Thanks to Catherine Bennett, I’ve learned a new ‘ology – eschatology, literally the study of the last. So, if there’s an eschatology, there must be eschatologists, right? Gosh, they must be fun in the pub. “Oh, hello, what do you do?” “I study the end of the world.” Pause. “Really? How does that happen?” “Well, the dead could be resurrected, or the Devil could be set free, or adultery and fornication will be performed in the open, or …” “Where’s my drink?”

Illustration: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Albrecht Drer.