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Texts
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Class
Topics
Gould
Lecture Series
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Class Topics
Section I: The Origin and Early Development of Apocalyptic and
Messianic Traditions
September 1: Talking
About the End
September 6: Apocalyptic
Traditions
Isaiah
1-10
Ezekiel
1-2
Zechariah
1-8, 14
Daniel
7-12
Community Rule 3-4 (From the Dead Sea Scrolls), pp. 101-103
(handout); visit: http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/
Boyer, 22-33
September 8: Messianic
Traditions
Numbers
24.15-19
2
Samuel 7
Isaiah 11;
45.1;
53;
61.1-4
Jeremiah 23.5-6;
33.14-18
Ezekiel 34.23-31
Haggai 2.20-23
Psalms 2,
22,
89
1 Enoch 46-51 (handout)
Psalms of Solomon 17 (handout)
Selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls (handout)
4 Ezra 7, 13 (handout)
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 20.97-98; 168-172 (handout)
Morton Smith, in Essential Papers, 73-82
Richard Horsley, in Essential Papers, 83-110
September 13: Jesus: Apocalyptic
Prophet/Messiah
Gospel
of Matthew
Paul,
1 Thessalonians
Paul,
1 Corinthians 15
Boyer, 33-36
September 15: The Rise of
Christian Apocalypticism
Revelation
Boyer, 36-45
September 20: No class
September 22: The Rhetoric
of Apocalyptic Thought
Stephen O'Leary, Arguing the Apocalypse, 21-92
(reserve; photocopy)
Stephen O'Leary, "Apocalypticism in American Popular
Culture," 392-423 (two photocopies on reserve)
Topic Paper #1 Due
September 23: Lecture by Stephen
O'Leary at the Athenaeum
Talk begins at 6:45, followed by a meeting with the class
September 27: Millennialism
in America
Boyer, 68-112
Martin Marty, The Glory and the Power, pp. 37-68
(reserve; photocopy)
Martin Marty, Pilgrims in Their Own Land, pp. 183-198
(reserve; photocopy)
Topic Paper #2 Due
September 28: Lecture by Martin
Marty at the Athenaeum
Talk begins at 6:45, followed by a meeting with the class
September 29: Christian Apocalyptic
Thought in Late Antiquity
Augustine, City of God, chapter 20 (reserve and on-line at:
http://ccel.wheaton.edu/fathers2/NPNF1-02/)
Section II: Messianism and Millennialism in the Middle Ages and
Renaissance
October 4:
Medieval and Renaissance Millennialism
Boyer, 46-68
Norman Cohn, "Medieval Millenarianism,"
2000, 30-41
Joachim of Fiore, Apocalyptic Spirituality, 97-148
(photocopy on reserve)
October 6:
The Year 1000
Richard Landes, "The Apocalyptic Year 1000," 2000,
13-29
Patricia Bernstein, "Terror in A.D. 1000?" (handout)
October 11:
Presentation by Alan Segal
Alan Segal, Rebecca's Children, 68-95 (reserve)
Alan Segal, Paul the Convert, 150-183 (reserve)
Topic Paper #3 Due
October 11:
Lecture by Alan Segal at the Athenaeum
Talk begins at 6:45
October 13:
Renaissance Descriptions of the Millennium
John Milton, Paradise Lost (reserve and on-line at:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/note/index.html
October 18:
Fall Break
October 20:
Medieval Jewish Messianism
Salo Baron, in Essential Papers, 162-186
Abraham Berger, in Essential Papers, 250-255
Isaiah Tishby, in Essential Papers, 259-286
October 25:
The Messianism of Sabbatai Sevi
Gershom Scholem, in Essential Papers, 289-334
Gershom Scholem, Messianic Idea, 142-166 (reserve)
October 27:
The Persistence of Jewish Messianism: Hasidism
Ben-Zion Dinur, "Baal Shem Tov," Essential Papers,
377-388
Arthur Green, "Nahman of Bratslav,"
Essential Papers,
389-432
William Shaffir, "Jewish Messianism Lubavitch-Style,"
Jewish Journal of Sociology 35 (1993) 115-128
(photocopy on reserve)
Visit: http://www.chabad.org/ (see
links under "Moshiach")
and http://www.moshiach.com/
November 1:
Presentation by Richard Landes
Richard Landes, "Owls, Roosters, and Apocalyptic Time"
Visit: www.mille.org/landes-rob.htm
Explore the website: www.mille.org
Review Richard Landes, "The Apocalyptic Year 1000,"
2000, 13-29
Review Patricia Bernstein, "Terror in A.D. 1000?" (handout)
Topic Paper #4 Due
November 1:
Talk by Richard Landes at the Athenaeum
Talk begins at 6:45
November 3:
Transformation of Jewish Messianism: Zionism and Reform
Jacob Katz, in Essential Papers, 475-491
Boyer, 181-224
Paul Mendes-Flohr, The Jew in the Modern World,
183-185 (reserve)
Eugene Borowitz, Reform Judaism Today, 85-90 (handout)
Section III: Millennialism in American Religion, Politics, and
Culture
November 8:
Prophecy and Millennialism in American Culture
Boyer, 225-290
Visit: http://www.kiwi.net/~mjagee/
(Biblical Prophecy)
November 10: Contemporary
Christianity and New Religious Movements
Michael Cuneo, "The Vengeful Virgin,"
Millennium,
175-194
Philip Lucas, "Shifting Millennial Visions," 2000, 121-132
Sara Diamond, "Political Millennialism,"
2000, 206-216
Visit: http://www.roses.org/, and http://www.tldm.org/
November 15: Millennial
Violence in Waco
Charles Strozier, "Apocalyptic Violence,"
2000, 97-111
D. Anthony and T. Robbins, "Religious Totalism,"
Millennium, 261-284
November 17: Gender
and the End
Susan Palmer, "Woman as World Savior,"
Millennium,
159-171
Katherine Keller, Apocalypse Now and Then, 244-271
(reserve)
November 22: No class
November 23: Showing
of the film Dr. Strangelove (time/location TBA)
November 24: Millennialism
and Nuclear War
Boyer, 115-180
Richard Falk, "The Paucity of the Millennial Moment,"
2000, 169-179
November 29:
Millennialism and Environmentalists
Martha Lee, "Environmental Apocalypse,"
Millennium,
119-137
Lois Lorentzen, "Phallic Millennialism,"
2000, 144-153
December 1:
Millennialism and White Supremacists
David Bromley, "Constructing Apocalypticism,"
Millennium,
31-46
Philip Lamy, "Secularizing the Millennium,"
Millennium,
93-117
Michael Barkun, "Millenarians and Violence,"
Millennium,
247-260
Michael Barkun, "Racist Apocalypse,"
2000, 190-205
Visit: http://www.melvig.org; especially
materials concerning
"preterism" (e.g., http://www.melvig.org/mel/preterism.html)
December 6:
Millennialism and the Arts
Peter von Ziegesar, "After Armageddon,"
2000, 284-298
Karen Malpede, "Theater at 2000," 2000, 299-308
Tony Kushner, Angels in America, Part I: Millennium
Approaches
December 8:
The Year 2000
Bernard McGinn, "Apocalyptic Spirituality,"
2000, 73-80
Marie Baird, "The Other is Ourselves,"
2000, 81-94
Jean Elshtain, "Flight from Finitude," 2000, 230-236
Jean Baudrillard, "Hysteresis of the Millennium," 2000,
250-262
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