Jonathan Kirsch - A History of the End of the World

Seven symbolism

Seventh-day Adventists

The Seventh Seal (film)

Sexual conduct

Shakespeare, William

Shaw, George Bernard

The Shepherd of Hermas

Sibylline Oracles

Sibyl of Tivoli

Signs of the Times (Millerite periodical)

Simon Bar Kochba

Simony practice

666 alphanumeric code

Smith, Joseph

Social Gospel

Son of Man

Sontag, Susan

Soviet Union

Spirituals (Zealots)

Stein, Stephen J.

Steward, Lyman

Stewart, Milton

Stifel, Michael

Suetonius

Sulpicius

Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds (Akenson)

Suskind, Ron

Sweet, Leonard

symbolism. See number symbolism; Revelation symbolism

Szittya, Penn

Tertullian

A Theology for the Social Gospel (Rauschenbusch)

Thérèse of Lisieux

Thompson, Damian

Thompson, Hunter S.

Tiburtine Sibyl

Tolkin, Michael

Torah

Torrey, Reverend Reuben A.

Tribulation

Trinity (Atomic bomb, 1945)

Tripoli Prophecy (Cedars of Lebanon Prophecy)

The Twelve Caesars (Suetonius)

two witnesses vision

Tyconius

Tyler’s Rebellion (1381)

Ubertino da Casale

Vermeer, Jan

Voltaire

Waco Branch Davidians cult

Watchers (angels)

Watts, James

wealth/possessions

Weber, Timothy P.

Weinberger, Caspar

Wesley, John

West, Samuel

Whisenant, Edgar

Whiston, William

White, Ellen

The White Goddess (Graves)

White Jacket (Melville)

White, James

Who Wrote the Bible? (Friedman)

Wieseltier, Leon

Wigglesworth, Michael

Wilkerson, David

William the Conqueror

Wills, Garry

Winthrop, John

woman (pregnant)/red dragon symbolism

women: Beguines community of; condemning attitude toward; inquisitor actions against; John’s attitude toward sexual conduct and; Revelation readings by

World War I

World War II

year 1000 belief

Yeats, William Butler

Yeshua bar Yosef. See also Jesus (historical)

Zealots (Franciscan order Spirituals)

Zealots (Jewish)

Zelazny, Roger

Zevi, Shabbatzi

Zionism: Christian; Jewish

Zoroastrian writings

Zwingli, Ulrich

As always, my first thought is for my wife and lifelong best friend, Ann Benjamin Kirsch, and my children, Jennifer Rachel Kirsch and Adam Benjamin Kirsch, whose love, encouragement and support were and are indispensable to the writing of this book and to every aspect of my life and work.

Along with my family, this book is dedicated to my brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Caroline Kirsch, my sister and brother-in-law, Marya and Ron Shiflett, and my aunt, Lillian Conrad Heller, cherished relations and, more than that, gracious and generous human beings.

I am deeply grateful to Gideon Weil, my editor at HarperSanFrancisco, and Laurie Fox, my agent and friend, who have brought their vision and wisdom to bear in the making of this book.

Among the many people at Harper San Francisco with whom I also worked, with both pleasure and admiration, were Michael Maudlin, Mark Tauber, Kris Ashley, Krista Holmstrom, Lisa Zuniga, Cynthia DiTiberio, Carl Walesa, and Joseph Rutt.

All of my work is supported and improved, literally every day of the week, by my colleague and dear friend, Judy Woo.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to Jack Miles, Karen Armstrong, and K.C. Cole, whose books have always been a source of illumination and inspiration, and whose friendships are among the greatest rewards of my life.

I am also grateful for the support of David Noel Freedman, Leonard Shlain, Don Akenson, and David Rosenberg, each of whom has offered encouragement at crucial moments and in an important ways.

I have been supported and encouraged by family, friends, and colleagues to whom I now express my heartfelt appreciation:

My beloved daughter-in-law, Remy Elizabeth Holzer, and her family, Harold, Edith and Meg Holzer.

My niece, Heather Kirsch, and my nephew and his wife, Joshua and Jennifer (Kibrick) Kirsch.

Eui Sook (Angie) Yoon, Charlie Alexiev, Jacob Gabay, and Inge-Lise DeWolfe.

Leslie A. Klinger, gifted author and attorney.

Candace Barrett Birk and Raye Birk, Maryann Rosenfeld and Shelly Kadish, Pat and Len Solomon, John Rechy and Michael Ewing, Diane Leslie and Fred Huffman.

Jane Fitch, Carolyn See, Bernadette Shih, Dora Levy Mossanen, Rhoda Huffey, and Dolores Sloan.

Linda Chester and her colleagues at the Linda Chester Agency.

Michele Goldman, who provided research assistance into Jewish apocalyptic texts and traditions.

David Ulin, Nick Owchar, Orli Low, Kristina Lindgren, Sara Lippincott, Susan Salter Reynolds and Ethel Alexander at the Los Angeles Times Book Review .

Doug Brown, Tom Crouch, Barbara Morrow, Maret Orliss, and Kristine Erbstoesser at the Los Angeles Times .

Jan Nathan and Terry Nathan at the Publishers Marketing Association.

Sarah Spitz and Ruth Seymour at KCRW-FM.

Larry Mantle, Patt Morrison, Aimee Machado, Jackie Oclaray, Linda Othenin-Girard and Polly Sveda at KPCC-FM.

Rob Eshman at The Jewish Journal .

Gwen Feldman and Jim Fox at Silman-James Press, and Tony Cohan at Acrobat Books.

Connie Martinson, host of Connie Martinson Talks Books .

Doug Dutton, Lise Friedman and Ed Conklin at Dutton’s Books in Brentwood.

Jonathan Kirsch is the author of ten books, including the national bestseller The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible, King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel, Moses: A Life, and his most recent work, God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism. Kirsch is also a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a broadcaster for NPR affiliates KCRW-FM and KPCC-FM in Southern California, and Adjunct Professor on the faculty of New York University, and an attorney specializing in publishing law and intellectual property in Los Angeles. Visit the author online at www.jonthankirsch.com

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Jacket design: Jim Warner

A HISTORY OF THE END OF THE WORLD: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization. Copyright © 2006 by Jonathan Kirsch. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader August 2006 ISBN 0-06-119928-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kirsch, Jonathan.

A history of the end of the world: how the most controversial book in the Bible changed the course of Western civilization / Jonathan Kirsch.—1st ed.

p. cm.

“The text of the book of Revelation”: P.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 323) and index.