The Encyclopedia of World Religions

millenarianism S 293

Traditionally Methodism employed itinerant minis ters, sometimes called “circuit riders.” These min isters would travel from group to group, preach, and supervise spiritual progress. Today Methodist ministers in the United States are more tied to spe cific localities. Further reading: Riley B. Case, Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004); Stephen Tomkins, John Wesley: A Biography (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 2003); John H. Wigger, Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001). Micah A book in the B IBLE , and the name of the prophet whose words it supposedly contains. Micah is one of the prophetic books that make up the collection known as “The Twelve.” Micah is the least well-known of a group of eighth-century prophets in ancient Israel and Judah. Other prophets in this group included I SA IAH , Amos, and H OSEA . They emphasized worship ping YHWH (“the Lord”) alone and furthering social justice. Like Isaiah, Micah was a prophet in the south ern kingdom of Judah. He witnessed the fall of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, to Assyria around 721 B . C . E . and the Assyrian siege of J ERUSALEM 20 years later. Unlike Isaiah, Micah came from the countryside, not the capital city. Micah prophesied that Jerusalem would actu ally be destroyed—a prophecy that was relatively rare. Among Christians he is best known for associating the Messianic ruler with Bethlehem. Micah also envisioned a time of universal peace in stirring and influential images: “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4.3).

millenarianism Religious movements that expect SALVATION to come very soon in this world. (The word comes from the Christian belief, taken from the book of R EVELATION , that speaks of a coming millennium, or golden age of a thou sand years.) Millenarianism expects salvation to come to believers as a group, to come in this world through a miraculous total transformation of it into a paradise. Usually these beliefs have an apocalyptic character ( see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE ) as well, that is, they say that though things may seem to be very bad, and getting worse and worse in this world, that is really just preparation for the new world. Suddenly, when least expected by all except those in on the secret, G OD will act, per haps a savior will appear, a surprising and radical changes will take place. Then the FAITH of those who believed in the coming change, even during the darkest hours, will be vindicated. A good example would be CARGO CULTS , those movements in colonialized areas, especially in the South Pacific, which said that ships or planes would come from the old gods to bring to native peoples goods like the white man’s, and that this would start a golden age. In the Buddhist world, a succession of movements has been based on the expectation that Maitreya, the coming B UDDHA of the future, would arrive soon. In J UDAISM and C HRISTIANITY , a succession of millenarian movements has predicted the immi nent coming of the MESSIAH . In Judaism, perhaps the best known is that centered on Shabbatai Zvi (1626–76), whose claim to be the messiah caused great excitement within that tradition. In Christian ity, S EVENTH -D AY A DVENTISM was originally based on the teachings of William Miller (1782–1849), who predicted the second coming of C HRIST in 1844. The J EHOVAH ’ S W ITNESSES have also kept alive mil lenarian faith. Some more liberal Christians have interpreted millennial belief to mean a gradual, progressive coming of the kingdom of God. Millenarianism usually implies a discouraged view of the world, a strong sense of the differ ence between the way things are and the way one would wish them to be. It may sometimes seem to be merely “wishful thinking,” more wanting

Micronesian religion See P ACIFIC O CEAN RELIGIONS .