Biblical millennialism and radical Enlightened utopianism

Abstract

Alongside the resurgence of biblical millennialism in the 1790's arose a secular Utopian vision. It too saw the French Revolution as promising an imminent and radical transformation of the world and looked forward to the universal establishment of peace, freedom, morality, and truth on the ruins of political tyranny and religious superstition. In contrast to biblical millennialism, however, secular Utopian prophecy was not based on the authority of Scripture, nor did it assume the active role of a providential God. Its key terms were not those of revealed Christianity but more exclusively those of the radical republican Enlightenment: liberty, reason, and the rights of man.