The media and politicians feed people in the West with alarms that humanity and the entire planet are threatened by climate change, disease, war and death – a narrative that shapes a bleak worldview and creates stress and mental illness in many.
Researchers at Lund University, however, point out that the idea that the world is about to end is by no means a new phenomenon, but has been common throughout humanity’s documented history.
– In fact, we have always been as close or as far from an apocalypse, if by that we mean a global catastrophe that wipes out or radically alters life. The idea that human life is fragile and can come to an abrupt end is as old as humanity, explains Blaženka Scheuer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor of Old Testament Exegetics at Lund University.
Already in Sumerian and early Jewish writings, long before the birth of Jesus, stories of devastating disasters and doomsday-like events were written. In the Bible’s Book of Revelation, it is described, among other things, how the sun turns black, the stars fall down and the moon is colored red like blood.
According to Scheuer, it is the Book of Revelation that has colored people’s views and thoughts about the end of the world in the following centuries – and still does.
– Because the Bible has played such a major role in history, people have related in different ways to the imaginary world of the Book of Revelation, which has, however, changed shape over the course of history. Not infrequently, people have interpreted pandemics and disease from this apocalyptic narrative. The plague but also COVID-19 are such examples, she says.
“Served as a comfort”
She encourages anyone curious about ancient people’s reflections and thoughts on crises and threats to read the Book of Revelation – but also warns that it is difficult to read and unstructured.
– At the same time, it is good to remember that the Book of Revelation, when it was written in the 90s AD, served as a comfort and encouragement for those suffering severe persecution to endure. Looking forward to a time when evil will be defeated once and for all gave them hope.
Although feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of crises and disasters as something overwhelming and beyond control have always existed, Blaženka Scheuers believes that it is up to each new generation to learn how to deal with its own challenges and not become numb.
– We may be able to protect ourselves from an earthquake, but we cannot really influence it. When it comes to climate change, wars and authoritarian regimes, we are not without agency. We can actually have an impact, she says.
At the End of the World is an interdisciplinary research group at Lund University where researchers investigate how apocalyptic thoughts and currents shape historiography, legal-political thinking and populist rhetoric as well as media reporting on AI, climate threats and migration.
The program runs over 6 years (2023-2028) and includes 23 researchers from disciplines such as history, law, history of ideas, media history, ethnology, political science, philosophy of religion, gender studies, church history, art history, exegetics and theology.
