Does the millennium matter?

By Eric Engleman
Special to CNN Interactive

The dawn of the new millennium is approaching, accompanied by hype, marketing campaigns and dire predictions about the computer glitch Y2K.

Perhaps lost in all the excitement is the meaning of "millennium" itself. Many would argue that it is an arbitrary construct, with little relevance for the majority of the world's population.

"Apocalypse Now and Then: Art and the end of time" -- Presented by the DePaul University Art Gallery

The idea of millennium has its roots in Biblical prophecies of the apocalypse.

The Books of Daniel and Revelation foresee the destruction of the present order, followed by Christ's descent from heaven. Christ rules earth for a thousand years, Satan is defeated in a climactic battle and all souls face the Final Judgment before God.

"Millennium" originally had one specific meaning: the future thousand-year reign of Jesus on earth.

Early Christians believed the apocalypse was imminent. When the anticipated event failed to materialize over the centuries, however, Christian theologians were forced to rethink the timing.

They returned to the Bible for clues and concluded that "millennium" also marked intervals before the Second Coming. So the first real test of millennial expectations came at a critical juncture, the Year 1000.

Historians are divided on whether a "panic terror" swept through Christian Europe in the final days before 1000.

Some evidence exists of an increase in mass pilgrimages, executions of heretics and sporadic acts of violence, though it is not clear how widespread they were.

In his novel "Journey to the End of the Millennium," the Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua describes the travels of a Jewish merchant and his Arab partner through Europe at the time: "villages, estates, and monasteries swarming with Christians who were feverishly yearning for their wounded Messiah to descend from heaven."

The Second Coming did not happen, but the legacy of counting time in increments of a thousand years remains with us.

Today the term "millennium" is almost entirely devoid of its biblical meaning. Aside from a handful of fringe groups, few people believe the current thousand-year period will end in the return of Jesus. Millennium is still the norm, but a secular one.

Which leads to another interesting question: When exactly does the old millennium end and the new one begin?

Although it is almost universally accepted that we are on the cusp of the new millennium, many scientists and historians contend the real starting point is January 1, 2001, not January 1, 2000.

The discrepancy goes back to a 6th century monk named Dionysius Exiguus, or Denis the Little. Under orders from Pope St. John I in 525, Denis drew up a new timeline (the one in use today) that begins with Christ, rather than with the foundation of Rome.

The fact Denis did not start his calendar with 0 has been a source of consternation for centuries. It was, however, not his fault. The concept of zero, as defined by Hindu and Arab mathematicians, would not be introduced to Europe for another 250 years or so. So Denis began with January 1, A.D. 1 (Anno Domini means "of the year of the Lord").

That makes 2001 the first year of the new millennium, a view backed by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, the world's timekeeper.

It is not likely to have much of an impact, since most people regard 2000, that nice round number, as the "real" transition point.

The forces of capitalism certainly have no qualms about cashing in on the millennium.

It is hard to walk into a store these days without encountering some "Year 2000" trinket. In cities across the world, the festivities are taking on mammoth proportions. People are going to party like it is 1999, no matter what some stuffy scientists may say.

Click though an image gallery of Year 2000 collectibles

Even countries that use a different calendar, such as China, plan to mark the millennium. Perhaps they have been caught up in all the celebratory madness.

For some nations it is an opportunity to attract tourist dollars. Consider the scramble in the South Pacific to become the first point of land to see the sun rise on January 1, 2000.

Kiribati, a nation of island groups straddling the equator, consolidated its scattered islands entirely west of the International Date Line six years ago, making the tiny atoll of Caroline Island the first point of relatively accessible land to experience the millennial dawn, other than Antarctica.

Tonga was not pleased when it heard the news; it had hoped to make the same claim. Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands of New Zealand wasn't happy either; it does have the distinction, however, of being the first permanently inhabited place to witness the dawn.

One concern unites all nations as 2000 approaches, regardless of religion or location: the Y2K bug, the computer glitch that has inspired breathless predictions of chaos and disruption.

A steady stream of books and articles has outlined frightening scenarios of power outages, food shortages, looting, even the possibility of nuclear accidents and airplane disasters.

In the end, it may be Y2K, a thoroughly modern problem, that keeps millennial fears about the end of the world alive.