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August Cieszkowski
CDAMM

August Cieszkowski

Author: Damian Cyrocki

Published: 24th March 2023

DOI: 10.17863/CAM.121475

Damian Cyrocki. 2023. "August Cieszkowski." In James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart (eds.) Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. 24 March 2023. Retrieved from www.cdamm.org/articles/august-cieszkowski.

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Introduction

In his CDAMM article on ‘Polish Messianism,’ Damian Cyrocki looks at various influential figures. Here is an excerpt on one figure: August Cieszkowski (1814–1894).

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August Cieszkowski

August Cieszkowski was a friend of Zygmunt Krasiński and a great supporter of evolutionary messianism. In his view, progress was possible only through systematic and long-term changes. Cieszkowski’s philosophy did not, then, assume a revolution, but an evolutionary idea of ​​social progress. The road to the kingdom of God assumed the introduction of changes in every aspect of life—in politics, social relations, economy, education, art, and in private life. According to Cieszkowski, revolutionary social upheavals lead only to disasters. He was convinced that revolutionaries do not believe that the course of history is guided by providence and want to change it themselves, which in turn made them heretics. He was of the view that people must cooperate with God, not work without or against him. This cooperation is best expressed through the development and sacralisation of social relations (Sajdek 2008, 82).

Cieszkowski taught that the saving mission of Jesus has not yet come to an end, and it will only be attained when the words of the Lord’s Prayer are fulfilled. In particular, he meant that God would reign in heaven and on earth. The philosopher lamented that the Church devotes too much attention to the afterlife and marginalises the fulfilment of God’s will on earth. Only when the latter is fulfilled will the kingdom of God come (Walicki 1971, 34). For Cieszkowski, the Lord’s Prayer had a prophetic character. Speaking of bread, Jesus assumed the coming of a system in which everyone would have a job, a degree of what we would now call social security, and the problem of hunger would disappear.

Cieszkowski had no place for national messianism. For him, there was only one Messiah, and that was Jesus. There was only one sacrifice, and that was the one on Calvary. However, Jesus’s mission was divided into two parts. First, he was to bring order to the kingdom of heaven and let the souls of the dead into it, and only then establish the kingdom of God on earth. Ultimately, humanity was to unite, and the philosopher postulated the creation of international organisations that would implement certain ethical postulates and guard peace. The Polish nation was a tool to help accomplish this mission, but it was not the Messiah.

Cieszkowski distinguished three stages in the history of mankind. The first took place before the coming of Jesus and was centred around nature and the body. The second, which began with the coming of Jesus, brought the soul to the foreground but also put it in opposition to the body. It was only in the third stage that this opposition was to cease to exist. The third stage was to be known as the age of the Holy Spirit and was the period of the abolition of all contradictions. It was in this kingdom, which was to come in the nineteenth century, that the union of the people with God was to take place (Cieszkowski 1922, 20).

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References

Cieszkowski, August. 1922. Ojcze Nasz. Poznań: Fiszer i Majewski.

Sajdek, Wiesława. 2008. Postęp bez rozboju. Podstawy teorii dynamizmu społecznego w filozofii Augusta Cieszkowskiego. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL.

Walicki, Andrzej. 1971. “Millenaryzm i mesjanizm religijny a romantyczny mesjanizm polski: zarys problematyki.” Pamiętnik Literacki: czasopismo kwartalne poświęcone historii i krytyce literatury polskiej 62: 23–46.

Article information

Damian Cyrocki. 2023. "August Cieszkowski." In James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart (eds.) Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. 24 March 2023. Retrieved from www.cdamm.org/articles/august-cieszkowski.

Downloaded: 2026-04-03

Provided under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

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144,000

144,000 refers to a belief in an elect group, often at end times or in an imminent transformation of the world. The usage typically derives from the book of Revelation. In Revelation 7:1–8, 144,000 refers to the twelve tribes of Israel who have the seal of God on their foreheads. They are also presented as virgins, blameless, ‘redeemed from the earth’, and expected to sing a new song at Mount Zion (Revelation 14:1–5).

Apocalypticism

In popular usage, 'apocalypticism' refers to a belief in the likely or impending destruction of the world (or a general global catastrophe), usually associated with upheaval in the social, political, and religious order of human society—often referred to as an/the 'apocalypse'. Historically, the term has had religious connotations and the great destruction has traditionally been seen as part of a divine scheme, though it is increasingly used in secular contexts. See the Apocalypticism article for a more detailed discussion.

Armageddon

In popular use, ‘Armageddon’ involves ideas of great cataclysmic events or conflict. The term has long been used to refer to a future battle or ongoing war at the end of time or civilization, whether understood generally as a cataclysmic final battle or specifically as a battle at a place called Megiddo (a location in modern Israel), or a more flexible understanding of Megiddo as a coded reference to an alternative location. ‘Armageddon’ derives from the book of Revelation where it appears just once (Revelation 16:16) with reference to the location of a great cosmic battle associated with the end times. See the Armageddon article for a more detailed discussion.

Beast of the Apocalypse

In popular terms, the 'Beast' or the 'Beast of the Apocalypse' refer generally to a violent and destructive creature that emerges at end times. Such understandings of an end-time beast or beasts derive from the book of Revelation (also called the The Apocalypse) and its long and varied history of interpretation. Revelation refers to 'beasts' on different occasions, including beasts in opposition to God: one emerging from the sea or a pit (Revelation 11:7; 13:1; 17:8; cf. Daniel 7), one from the earth (Revelation 13:11), and another scarlet in colour (Revelation 17:3). The beast from the earth is also associated with the number 666 (alternatively: 616) (Revelation 13:18) and Revelation 19:20 claims that the beast will 'thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur' (New Revised Standard Version).

Eschatology

‘Eschatology’ concerns the study of end times and is derived from the Greek term ἔσχατος (eschatos), meaning ‘final, ‘last’, ‘end’, etc. Eschatology is a label that can incorporate a cluster of related beliefs which differ according to tradition (e.g., end of the world, resurrection, regeneration, Day of Judgment, Antichrist).

Kingdom of God

In the Bible, the ‘Kingdom of God’ (sometimes synonymous with the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’) refers to notions of ruling and kingship which are often understood to have a spatial or territorial dimension, whether in heaven or on earth. According to the book of Daniel, such ‘kingdom’ language is used to describe the claim that God rules the universe eternally (Daniel 4:34) but will also intervene in human history to establish a kingdom for his people (Daniel 2:44). According to the Gospels, Jesus predicted the coming Kingdom of God or Heaven and these predictions have been influential in the history of speculations about end times or the benefits of the kingdom being experienced in a present time and place. Across different traditions, such language has also been used to describe communities deemed holy or places deemed sacred, as well as being understood with reference to personal or ‘spiritual’ transformation.

Messianism

Messianism refers to ideas about a redeemer figure or figures who transform the fortunes of a given people or the world as a whole. The term ‘Messiah’ is derived from the Hebrew משיח (mashiach), meaning ‘anointed one’. In the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, it is a term used to denote people such as kings, priests and prophets anointed to carry out their duties on behalf of God. In early Judaism, the term took on a more precise meaning as a future redeemer figure, including a king in the line of David. New Testament texts made such clams about Jesus where a Greek equivalent of the Hebrew, Χριστός (christos), became part of his name: Jesus Christ.

Millenarianism

In popular and academic use, the term ‘millenarianism’ is often synonymous with the related terms ‘millennialism’, ‘chiliasm’ and ‘millenarism’. They refer to an end-times Golden Age of peace, on earth, for a long period, preceding a final cataclysm and judgement—sometimes referred to as the 'millennium'. The terms are used to describe both millenarian belief and the persons or social groups for whom that belief is central. ‘Millennialism’ or ‘chiliasm’ are chronological terms derived from the Latin and Greek words for ‘thousand’. They are commonly used to refer to a thousand-year period envisaged in the book of Revelation (20:4–6) during which Christ and resurrected martyrs reign prior to the final judgment. More recently the terms have been used to refer to secular formulas of salvation, from political visions of social transformation to UFO movements anticipating globally transformative extra-terrestrial intervention. See the Millenarianism article for a more detailed discussion.

Prophecy

‘Prophecy’ can be broadly understood as a cross-cultural phenomenon involving claims of supernatural or inspired knowledge transmitted or interpreted by an authoritative recipient, intermediary, or interpreter labelled a ‘prophet’. The term is also used in a more general and secular way to refer to individuals who simply predict or prognosticate future events, or those leading principled causes or in pursuit of a particular social or political vision without any special association with inspired or supernatural insight. The language of ‘prophet’ and ‘prophecy’ in English derives from the Greek προφητης (prophētēs) found in the Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and in the New Testament. See the Prophets and Prophecy article for a more detailed discussion.

Son of Man

‘Son of man’ simply means ‘man’ in biblical Hebrew and Aramaic and is a title for Jesus in the Greek New Testament. While the ancient idiom is gendered, some scholars prefer to bring out the generic implications and reflect inclusive language today in their English translations (e.g., 'son of a human being', 'son of humanity'). The phrase sometimes took on a more titular function before Jesus because of the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7, Daniel is said to have had a vision of four destructive beasts representing four kingdoms and who stand in contrast to a human-like figure—‘one like a son of man’. The ‘Ancient of Days’ then takes away the power of the beasts and Daniel sees ‘one like a son of man’ approaching, ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’ (Daniel 7:13; New International Version). Daniel 7 claims that this ‘son of man’ figure will be given ‘authority, glory and sovereign power’, ‘all peoples’ will worship him, and his kingdom will be everlasting. The precise identification of the ‘one like a son of man’ in Daniel 7:13 is not made explicit and there has been a long history of identification with a variety of candidates in apocalyptic and millenarian movements, sometimes without reference to the book of Daniel.

Zion

‘Zion’ is an alternative name for Jerusalem and the ‘city of David’ (2 Samuel 5:7; 1 Kings 8:1; 1 Chronicles 11:5; 2 Chronicles 5:2), though it is also used with reference to Israel. Zion can also refer to ‘Mount Zion’, a hill located in Jerusalem which was the site of the Jewish Temple (destroyed 70 CE) and is the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque. Zion and Mount Zion are sometimes interpreted as coded references to an alternative geographical location or to something ‘spiritual’ and otherworldly. In some religious traditions, Zion plays a central role in expectations about end times or the benefits associated with end times being fulfilled in the present.

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