The End Is Always Near: Evaluating the Influence of Premillennial Apocalyptic Rhetoric on Evangelical Christian Attitudes toward Climate Change Discourse

Abstract:

One recurring feature of climate change discourse—and apocalyptic rhetoric more generally—is the appeal to textual authorities whose knowledge transcends that of rhetor and audience. "For religious apocalyptic," Brummett writes, "the grounding text will be one or more of the scriptures of the religion; for secular apocalyptic, the grounding text will be the assertion of a natural law governing the domain in question or it will be a widely revered secular text" (99). As a case-in-point, climate reform rhetors often invoke the authority of the scientific consensus surrounding climate change, research that is the basis for the IPCC's [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] reports.