The believer experiences this personally as persecution, deprivation, or moral scandal. Evil can only be stopped by the action of God who will completely eliminate its power. God is seen as directly involved in history. He caused the formation of a faithful remnant who remain true to him. He will soon act to crush the forces of evil.
History is seen by the believer as personal and internalized.
It is interpreted as centering directly on himself and his group of the elite, who are not honored as they should be by the general society. As the date of the expected action by God comes closer, normal life becomes less important and the focus turns to preparing for the coming event. Apocalyptic groups have always been controversial. Determining the date of Christ s return has been a recurring quest. In the early 1800s Edward Irving, founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church, proclaimed the second coming in England and set the date as 1864.