Apocalypticism is a remarkable entry in the history of ideas. It has persisted for millennia, constantly adapting to fit the times and local circumstances. It has proved to be a potent export, able to cross geographical and cultural boundaries. It may be almost as popular today as it has ever been. And it’s done all of this despite the fact that its predictions have an absolute 100 per cent failure rate.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
