Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T22:22:33.831Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Antichrists – Papal, Philosophical, Imperial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Philip C. Almond
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Get access

Summary

In this chapter, the Antichrist and the book of Revelation are placed within the context of modernity, beginning with the attempts of the new science to square it with the book of Revelation. It deals with the beginnings of scepticism about the Antichrist and prophetic history among the London wits, and the beginnings of the separation between prophecy and history. That said, the chapter argues that the Antichrist was to remain on the Protestant agenda well into the nineteenth century. It also demonstrates how, with the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon, the focus of theorising shifted from a papal to an imperial Antichrist. It also shows the transition from papal Antichrist to Adsonian Antichrist in the writings of John Henry Newman as he transitioned from Anglicanism to Catholicism. The chapter then argues that, with the rise of the historical critical approach to the Bible in the middle of the nineteenth century, prophetic history declined and the Antichrist became a free-floating signifier, available for use in many different contexts, both sacred and secular. Ironically, this enabled a proliferation of individual and collective Antichrist figures.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Antichrist
A New Biography
, pp. 236 - 284
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×