means “near,” and when we’re talking about the end of planet Earth, nigh can be anywhere from this evening to millions of years from now. Doomsayers have been predicting the imminent end of the world for centuries. Here are a few of the more interesting predictions.APARTIAL HISTORY OF THE LAST DAYS The book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, is the source of many doomsday predictions. The book, attributed to John the Apostle and written toward the end of the first century, has been interpreted wildly throughout its history. It was almost left out of the biblical canon when fourth-century bishops feared it was too susceptible to misinterpretation and abuse. (Thomas Jefferson called it “the ravings of a maniac.”) Its vivid imagery, including the Beast (and its corresponding number, 666), the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Conquest, War, Famine, and Death), and the Second Coming of Christ, have provided a bounty for doomsayers ever since.• An early doomsday sect known as the “Lotharingian computists”
What do You think about Uncle John's Bathroom Reader The World's Gone Crazy?
