Book Description

This bibliography contains careful and bias-free annotations of close to 3,500 works written over many centuries about the end of the world, predominantly but not entirely from a Christian perspective. The books, pamphlets, websites, and selected other media cover a wide variety of eschatological beliefs--from the numerous fundamentalist scenarios to the mystical and the violent--and include such topics as the Tribulation, the Rapture, the Millennium, Armageddon, the Second Coming, the Antichrist, and the Apocalypse. Works on other major religions (such as Judaism, Islam), the mythos of popular cultures (Mayan prophecies, Norse Ragnarok), UFO, occult and psychic theories (Heaven's Gate, Nostradamus), and secular theories (Y2k+ computer chaos) can be found. The work is in four parts (plus indexes). Entries in the pre-1800 part are arranged chronologically beginning with the Books of Enoch in the second century BC. Other entries are arranged alphabetically within the three chronological subdivisions of 1800-1910, 1910-1970, and post-1970. All include full bibliographic information and annotations regarding format, type of work, theme, the author's background, the category of theories espoused, distinctive or notable characteristics, the intended readership, and the significance of the work. There are cross-references to works by the same author. An introduction describes major types of beliefs, outlines basic Fundamentalist end-of-the-world scenarios, summarizes Biblical sources, and explains important terms, concepts and relationships among sources. The work is extensively indexed by author, title, and subject.