Description
Book SynopsisPhilosophers of religion such as Mark Kingwell regard millenarian dreams as humanity's most powerful hopes for transformation, transcendence, apocalypse, and utopia. In Catholics and Millennialism: A Theo-Linguistic Guide, Warren A. Kappeler III explores the insights of critical discourse theory to examine the impact of millenarian groups upon Catholics. He examines theo-linguistic practices among present-day Catholics through allegorical interpretation, fundamentalism, and neo-literalism. Utilizing surveys of pre-millennial movements as revealed in academic research by Michael Cuneo, William Dinges, and Sandra Zimdars-Swartz, as well as post-millennial collaboration by progressive Catholics such as Hans Küng, Matthew Fox, and Karen Armstrong; Kappeler argues that apocalyptic stories and media images in today's popular culture promote a self-dramatization that encourages sympathetic Catholics to interpret their life experience within the grammar of the millennium myth.
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Table of ContentsAcknowledgments – Introduction: Post-Modern Semiotic Perspectives on Catholic Humanism & Liturgical Calendrics – Catholic Realism & Augustinian ‘Anti-Millennialism’ – Rhetorical Controversies in Catholic Eschata: The Millennium Myth & Inter-textual Historiography – Pre-Millennialism, Tradition, & Conservative Catholics – Post-Millennialism, Liberal Catholics, & Social Progress – Proleptic Ethics: From Moral Panics to Apologetics – Conclusion: Theo-Poetics & Post-Catholic Worldviews – Bibliography.
