At this point, we want to define one of the frameworks we will use to help converge the Bible and History. Most note the concept of ‘Generation’ but let’s make sure we are on the same playing field as we explore the seven Turnings and their Awakenings and Crises in Western Civilization and Israel.
A generation is the aggregate of all people born over a span of roughly twenty years or about the length of one phase of life: [1]
§ childhood
§ young adulthood
§ Midlife
§ old age.
Generations are identified (from first birthyear to last) by looking for cohort groups of this length that share similar criteria. Members of a generation share an age location in history. They encounter key historical events and social trends while occupying the same phase of life. Members of a generation are shaped in lasting ways by the eras they encounter as children and young adults and they share certain common beliefs and behaviors. Aware of the experiences and traits that they share with their peers, members of a generation would also share a sense of common perceived membership in that generation.[2]
Turnings
This book focuses on the seven Awakenings and Crises Turnings of Israel and Western Civilization but let’s apply that. As a Baby Boomer, born in 1958 at the end of the twenty or so years of boomer birth years, I look back and see the four-stage cycle of the last 60+ years that my wife and I experienced. The Turnings include: "The High" (Post World War II), "The Awakening" (Spiritual Awakening that began in 1963), "The Unraveling" (1980s to turn of the century), and "The Crisis" (Our present point in history). We will point out similar generational trends and Turnings in Ancient Israel as the Biblical pattern that preceded Western Civilization.[3]
In the historical pattern of generations alive today, ranging from the GI Generation of World War II to the Plurals that follow the Millennials, our hearts and minds revolved around generational events which are called Turnings. This four-stage cycle of eras include: "The High", "The Awakening", "The Unraveling" and "The Crisis". Above, I applied that to my Boomer Generation, but the other generations inhabiting the earth with us, experienced these same events but in different ways from birth to adulthood. [4]
High
The First Turning is a High, which occurs after a Crisis. During The High, institutions are strong, and individualism is weak. Society is confident about where it wants to go collectively, though those outside the majoritarian center often feel stifled by the conformity. The most recent High in the US was the post–World War II American High, beginning in 1946 and ending with the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.[5]
Awakening
The Second Turning is an Awakening. This is an era when institutions are attacked in the name of personal and spiritual autonomy. Just when society is reaching its high tide of public progress, people suddenly tire of social discipline and want to recapture a sense of "self-awareness", "spirituality" and "personal authenticity". Young activists look back at the previous High as an era of cultural and spiritual poverty. Some say the US's most recent Awakening was the “Consciousness Revolution,” which spanned from the campus and inner-city revolts of the mid-1960s to the tax revolts of the early 1980s. [6]
I disagree with the label, ‘Consciousness Awakening,’ but agree with the general definition. I believe the Spiritual Awakening of the Boomer Prophet generation was a divided Awakening between the Summer of Love and Jesus Freak Concerts, between Woodstock and CRU’s Explo 72 in Dallas, War and Peace, and between life and death. It was not the ‘peaches and cream’ implied by the term, ‘Consciousness Awakening.’
Unraveling
The Third Turning is an Unraveling. The mood of this era is in many ways the opposite of a High. Institutions are weak and distrusted, while individualism is strong and flourishing. Highs come after Crises, when society wants to coalesce and build and avoid the death and destruction of the previous crisis. Unravelings come after Awakenings when society wants to atomize and enjoy. The most recent Unraveling in the US began in the 1980s and includes the Long Boom and Culture War. This is true but the bitter unraveling of the 1980s, to turn of the century, reflected the previous polarizing impact of our divided Awakening between life and death.
Crisis
The Fourth Turning is a Crisis. This is an era of destruction, often involving war or revolution, in which institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation's survival. After the crisis, civic authority revives, cultural expression redirects towards community purpose, and people begin to locate themselves as members of a larger group. The Sixth Turning crises in the US began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and climaxed with the end of World War II. The G.I. Generation (which they call a Hero archetype, born 1901 to 1924) came of age in combat during this era. Their confidence, optimism, and collective outlook epitomized the mood of that era. Today’s Millennial Generation (described as a Hero archetype, born 1982 to 2004) show many similar traits to those of the G.I. youth, including: rising civic engagement, interesting behavior, and collective confidence.[7]
Our crises today reflects the divided Awakening of the 60s and 70s, unraveling on steroids, murder of 60 million babies in abortion, and rise of collectivism. The cheapening of life, especially in the divided Awakening of the 60s and 70s, puts our culture in a place where those in power are making the individual subordinate to the collective. Across our previous six Awakening and Crises Turnings, the Individual in America had the gifts of life, liberty, and happiness from our creator. In our present crises, that liberty is being stolen for the sake of forcing individuals under the thumb of the collective. In turn, life is cheap, and happiness is devolving into yesterday’s wistful memories.
Bounce
At the heart of this cycle is a basic alternation between two different types of eras, Crises and Awakenings. In Israel (ancient and modern) and Western Civilization, both are defining eras in which people observe that historic events are radically altering their nation. Crises are periods marked by major secular upheaval when society focuses on survival as it reorganizes the outer world of institutions and public behavior. The last American Crisis was the period spanning the Great Depression and World War II. Awakenings are periods marked by cultural or religious renewal, when society focuses on changing the inner world of values and private behavior. The last American Awakening was the "Consciousness Revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s, but it was not as nice as the term implies. It was a divided Awakening between life and death, between freedom and collectivism.[8]
During Crises, great peril provokes a societal consensus, an ethic of personal sacrifice, and strong institutional order. During Awakenings, an ethic of individualism emerges, and the institutional order is attacked by new social ideals and spiritual agendas. About every eighty to ninety years—the length of a long human life—a national Crisis occurs in American society. Roughly halfway to the next Crisis, a cultural Awakening occurs. Historically, some of these are called Great Awakenings, but not all Awakenings are great.
In describing this cycle of Crises and Awakenings, modern Historians draw from the work of other historians and social scientists who have also discussed long cycles in American and European history. The secular envisioning of the cycles of Awakening and Crises corresponds with long cycles of war identified by such scholars as Arnold J. Toynbee, Quincy Wright, and L. L. Ferrar Jr., and with geopolitical cycles identified by William R. Thompson and George Modelski. In their massive and fascinating tome, Generations, Strauss and Howe say their cycle of Awakenings corresponds with Anthony Wallace's work on revitalization movements; they also say recurring Crises and Awakenings correspond like two-stroke piston cycles in politics (Walter Dean Burnham, Arthur Schlesinger Sr. and Jr.), foreign affairs (Frank L. Klingberg), and the economy (Nikolai Kondratieff) as well as with long-term oscillations in crime and substance abuse.[9]
Someone like me lands on this like a hand grenade attempting to understand the convergence of the Bible and History. Personally, I see the confluence of a divinely inspired story from Genesis to Revelation. For people like me who strive to see history through the lens of scripture, the secular historians have only scratched the surface of what God reveals to the diligent people of faith. There is a much deeper story from Genesis to Revelation revealed in the words of King David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jesus our Lord. In our Church age of Genesis days 5 and 6, it stretches across Generational Turnings through church types in Revelation 2 and 3 and touches the heavens in the original Hebrew names of the stars that tell the story of salvation.
Crises vs. Awakening
Two different types of eras and two formative age locations associated with them (childhood and young adulthood) produce four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially, in rhythm with the two piston cycle of Crises and Awakenings. I believe that in Israel’s Turnings and Western Civ’s Turnings, these four archetypes are Idealist, Reactive, Civic, and Adaptive. In The Fourth Turning (1997), Strauss and Howe changed this terminology to Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist.[10]
Prophet
Prophet (Idealist) generations enter childhood during a High, a time of rejuvenated community life and consensus around a new societal order. Prophets grow up as the increasingly indulged children of this post-Crisis era, come of age as self-absorbed young crusaders of an Awakening, focus on morals and principles in midlife, and emerge as elders guiding another Crisis. Examples: Transcendental Generation (Civil War crises), Missionary Generation Depression / WW II Crises), Baby Boomers (Today).[11]
Nomad
Nomad (Reactive) generations enter childhood during an Awakening, a time of social ideals and spiritual agendas, when their young adult parents are passionately attacking the established institutional order. Nomads grow up as under-protected children during this Awakening, come of age as alienated, post-Awakening young adults, become pragmatic midlife leaders during a Crisis, and age into resilient post-Crisis elders. Examples: Gilded Generation (Civil War Generals), Lost Generation (WW II Generals), Generation X (Still Potluck).[12]
Hero
Young adults fighting in World War II were born in the early part of the 20th century, like PT109 commander LTJG John F. Kennedy (b. 1917). They are part of the G.I. Generation, which follows the Hero archetype.
Hero (Civic) generations enter childhood during an Unraveling, a time of individual pragmatism, self-reliance, and laissez-faire. Heroes grow up as increasingly protected post-Awakening children, come of age as team-oriented young optimists during a Crisis, emerge as energetic, overly confident midlifers, and age into politically powerful elders attacked by another Awakening. Examples: Republican Generation (Rev War soldiers), G.I. Generation (WW II soldiers), Millennials (Not enough have died yet).[13]
Artist
Artist (Adaptive) generations enter childhood during a Crisis, a time when great dangers cut down social and political complexity in favor of public consensus, aggressive institutions, and an ethic of personal sacrifice. Artists grow up overprotected by adults preoccupied with the Crisis, come of age as the socialized and conformist young adults of a post-Crisis world, break out as process-oriented midlife leaders during an Awakening, and age into thoughtful post-Awakening elders. Examples: Progressive Generation (Post Revolution), Silent Generation (Post WW II), Zoomer Generation (Today).[14]
[1] Strauss and Howe, Generations: The History of America’s Future, Quill, 1991, p. 58–68
[2] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 433–446
[3] Strauss, William (2009). The Fourth Turning. Three Rivers Press.
[4] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 145–152
[5] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 145–152
[6] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 171–179
[7] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 103–104
[8] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 106–116
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Strauss and Howe, Generations, p. 84
[12] Ibid
[13] Ibid
[14] Ibid