Messiahs: The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming Book

There have been messiahs aplenty over the years, as John Hogue's richly illustrated book demonstrates. But it is not so much those in the past that Hogue concentrates on but those still to come. Christians await the Second Coming of Jesus, Jews of their Messiah, some Buddhists expect the Maitreya, Shi'ite Muslims the 12th Imam and so on. Messiah is a detailed compilation of, as the sub-title says, "the visions and prophecies for the Second Coming". It is full of quotations from many scriptures and many religious teachers, old and new. The selection at times seems a little idiosyncratic: in the first part of the book, "The Second Coming Syndrome", there is a disproportionate number of quotations from Osho (formerly known as the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). However, the selection becomes clear in the second part, "The Apocalypse of the Awakened Ones", when Hogue discloses he is a follower of Osho's teachings. This, then, is not the objective overview of messiahs that it might first appear; Hogue has a definite spiritual message that he wants to put across. But once one is aware of this, taking the book on its own terms (and despite a few factual errors) this is a very interesting look at the whole subject of expected messiahs. It is also beautifully designed and colourfully illustrated throughout, taking full advantage of its A4 format. --David V BarrettRead More