The Development of Eschatological Events
             The development eschatological worldviews is by no means a single socio-historical event in European and American history. The fact is that examination and adherence to "apocalyptic texts have comforted the faithful, intrigued the curious and amused the skeptics for two thousand years" (Boyer 45). While modern apocalyptic belief in America is unique for its existing relationship of "high levels of education with high levels of religious belief and activity" (15), it is greatly evident that this phenomenon grew out of longstanding ancient apocalyptical ideas and is highly influenced by the human mindset. The frame of mind that causes believers to look suspiciously at the world that surrounds them. These modern and ancient apocalyptic events are characterized by their historical context, as well as the beliefs and actions of the situations. Some examples included apocalyptic ideologies that sprung up around the words, ideas, and actions of even a single man. St. Francis, Christopher Columbus, and William Miller were such men whose dispositions created an eschatology that has spanned the generations.
             In 1209 St. Francis of Assisi founded a religious order highly based on the ideas of the Calabrian monk Joachim of Fiore. After a night of meditation on the book of Revelations, Joachim "suddenly perceived in my mind's eye something of the fullness of this book and of the entire harmony of the Old and New Testaments" (52). Joachim's works Exposition on Revelation and Book of Figures became his summary of the time-line of apocalyptic events and the reintroduction of millenarianism to medieval times. St. Francis stressed that Joachim's ideas were correct and the so-called Spiritual Franciscans would usher in the Age of Spirit. Preceded by the Age of Law and the Age of Grace, the present Age of Spirit divulged that, "the Holy Spirit would im...