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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Historical Review of End-Times Movements
Review: Contrary to the first reviewer, this is an extremely fair-minded account of doomsday groups and movements (I wonder what he or she would consider fair-minded or impartial). The inescapable fact is that all of the groups and movements covered in this book base their beliefs on a weird, indefensible blend of speculation and misreading of the past. The onus is on these groups to prove that they deserve to be taken seriously and not merely clumped together with the others. Over the past few years I have found myself increasingly interested in what might be called (borrowing a phrase from Isaiah Berlin) "the counter enlightenment," which in my opinion embraces a wide variety of attempts to escape the demands placed by rationality and human reason on claims to knowledge. This does not mean that only what is completely rational is meaningful (at the end of the TRACTATUS and in his NOTEBOOKS 1914-1916 Wittgenstein insisted that the more important components of life cannot be encapsulated by that which is rationally demonstrable). But it does point to the fact that an enormous number of people since the 18th century have attempted to escape the demand that our beliefs be grounded upon something solid and demonstrable. New Age religion, esoteric religions, Christian fundamentalism (especially in its more apocalyptic forms), modern astrology (ancient and renaissance astrology in the West, while not in my opinion valid, was based entirely on Greek scientific theories--when those were proven wrong in the early 17th century, astrology collapsed as a belief system, only to be resurrected in its current irrational form in the 19th century), theosophy, psychics, the Christian Identity movement, and all of the myriad of groups discussed by Abanes in this book are by their very nature unassociated with anything that could be described as rational or supported by demonstrable proof of any sort whatsoever (the fact that virtually none of these groups predictions ever come to pass and yet many people continue to adhere to them indicates that proof and disproof are not very important elements in their make up). I found this book to be fascinating and depressing at the same time. Many of the instances of apocalyptic nuttiness detailed in this book I had heard of before, from Edgar Cayce to the Christian Identity movement to the Heaven's Gate outfit. Too many others I had not, like the Great White Brotherhood in Russia. It is important that we keep abreast of the outer fringe of society. It is depressing to realize that it is so large and varied. One more word about the previous review. There are no impartial positions on the groups mentioned in this book (the complete lack of specific instances leads me to suspect that he or she did not read the book at all, but merely reacted to what they thought the book was about). You are either a member of the suicidally inclined Great White Brotherhood or you consider it a form of insantiy. You are either a member of one of the Christian Identity factions, or you consider it a silly, irrational, and sad form of organized racism. But don't take my word for it. Read the book.
Rating:
Summary: A good but depressing catalog of late 20th century silliness
Review: Contrary to the first reviewer, this is an extremely fair-minded account of doomsday groups and movements (I wonder what he or she would consider fair-minded or impartial). The inescapable fact is that all of the groups and movements covered in this book base their beliefs on a weird, indefensible blend of speculation and misreading of the past. The onus is on these groups to prove that they deserve to be taken seriously and not merely clumped together with the others. Over the past few years I have found myself increasingly interested in what might be called (borrowing a phrase from Isaiah Berlin) "the counter enlightenment," which in my opinion embraces a wide variety of attempts to escape the demands placed by rationality and human reason on claims to knowledge. This does not mean that only what is completely rational is meaningful (at the end of the TRACTATUS and in his NOTEBOOKS 1914-1916 Wittgenstein insisted that the more important components of life cannot be encapsulated by that which is rationally demonstrable). But it does point to the fact that an enormous number of people since the 18th century have attempted to escape the demand that our beliefs be grounded upon something solid and demonstrable. New Age religion, esoteric religions, Christian fundamentalism (especially in its more apocalyptic forms), modern astrology (ancient and renaissance astrology in the West, while not in my opinion valid, was based entirely on Greek scientific theories--when those were proven wrong in the early 17th century, astrology collapsed as a belief system, only to be resurrected in its current irrational form in the 19th century), theosophy, psychics, the Christian Identity movement, and all of the myriad of groups discussed by Abanes in this book are by their very nature unassociated with anything that could be described as rational or supported by demonstrable proof of any sort whatsoever (the fact that virtually none of these groups predictions ever come to pass and yet many people continue to adhere to them indicates that proof and disproof are not very important elements in their make up). I found this book to be fascinating and depressing at the same time. Many of the instances of apocalyptic nuttiness detailed in this book I had heard of before, from Edgar Cayce to the Christian Identity movement to the Heaven's Gate outfit. Too many others I had not, like the Great White Brotherhood in Russia. It is important that we keep abreast of the outer fringe of society. It is depressing to realize that it is so large and varied. One more word about the previous review. There are no impartial positions on the groups mentioned in this book (the complete lack of specific instances leads me to suspect that he or she did not read the book at all, but merely reacted to what they thought the book was about). You are either a member of the suicidally inclined Great White Brotherhood or you consider it a form of insantiy. You are either a member of one of the Christian Identity factions, or you consider it a silly, irrational, and sad form of organized racism. But don't take my word for it. Read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Skeptical Baloney
Review: If you have already made up your mind that the mysteries of life are nonesense, this is the book for you. If you want an impartial fair-minded review, go somewhere else.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical Review of End-Times Movements
Review: This book is a very important read for those who may be tempted to believe many of the highly speculative views which are passing today for legitimate biblical scholarship. It shows how many people throughout history have followed both Christian, and non-Christian movements that were tragically flawed in their thinking regarding the end of the world. Overall, the book offers an excellent survey on the history of end-times movements. In addition, you will also find the book provides a thorough bibliography which is useful for further research on the topic.
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