MILLENNIALNE MARZENIA
MILLENNIAL DREAMS

Summary/Abstract: The belief in the millennium is one of the oldest and most enduring patterns of thought in western civilization. The idea that human history is divinely ordained and will lead to a period of heavenly perfection on earth can be dated at least as far back as the Jewish prophecies. The idea has spread throughout the world. History was expected to culminate in the glorious triumph of God’s people across the world. The earth would then become a paradise for the righteous; sickness, deprivation and war would cease to exist. This vision has repeatedly been reinterpreted till the present, especially in the USA. Millennialists conceived of history not as an endless series of cycles but as an essentially progressive movement towards an inevitably happy conclusion. Viewing this movement in Manichean terms as a cosmic conflict between good and evil, they recognized that the Antichrist might seem to be winning in the short run. Yet, his final defeat would give possibility of human virtue, physical comfort and spiritual grace. There would be no more tyranny or oppression, no more greed or want, no more ignorance or false belief. Postmillennials were typically optimistic about spiritual progress of the culture. They saw human history as reflecting an ongoing struggle between cosmic forces of God and Satan, each one represented by various earthly powers, but with the victory of the righteous assured. The Americans were easily persuaded that their nation was destined to lead the way cultural advance. The spiritual hope was thus partly secularized and nationalized as the American civil religion was born.

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