Cyclic v Linear

once upon a time, i was reading Sophie's World.
the discussion was comparing the indo-european cyclical view of history, with the arab-semitic linear view of history.

the issue seems to be the view makind has of the beginning and end of history, as clearly seen in the Bible, and the way that view is intertwined with the rather futile cyclical view of the world in, for example, Hinduism, where the point is to escape this stupid cycle.

there are obvious cycles seen in the Bible, however, in the 'rebellion-> punishment-> repentance-> redemption' whirlpool.

this seems in contrast to the idea of us getting our perspective in life from where we are in the timeline, from creation to judgement day.