Apocalypse (redirected from Apocalyptic theory)

apocalypse (əpŏk`əlĭps) [Gr.,=uncovering], genre represented in early Jewish and in Christian literature in which the secrets of the heavenly world or of the world to come are revealed by angelic mediation within a narrative framework. The genre seems to have arisen in Palestine in the 3d cent. B.C., perhaps as a protest against an oppressive and dominant establishment, either Gentile or apostate Jewish. The writing is characterized by otherworldly journeys, visions, animal imagery derived from the common fund of ancient Middle Eastern mythological imagery, and number symbolism. Apocalyptic eschatology is marked by the conviction that God will intervene decisively in the present evil age and vindicate his suffering elect over their oppressors, raising the dead, consigning the wicked to eternal destruction, and establishing a new creation. In the Bible, apocalyptic elements are present in the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, and Daniel. The collection known as the Pseudepigrapha contains a number of early Jewish apocalypses, including 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. In the New Testament the book of Revelation is often called the Apocalypse.

Bibliography

See C. Rowland, The Open Heaven (1982); E. Weber, Apocalypses (1999).

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apocalypse

In many Western religious traditions, the period of catastrophic upheaval expected to occur just before the end of the world, when God will come to sit in judgment on humankind. The belief that the world will come to a violent and cataclysmic end exists in Judaism and Christianity as well as in Zoroastrianism. Several of the prophetic works of the Hebrew Scriptures, notably the book of Daniel, include visions of the apocalypse. The book of Revelation (or Apocalypse) gives a dark and dramatic picture of the end of time, when the wicked will be punished and the good will triumph through God's intervention. The approach of the Last Days is expected to be marked by famines, wars, earthquakes, plagues, and other natural disasters, along with signs in the heavens. Today apocalyptic themes are emphasized by various religious groups (e.g., fundamentalist Christians) and have also been taken up by science-fiction writers. See also eschatology; millennialism.

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Apocalypse

Bible (in the Vulgate and Douay versions of the Bible) the Book of Revelation

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Apocalypse

behemoth

king of animals whose flesh will provide feast for chosen when Messiah comes. [Jew. Tradition: Leach, 132]

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

four riders symbolizing pestilence, war, famine, and death. [N.T.: Revelation 6:1–8]

Gog and Magog

giant leaders in ultimate battle against God’s people. [N.T.: Revelation 20:8]

Götterdämmerung

day of great battle between Teutonic gods and forces of evil. [Ger. Folklore: Leach, 461]

leviathan

sea monster; symbol of apocalypse. [Jew. Tradition: Leach, 67]

Revelation

final book of the New Testament discussing the coming of the world’s end. [N.T.: Revelation]

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Apocalypse 

the Book of Revelation of the apostle John the Evangelist; a book of the New Testament, the oldest Christian work of literature that has been preserved.

The Apocalypse was written in the middle of A.D. 68 and early 69 (soon after the death of the Roman emperor Nero) by a Jew who became a Christian. According to the tradition of the church, the apostle John the Evangelist is author of the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse followed from the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament and has partially borrowed from the latter. In its content it drastically differs from other writings of the New Testament. The Apocalypse describes, through a series of fantastic visions that the author claims are “revelations” he received from god, the future of the world and of mankind: the allegedly impending struggle between the “heavenly host” and Antichrist, the “end of the world,” the “last judgment,” and the “thousand-year kingdom of God” on earth. The Apocalypse reflects the dissatisfaction and the rebellious sentiments of the Israelite people, who lived under the yoke of Rome and who hoped for an early end of the Roman Empire. But the Apocalypse expresses for the first time the ideas of long suffering and humility and calls for passively awaiting the outcome of the struggle between the divine forces and Antichrist, in the hope for god’s retribution—the “thousand-year kingdom of God.” The chiliastic sentiments (waiting for the thousand-year kingdom) expressed in the Apocalypse became very widespread in Christian sectarianism. For many centuries the reactionary forces of the church and the sects used the Apocalypse, with its mystical and terrifying scenes, as an ideological weapon to influence the minds of believers.

REFERENCES

Engels, F. “Bruno Baueripervonachal’noekhristianstvo.” K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch. 2nd ed., vol. 19.
Engels, F. “Kniga otkroveniia.” Ibid., vol. 21.
Engels, F. “Kistoriipervonachal’novokhristianstva.’ Ibid., vol. 22.
Robertson, A. Proiskhozhdenie khristianstva. Moscow, 1959. (Translated from English.)
Rowley, H. H. Relevance of Apocalyptic. London-Redhill [1944].

E. M. BARTOSHEVICH