Responses to Apocalypse: Early Christianity and Extinction Rebellion
Abstract
:1. Introduction
The Point Is Not to Change the World, But to Save It
2. Tell the Truth
2.1. How Did Early Christians Understand the Apocalypse?
2.2. From Cataclysm to Apocalypse
2.3. Summary
3. Act as If the Truth Is Real
3.1. How Did Christianity Respond to Immanent Threats in the Form of Persecutions?
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house… and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back… If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”(Mark 13: 32–37)
3.2. The Apocalypse and Community Fellowship
3.3. Persecution and Endurance
3.4. Summary
4. XR’s Three Types of Vulnerability
4.1. Vulnerability to the Truth of Climate Change
4.2. Civil Disobedience as Intentional Vulnerability
4.3. Vulnerability within Community: Regen and S.O.S.: Regenerative Practice and Deliberative Democracy
5. Conclusions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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1 | https://rebellion.global/about-us/ (accessed on 15 July 2020). |
2 | https://actionnetwork.org/ (accessed on 15 July 2020). This data is not publicly It was supplied to me by one of the founders of XR in Australia, Jane Morton (Conversation with Jane Morton, 14 July 2020). |
3 | “Perhaps the most obvious way in which apocalypticism persists in the modern world is the recurring expectation of an imminent end of history or of the world itself.” (Collins 2014, p. 9). |
4 | The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in October, 2018 that we must reduce carbon emissions by 40% in the next 12 years to have a 50% chance of avoiding ‘catastrophe’. Climate change is causing wide-spread effects across a variety of areas, including food security, the health of oceans and fresh water sources, migration, and markets. Unless drastic changes are made, it is unlikely that the rise in global average temperatures could be limited to 1.5 C. Global Warming of 1.5 C. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Available online: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ (accessed on 10 March 2020). |
5 | |
6 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1PCgiM3V4 (accessed on 27 May 2020). |
7 | |
8 | The second coming is a definite event, prophesied in scripture, which expresses itself in Christ’s return. |
9 | Mark 10: 17–22. All biblical translations are New International Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/ (accessed 6 May 2020). |
10 | Mark 4: 38–41. |
11 | Mark 13: 28–29. |
12 | XR’s principles are:
|
13 | https://rebellion.earth/act-now/resources/wellbeing/ See the Don’t Panic booklet. Accessed on 18 May 2020. |
14 | https://rebellion.earth/event/grief-circle-2/ (accessed on 18 May 2020) (Similar resources: https://christianclimateaction.org/resources/climate-grief-and-anxiety/ accessed on 18 May 2020). |
15 | (https://www.facebook.com/events/zoom-event/heading-for-extinction-and-what-to-do-about-it/1618398331657721/ accessed on 18 May 2020). |
16 | As Jem Bendell puts it: “We no longer have time for the career games of aiming to publish in top-ranked journals to impress our linemanagers or improve our CV for if we enter the job market. Nor do we have a need for the narrow specialisms that are required to publish in such journals.” “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy,” IFLAS Occasional Paper 2, www.iflas.info (July 2018): pp. 1–36, 24. http://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf. accessed on 9 June 2020. |
17 | |
18 | |
19 | Ferguson, Baptism. and Ferguson, Confessor, in: Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 164 and 274. |
20 | Τοῦ δὲ πλήθους τῶν πιστευσάντων ἦν καρδία καὶ ψυχὴ μία, καὶ οὐδὲ εἷς τι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ ἔλεγεν ἴδιον εἶναι, ἀλλ’ ἦν αὐτοῖς πάντα κοινά. |
21 | https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_5278.htm (accessed on 6 May 2020). |
22 | https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_5278.htm (accessed on 6 May 2020). |
23 | The Didache XVI, 5. The text echoes this pattern (https://www.ccel.org/l/lake/fathers/didache.htm, accessed on 6 May 2020). |
24 | (Conversation with XR Member, Andy G, 23 November 2019.) |
25 | |
26 | (https://rebellion.earth/act-now/resources/arrestee-welfare/ accessed on 16 May 2020). |
27 | (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCboH6kMuHs accessed on 16 May 2020). |
28 | (https://rebellion.earth/act-now/resources/wellbeing/ accessed on 16 May 2020). |
29 | See also: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) And Activists. Activist Trauma Support. https://www.activist-trauma.net/en/mental-health-matters/ptsd.html accessed on 16 May 2020. https://www.activist-trauma.net/ (This website is inactive). |
30 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/XREmpathy/ accessed on 18 May 2020. |
31 |
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Joyce, C. Responses to Apocalypse: Early Christianity and Extinction Rebellion. Religions 2020, 11, 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080384
Joyce C. Responses to Apocalypse: Early Christianity and Extinction Rebellion. Religions. 2020; 11(8):384. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080384
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoyce, Cullan. 2020. "Responses to Apocalypse: Early Christianity and Extinction Rebellion" Religions 11, no. 8: 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080384