Rapture or risk: signs of the end or symptoms of world risk society?
In this article, I argue that elements of contemporary fundamentalist Christian apocalyptic discourse are not only influenced by, but are a product of the rhetoric and fascination with the notion of risk. The world risk society thesis developed by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck will be utilised...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2014]
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| In: |
Culture and religion
Year: 2014, Volume: 15, Issue: 4, Pages: 419-435 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Christianity
/ Fundamentalism
/ Apocalypticism
/ Risk community
/ Rapture
/ Dispensationalism
|
| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CA Christianity CG Christianity and Politics NBQ Eschatology |
| Summary: | In this article, I argue that elements of contemporary fundamentalist Christian apocalyptic discourse are not only influenced by, but are a product of the rhetoric and fascination with the notion of risk. The world risk society thesis developed by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck will be utilised as a conceptual framework to measure one example of an online discourse centred on a Christian dispensationalist understanding of the rapture: Rapture Index. This popular website utilises a statistical probability index system based on 45 different categories that relate to global socio-political events; the higher the aggregate total the nearer the rapture. The Rapture Index is indebted to the impact of risk in contemporary society and it is a tool that exemplifies non-knowing: a product of the world risk society. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-5610 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Culture and religion
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