 1914, and later in 1975 (Brom 2004). The year 2000 brought to light the fear and fiction surrounding Y2K and the numerical millennium, but the return of Christ had yet to take place. "As the millennium approaches, self-styled messiahs like David Koresh and Marshall Applewhite have flourished, teaching impending doom with doctrines cobbled from Christianity, millennialism and even science fiction," (Washington Post Staff 1997).

A new date of spiritual revolution has now been set, embraced by many members of New Age millennial movements: 2012. The year 2012 has been selected because of its connection with the Mayan calendar, which is embraced by many New Age individuals. However, the generic New Age brands of millennialism often lack the presence of a charismatic prophet. The New Age movement is therefore qualitatively different from that of other millennial movements that draw more heavily on the presence of a leader who serves as a guide into the imaginary millennium.

Some New Age movements do have charismatic prophets, though. Elisabeth Claire Prophet can be categorized as a New Age millennial spiritual leader because of her embrace of Eastern spiritual traditions. J.Z. Knight and the Ramtha School of Enlightenment movement represent another instance of New Age charlatanry coupled with millennialism. The channeling of spiritual entities was all the rage in the 1970s; Jane Roberts channeled an entity called Seth but never became the kind of charismatic millennial leader that Elisabeth Claire Prophet was.

The evangelical branch of the Southern Baptist sect of Christianity can be classified as a millennial group, because of its conformity to the four main points: the presence of a charismatic leader; the mythos of persecution; the use of fear as a means of social control; and the proposition that individuals are spiritually impure and must be cleansed of all sin in time for the New Age. In the case of Southern Baptists, Jesus remains the charismatic leader. Dead or alive, Jesus retains a stranglehold over the minds of otherwise intelligent human beings. Jesus has in fact proven himself to be an even more effective leader when dead, given that the tremendous success of Christianity happened not during his lifetime but many centuries thereafter.

The Christian story is one of persecution and struggle against oppressors. In fact, the American mythos and the Christian mythos share in common a millennial doctrine. The First and Second Great Awakenings represented the reinvention of Christianity for an American audience. Pilgrims from Enlightenment England clung to outmoded religious beliefs, finding temporary solace in the territory of the New World. A sense of being persecuted pervaded pilgrim thought so much so that "by the time America's victory seemed assured, the rhetoric of New England sermons was brimming with euphoric images of America's role in hastening the kingdom" (Hatch 1974:407). The Native American millennial movement under Handsome Lake, the black power millennial movement under Yahweh ben Yahweh, and the New Age millennial movements share elements also created common social bonds against perceived persecution.

References

Brom, Robert H.

2004. History of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Catholic Answers. Retrieved online: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/history-of-the-jehovahs-witnesses

Hatch, Nathan O.

1974 The origins of civil millennialism in America: New England clergymen, war with France, and the Revolution. The William and Mary Quarterly 31(3): 407-430.

Harris, William.

1911 "Mormons." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 22 Nov. 2011 .

Landes, Richard.

1999 Millennialism. Retrieved online: http://www.bu.edu/mille/people/rlpages/millennialism-mw-encyl.html

Taylor, Jared

1992. Paved with Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America (New York: Carroll & Graff Publishers, 1992), 90-91.

WashingtonPost.com staff

1997. The Cult Controversy. Retrieved online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/cultmain.htm

Wells, Anton.

n.d. Millennial Cults: What Are They and What Are Some Misconceptions We Should Be Aware Of? Retrieved online: http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~rsmith/overview.htm