Millions of Americans take the Bible at its word and turn to like-minded local ministers and TV preachers; periodicals and paperbacks for help in finding their place in God’s prophetic plan for mankind. And yet; influential as this phenomenon is in the worldview of so many; the belief in biblical prophecy remains a popular mystery; largely unstudied and little understood. When Time Shall Be No More offers for the first time an in-depth look at the subtle; pervasive ways in which prophecy belief shapes contemporary American thought and culture.Belief in prophecy dates back to antiquity; and there Paul Boyer begins; seeking out the origins of this particular brand of faith in early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings; then tracing its development over time. Against this broad historical overview; the effect of prophecy belief on the events and themes of recent decades emerges in clear and striking detail. Nuclear war; the Soviet Union; Israel and the Middle East; the destiny of the United States; the rise of a computerized global economic order―Boyer shows how impressive feats of exegesis have incorporated all of these in the popular imagination in terms of the Bible’s apocalyptic works. Reflecting finally on the tenacity of prophecy belief in our supposedly secular age; Boyer considers the direction such popular conviction might take―and the forms it might assume―in the post–Cold War era.The product of a four-year immersion in the literature and culture of prophecy belief; When Time Shall Be No More serves as a pathbreaking guide to this vast terra incognita of contemporary American popular thought―a thorough and thoroughly fascinating index to its sources; its implications; and its enduring appeal.
#980448 in Books 2014-02-18Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.49 x .89 x 6.44l; 1.07 #File Name: 0674724755240 pages
Review
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Important book for any Christian parent concerned about college and college bound students.By Rollin A. Van BroekhovenThis is a book for every parent of potential college student; and for the students themselves. I have given copies of this book to a number of such parents; including my own daughters as they talk through college preparation and thinking with their children going to college or investigating colleges as they make final preparations and applications for college.0 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Greg ScharfThis is a very important book for those who want to understand how we got here.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. As a Chinese; I think this book is of great help for me to understand the relationship between America and ReligionBy XenosAs a Chinese; this book enriched my understanding of the distinctive religious character of America. In the past; we have been propagandized too much by the standard version of American story. But now the revised version offered by Smith has made the story more real and disenchanted.Steven D. Smith is a law professor teaching in the areas of law and religion; constitutional law; and torts. In writing this book; Smith offered a revised story of American religious freedom; suggesting that the standard version has misunderstands; or at least understands incompletely certain historical or conceptual facts of the real story. There are mainly three disagreement between the standard and the revised versions:1. Whether the America story is an Enlightened innovation; which is signified by the recognition of freedom of heretics; including atheists; and the abandonment of the attempt to establish Christendom.The Standard says yes; and Smith contends that American story is rather a retrieve of the old Christian idea of "two jurisdictions" or the realization of the motto "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's. and unto God the things which be God's."2. Whether the American settlement of religious freedom is made by First Amendment.Standard version perceives First Amendment as monumental and meaning-full; however Smith argues that the real golden age of American religious freedom is the period from 19C to mid-20C; in which the most distinctive feature is the constitutional protect and preservation of the open contestation between different views on the Church-State relationship.3. Whether the interference of Supreme Court in the recent half - century marks a big-step progress of religious freedom.Standard version says yes; since the secularism has been finally established; so the line separating religion and government becomes clear and settled. Smith disagrees; since he recognizes this settled secularism betrays what the first Americans hoped for; and what the golden age protected. The establishment of secularism by the Court has closed the arena for different religious views to contest. The Religion-Government separation has in fact jeopardize the Church-State separation by intruding private churches and finally turns America from a Christian nation to a secularist country.Not everyone would agree with Smith in terms of the above three disagreements; at least before Smith could clarify the distinction or antagonism between these conceptions:a. The Church-State separation v.s. Secularismb. Soft- constitution v.s. Hard - Constitutionc. Freedom of Religion v.s. EqualityAmong these; group b would be most easily perceived. Soft-constitution means "the Constitution" less definitively decide matters; not exactly declaring what the Constitution required. So there would be always flexibility for the courts to reach contrary conclusions on the same kind of matters raised by different states under different circumstances. On the contrary; the Hard- Constitution always gives substantive principles; aiming at settling down quarrels and contestation.In contrast; to distinguish church-state separation and secularism is a difficult question; especially when we consider in the context of Enlightenment. Both Church-state and secularism have appeared through that era; and there are notable representative figures on both sides. If we stick to the idea that Church-State separation has nothing to do with secularism; and rather it is deeply rooted in a providentalist understanding of the will of God; then the best authority we could trace to might be John Locke; who gave the most extensive elaboration of this kind of understanding. It seems that Smith largely relies his revised version on Locke's providentialist account of Church-State relationship.The most difficult task seems to clarify the antagonism between freedom of religion and equality. According to Smith; the American Settlement of freedom of religion; or; freedom of conscience has been challenged seriously by modern concept of equality. It is not only remarkable by the introduction of Mill's 'harm principle' to increasingly restrict religious practice; also by the fact that more people; like Noah Feldman; now think that there is nothing so special about religious freedom. Other rights or liberties no longer dependents on religious freedom; rather; they begins to find the latter as obstructive. The most important things is that; those who advocate for equality think that the freedom of religion is actually strengthened by egalitarianism. If religious freedom feels being jeopardized; they would ask; what kind of idea would be the enemy of equality? Certainly Smith would not dare to say that religious freedom is opposing equality. But in order to defend American Settlement of religious freedom; he has to clarify and distinguish them without doing any harm to either side. I'm not sure Smith has successfully done this; since his last passages of his Epilogue seems vague to me; since his words and quotations made him more like Libertarian; for example; I.Berlin or Hayek; who fears of equality and beneficent purposes proposed by the state; rather than someone who takes 'Religious' really special for America.
