spiritualization and reaffirmation what really happens when prophecy fails j. gordon melton Sori Sori—there shall be greater winds and fires shall rage and floods shall be as raging torrents and they shall be as ones swept before them—give unto them this warning that they be prepared. While we are about it let it be known that there shall come no harm unto Mine Servants which obey Mine Will. Mrs. Keech, 1985 Characteristically, millennial religious groups possess a deep conviction of being in touch with cosmic history. Within that cosmic history they have attained a status as key individuals in the flow of human history. They view that history as either reaching its culmination or, at the very least, taking a decisive turn in the immediate future. Typically such groups may develop an apocalyptic worldview and see the world progressively disintegrating with no hope for salvation. As the elect and faithful remnant, they will survive and transcend the situation by being taken from it by a trans- historical force. In popular Protestant fundamentalism, Jesus will come to ''rapture" his saints before the terrible battle of Armegeddon. Within a scheme of cosmic history, millennialists are tempted to write future history as if it were in the past. Millennialists have frequently sketched pictures of the future course of human events based upon their understanding of the ultimate goals of universal forces. Within American 0026-3079/85/2602-0017$01.50/0 17