millenarianism

English

Etymology

From millenarian +‎ -ism. Compare millenarism, millennianism, millennialism.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪ.lɪˈnɛə.ɹɪ.əˌnɪz.əm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪl.əˈnɛɹ.i.ənˌɪz.əm/

Noun

millenarianism (countable and uncountable, plural millenarianisms)

1. A belief in a coming religious millennium, especially (Christianity) the belief in a coming thousand-year reign of peace heralded by the Second Coming of Christ; utopianism, belief in a coming era of peace and prosperity. [from 19th c.]
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 139:

     It is hard to say for certain just why this brief but notable shift from passive to active millenarianism should have occurred during the Interregnum.

   • 2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 406:

     When Herman Melvilled visited , he was fascinated yet repulsed by the 'contagion' of American Christian millenarianism – 'this preposterous Jewmania', he called it, 'half-melancholy, half-farcical'.

Synonyms

• chiliasm