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Apocalyptic millennialism is embraced by the most powerful strands of evangelical Christianity. The followers of these groups believe in the physi- cal return of Jesus to Earth in the Second Coming the afrmation of a Rapture a millennium of peace under the rule of Jesus and his saints and at last nal judgment and deep eternity. In Discovering the End of Time Donald Akenson traces the primary vector of apocalyptic millennialism to southern Ireland in the 1820s and 30s. Surprisingly these apocalyptic concepts which many scholars associate with the poor the ill-educated and the desperate were articu- lated most forcefully by a rich well-educated coterie of Irish Protestants. Drawing a striking portrait of John Nelson Darby the major gure in the evolution of evangelical dispensationalism Akenson demonstrates Darbys formative inu- ence on ideas that later came to have a founda- tional impact on American evangelicalism in general and on Christian fundamentalism in par- ticular. Careful to emphasize that recognizing the origins of apocalyptic millennialism in no way im- plies a judgment on the validity of its constructs Akenson draws on a deep knowledge of early nineteenth-century history and theology to deliver a powerful history of an Irish religious elite and a major intersection in the evolution of modern Christianity. Opening the door into an Ireland that was hiding in plain sight Discovering the End of Time tells a remarkable story at once erudite conversa- tional and humorous and characterized by an impressive range and depth of research. Donald Harman Akenson is Douglas Professor of History at Queens University and the author of Gods Peoples Covenant and Land in South Africa Israel and Ulster Small Differences Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants 18151922 and Surpassing Wonder The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds. 1 8 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 R E L I G I O U S S T U D I E S W O R L D H I S T O R Y Discovering the End of Time Irish Evangelicals in the Age of Daniel OConnell donald harman akenson A masterful study of the origins of apocalyptic millennialism which lies at the heart of evangelical Christianity. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S April 2016 978-0-7735-4679-0 39.95T 39.95T 27.99 cloth 6 x 9 568pp 17 photos 5 maps Ebook available