The Scarlet Woman And The Red Hand [Hardcover]

This book provides a comprehensive description of how evangelicals in Northern Ireland interpreted the Troubles (1966-2007) in the light of how they read the Bible. The rich and diverse landscape of Northern Irish evangelicalism during the Troubles is ideally suited to this study of both the light and dark sides of apocalyptic eschatology. Searle demonstrates how the notion of apocalypse shaped evangelical and fundamentalist interpretations of the turbulent events that characterized this dark yet fascinating period in the history of Northern Ireland. The book uses this case study to offer a timely reflection on some of the most pressing issues in contemporary negotiations between culture and religion. Given the current resurgence of religious fundamentalism in the wake of 9/11, together with popular conceptions of a clash of civilizations and the so-called War on Terror, this book is not only an engaging academic study; it also resonates with some of the defining cultural issues of our time. The link between apocalyptic rhetoric and violence is rarely more obvious than in the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1966-2007). The discontents underlying this long ethnic, political, and religious conflict were fueled--and ultimately transformed--by varieties of biblical eschatology. Describing the lethal and creative potential of apocalyptic language in evangelical communities, this book offers a groundbreaking reflection on the question of whether texts are a cause or consequence of their contexts. --Crawford Gribben, Professor of Early Modern British History, School of History and Anthropology, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Joshua Searle guides us on a fascinating journey into apocalyptic eschatology in evangelicalism in Northern Ireland. Rather than accepting conventional wisdom that the Troubles drove evangelicals to an unusual obsession with the end of the world, Searle emphasizes ideas, arguing that pre-existing biblical interpretations informlS¿