This Osher Class will examine the talk among politicians, pundits and news commentators — not to mention the general public — about apocalyptic passages in the Bible and what they might mean for our time from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Community Room.

The class will highlight the texts describing the end of the world as we know it and the dawn of a new order. The class will go over a recent flood of books and films depicting the final conflagration and the fate of unfortunates “left behind.”

Additionally, in this course the class will examine selected writings from the Bible within their historical, social and cultural contexts to understand what they were saying, how they were understood in their own time and how best to read them today.

The third class is scheduled Thursday, Sept. 29, at the same time and location as the first class. No prior registration necessary to attend this event.