Loading...
Rapture or risk: Signs of the end or symptoms of world risk society?
Knowles, Steve
Knowles, Steve
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Affiliation
EPub Date
Publication Date
2014-12-11
Submitted Date
Collections
Files
Loading...
accepted manuscript
Adobe PDF, 134.26 KB
Other Titles
Abstract
In this article I argue that elements of contemporary fundamentalist Christian apocalyptic discourse are not only influenced by, but are a product of the rhetoric and fascination with the notion of risk. The world risk society thesis developed by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck will be utilised as a conceptual framework to measure one example of an online discourse centred on a Christian dispensationalist understanding of the rapture: Rapture Index. This popular website utilises a statistical probability index system based on 45 different categories that relate to global socio-political events; the higher the aggregate total the nearer the rapture. The Rapture Index is indebted to the impact of risk in contemporary society and it is a tool that exemplifies non-knowing: a product of the world risk society.
Citation
Knowles, S. (2014). Rapture or risk: Signs of the end or symptoms of world risk society?. Culture and Religion, 15(4), 419-435.
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Culture and Religion
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
en
Description
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Culture and Religion on 11 December 2014 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14755610.2014.982670
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1475-5610
EISSN
1475-5629