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Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious, social, or political party group or Social movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed".Baumgartner, Frederic J. 1999. Longing for the End: A History of Millennialism in Western Civilization, New York: Palgrave, pp 1-6 Millenarianism exists in various cultures and religions worldwide, with various interpretations of what constitutes a transformation.Gould, Stephen Jay. 1997. Questioning the millennium: a rationalist's guide to a precisely arbitrary countdown. New York: Harmony Books, p. 112 (note)
These movements believe in radical changes to society after a major cataclysm or transformative event. Millenarianism . In James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart (eds.) Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. 2021
Millenarianist movements can be secular (not espousing a particular religion) or religious in nature,Gordon Marshall, "millenarianism", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (1994), p. 333. and are therefore not necessarily linked to millennialism movements in Christianity.
The terms millennialism and millenarianism are sometimes used interchangeably, as in The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism. Stephen Jay Gould has argued that this usage is incorrect, stating:
The application of an Apocalypticism timetable to the changing of the world has happened in many cultures and religions, continues to this day, and is not relegated to the of major world religions,Landes, Richard A. Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic.
Christian millennialism is part of the broader form of apocalyptic expectation. A core doctrine in some variations of Christian eschatology is the expectation that the Second Coming is very near and that there will be an establishment of a Kingdom of God on Earth. According to an interpretation of biblical prophecies in the Book of Revelation, this Kingdom of God on Earth will last a thousand years (a millennium) or more.Kark, Ruth "Millenarism and agricultural settlement in the Holy Land in the nineteenth century," in Journal of Historical Geography, 9, 1 (1983), pp. 47-62
In the modern world, economic rules, perceived immorality or vast conspiracies are seen as generating oppression. Only dramatic events are seen as able to change the world and the change is anticipated to be brought about, or survived, by a group of the devout and dedicated. In most millenarian scenarios, the disaster or battle to come will be followed by a new, purified world in which the believers will be rewarded.
While many millenarian groups are , millenarian beliefs have been claimed as causes for people to ignore conventional rules of behaviour, which can result in violence directed inwards (such as the Jonestown mass murder) or outwards (such as the Aum Shinrikyo terrorism acts). It sometimes includes a belief in supernatural powers or predetermined victory. In some cases, millenarians withdraw from society to await the intervention of God.Wessinger, Catherine. Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 2000. Print. This is also known as world-rejection.
Millenarian ideologies or religious sometimes appear in oppressed peoples, with examples such as the 19th-century Ghost Dance movement among Native Americans, early Mormons, and the 19th and 20th-century cargo cults among isolated Pacific Islanders.
The [Catechism of the Catholic Church]] rejects all forms of millenarianism and its variations:
Terminology
Both millennialism and millenarianism refer to "one thousand". They both derive from the Christian tradition. Neither term strictly refers to "one thousand" in modern 1963 academic usage. Millennialism often refers to a specific type of Christian millenarianism, and is sometimes referred to as Chiliasm from the New Testament use of the Greek chilia .
(2025). 9780199697762, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199697762 Increasingly in the study of apocalyptic new religious movements, millenarianism is used to refer to a more cataclysmic and destructive arrival of a period as compared to millennialism which is often used to denote a more peaceful arrival and is more closely associated with a one thousand year utopia.
Theology
Many if not most millenarian groups claim that the current society and its rulers are corrupt, unjust, or otherwise wrong, and that they will soon be destroyed by a powerful force. The harmful nature of the status quo is considered intractable without the anticipated dramatic change.Worsley, Peter. 1957. The trumpet shall sound; a study of "cargo" cults in Melanesia. London: MacGibbon & Kee. Henri Desroche observed that millenarian movements often envisioned three periods in which change might occur. First, the elect members of the movement will be increasingly oppressed, leading to the second period in which the movement resists the oppression. The third period brings about a new utopian age, liberating the members of the movement.
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