Books

Is the Fat Lady Singing?

Doomsday: The End Of the World—A View Through Time, by Russell Chandler (Servant, 329 pp.; $ 16. 99, hardcover). Reviewed by Mark Galli, the managing editor of CHRISTIAN HISTORY magazine.

Ever heard of the “yeller’s sect”? When they read in the Bible that Christ will return with a shout, they interpret it to mean he will come back only if they shout loud enough. So they constantly scream out the Lord’s name. Did you know that church father Hippolytus (A.D. 170-236) predicted the world would end in A.D. 500, and that he based his predictions on the dimensions of Noah’s Ark? Were you aware that Hal Lindsey, of “The Late Great Planet Earth” fame, was, before his conversion, a Mississippi River tugboat captain?

These are some of the many, sometimes irrelevant but always entertaining, facts we are treated to in Russell Chandler’s “Doomsday.” It might better be titled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Prophecy and Didn’t Even Know You Should Ask.”

Chandler, former religion writer for the Los Angeles Times, has been keeping a file on end-of-the-world pronouncements for some time. His book looks both backward, at the history of prophecy and forward, to current prophecies of the world’s end. Looking back, he covers, among other topics, American millennialism, William Miller (spiritual father to the Adventists), Jehovah’s Witnesses, dispensationalists, and Nostradamus.

We learn, for example, how Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, composed thousands of fake Nostradamus verses predicting a German victory in the Second World War and had the Luftwaffe drop them over Belgium and France in 1940. The British countered by dropping the original prophecies that foretold a German loss.

When Chandler turns forward, he examines how people today view the world’s end. We are given a review of naturalistic doomsday predictions (comet collisions, nuclear holocaust, eco-disasters); we read about New Age, Native American, Jewish, fundamentalist, and mainline views of the end; we even learn about the millennial dimension of Catholic visitations of Mary.

What is most entertaining is the variety of prophets and messiahs we meet, like Salem Kirban, editor of Rapture Alert Newsletter. In 1981 he advertised “the first toll-free prophecy hotline in the United States.” He argues that the advance of the African “killer honeybees” moving north from South America presage the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9, “when for five months people are subjected to the painful stings of a new strain of locusts.” Chandler wryly notes, “Of course, bees are not locusts”—which is his standard response to the many predictions he discusses: attention to facts mixed with mild sarcasm.

Chandler’s journalistic overview reminds us of how central millennialism has been to Christian and quasi-Christian thought. And the relevance of Chandler’s excursion through the history of end-times prophecy may increase over the next six years. As happened at the end of the first millennium of the Christian era, we are likely to be treated to more and more prophecies of the world’s end, many of which will be based on the Bible, some of which may be propagated by respected, even orthodox Christians.

Chandler implies, rightly, that they are likely to be mistaken. So we are not to panic, not to fuss; the church has weathered false predictions before. Or, as Chandler puts it, indirectly quoting humorist Dave Barry: “Well, the doomsayers have goofed, but, hey, it’s not the end of the world!”

That last quotation, though, symbolizes the major flaw in the book: Chandler pushes the envelope of flippancy too far at times, which may suggest to some that he is making light of a profound and glorious doctrine. A careful reading shows he is not, but his tone belies his intent, which, at points, sabotages his message. Still, Chandler reminds us that we are wise to be skeptical of those who predict an imminent end, even as we continue to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come.”

Copyright © 1994 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

ctjul94mrw4T80185619

Also in this issue

Selling Out the House of God? Bill Hybels answers critics of the seeker-sensitive movement

Cover Story

Selling Out the House of God?, Part 2

Cover Story

Selling Out the House of God?, Part 1

'True Love Waits' Now Worldwide Effort

Sanctions Harm Mission Work

Pope Reaffirms Ban on Women Priests

News

Bankrupty Tests RFRA Statute

Church Names Leader, 86

Health Problems Sideline General

Baptists Resist EEOC Guidelines

APA Halts Conversion Therapy Change

Problems of Joint Action Are Detailed

Conflict Divides Countercult Leaders

World Scene: Rebels Kill Top Church Leaders

SBC Refuses Funding from Moderates

Rush Limbaugh: An Ego on Loan from God

Philosophers on Pilgrimage

Reclaiming the Strip Mines: A Writer's Calling

The Church's New McCarthyism

Canada’s Evangelical Face

Changing from the Inside Out

The Birth of a Megachurch

News

News Briefs: July 18, 1994

Listening to the Critics

LETTERS: Clarifying a Trend

Should Catholics and Evangelicals Join Ranks?

Christian Colleges’ Urgent Mission

The Burden of Celebrity

News

The Second Calling of Art

Ending the Cold War Between Theologians and Laypeople

What Jonathan Edwards Can Teach Us About Politics

Confronting Canada's Secular Slide

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from July 18, 1994

Healing Our Mean Streets

RE-Imagining Labeled 'Reckless'

75-Year-Old Graham a Hit with Youth

News

Leukemia Claims Evangelist Tom Skinner

View issue

Our Latest

The Russell Moore Show

Civility, Calvinism, and the Coming Judgment Day

Richard Mouw still believes in Christian “uncommon decency.” 

News

Conservative Anglicans Call for Archbishop to Repent Over Same-Sex Relationships Stance

As the issue continues to divide the Church of England, Justin Welby spoke on a popular podcast about how his views have “evolved.”

In a Polarized World, but Not of It 

On Election Day and beyond, conservative and liberal Christians can better understand each other and be ministers of reconciliation. 

Where Ya From?

Navigating Cultural Identity with Danielle Marck

Danielle Marck shares the experiences that pivoted the direction of her life toward her callings from God.

Go Slow and Repair Things

We’re facing huge problems in our culture—problems an election alone can’t solve. But by God’s grace, we can do the small, daily work of repair.

Gen Z Is Turning Online for Spiritual Guidance

News

Charlie Kirk Aims to Expand Turning Point USA to Evangelical Campuses

But not all Christian campuses have embraced the conservative group.

News

Sarah Jakes Roberts Evolves T. D. Jakes’s Women’s Conference

At a record-setting event this fall, 40,000 followers listened to her preach about spiritual breakthrough and surrender.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube