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Introduction
In a broad sense the word apocalyptic designates ancient visionary writings that claim to reveal the presence and activity of God which would under normal circumstances remain undisclosed to the people. More specifically apocalyptic [1] is a collective term in the Judaeo-Christian tradition applied to a selection of writings concerned with the mysteries of the end of the age, and of the glories of the age to come, which flourished in the Oriental world around 200 BC and AD 100. However, as D. S. Russell (1964) noted more than three decades ago, it is often extremely difficult to be certain concerning the origin of particular verses or passages or even whole books. [2] Despite this uncertainty concerning dates, the general cluster of concepts and theological ideas which are uniquely peculiar to this type of literature, are generally agreed.
Among the Jewish people, apocalyptic as a distinct literature distinguished by the so-called vertical (an other-worldly journey) and horizontal or historical (eschatological crisis) apocalypses, flourished after the decline of prophecy. Although a sharp distinction is often made between the prophet and the apocalyptist (that the former are primarily concerned with the moral demands of God and the latter specifically with the Golden Age) it does not hold well. Strong apocalyptic pieces, for example, are found in Isa 24, Ezek 39, Joel 3, and Zech 8, 9. Equally strong moral admonitions are found in the work of the apocalyptists, for example 1 En 15:1-7, 4 Ezra 15:1-11, and the general tenor behind the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. In the Apocalypse itself, the two threads are inexorably interwoven, (cf. 2:1-3:22 with 20:1-22:1). This still remains a much discussed subject. It is best to understand the apocalyptic tradition as a "natural progression or conscious development of the prophetic form." [3] That is, a connected form which was adapted to suit a new situation in which the community of Israel and the 'new seers' found themselves.
Defining 'Apocalyptic'
As Klaus Koch has shown, problems in defining the term apocalyptic more precisely occur when it no longer is filled out speculatively according to the particular bias of the theologian or philosopher, but has also to be brought into consonance with the historical texts. [4] The precise origin of apocalyptic, however, is not clear and scholars continue to disagree as to its beginnings. This uncertainty has also served to bring to the fore the problem of the definition of apocalyptic genre. For example, which texts according to the principles of the history-of-religions method, [5] belong with the Book of Revelation and which do not. Those writings which are recognized as belonging together on the basis of comparison, [6] are called apocalyptic after the use of the Gk. word apokalypsis in the first verse of John's Apocalypse (Rev 1:1).
In the yet to be agreed Jewish apocalyptic collection are included: [7]
Daniel, First Enoch or Ethiopic Enoch (c. 164 BC),
Jubilees (c. 150 BC),
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (c. 109 BC),
Assumption of Moses (AD c. 6-30),
Second Enoch or the Book of the Secrets of Enoch (first century AD),
Sibylline Oracles, Book IV (c. AD 80),
Second Esdras [IV Ezra] 3-14 (c. AD 90),
Second Baruch or Apocalypse of Baruch (after AD 90), and
Sibylline Oracles, Book V (second century AD).
In his critically received work, The Dawn of Apocalyptic (1975), Paul D. Hanson, focusing on the strand of eschatology which he sees as running at the heart of many of the so-called apocalyptic works, writes:
...the rise of apocalyptic eschatology is neither sudden nor anomalous, but follows the pattern of an unbroken development from pre-exilic and exilic prophecy. Outside influences (e.g. Persian dualism and Hellenism) upon this apocalyptic eschatology appear to be late, coming only after its essential character was fully developed. They are thereby limited in their influence to peripheral embellishments. [8]
Gerhard von Rad has argued that apocalyptic origins are to be sought in the Wisdom tradition and literature; [9]
H. H. Rowley has said that "apocalyptic is the child of prophecy"; [10]
H. D. Betz accepts apocalyptic as a Hellenistic phenomenon; [11]
D. E. Aune understands apocalypticism as an amalgam of Jewish, Hellenistic, and Near Eastern apocalyptic traditions; [12]
M. Eugene Boring also finds an amalgam within a broad stream of Jewish, Christian, and Hellenistic apocalyptic traditions but with only some elements closely related to the Hellenistic writings; [13]
H. Conzelmann has argued for an Iranian connection; [14]
Martin Hengel suggests that apocalyptic should be understood in the context of a wider religious phenomenon in late antiquity; [15]
G. B. Caird traces the symbolism of the Apoc to the Jewish apocalyptists and to the Old Testament; [16]
D. S. Russell [17] and Walter Schmithals while acknowledging that apocalypticism draws from diverse sources and apocalyptic currents nonetheless argue that the phenomenon, in its form, is essentially Jewish. The latter has written:
...it is undoubtedly true that every religious current which may be called 'apocalyptic' acquires this designation by a comparison with Jewish apocalyptic, which, by virtue of the scope of its literary traditions, and of its influence extending down to the present, is the norm for the essence of what is apocalyptic. [18]
Conclusion
This renewed interest in apocalypticism of the last three decades or so, the Apocalyptic Renaissance [19] as it has been called by Klaus Koch in his critical work, The Rediscovery Of Apocalyptic (1970), is much owing to the following:
1. Ernst Käsemann's seminal essay, The Beginnings of Christian Theology (1960), [20] in which "...apocalyptic was rescued from its obscure status as an odd, specialist field in the history of religion..."; [21]
2. The emergence of genre as a central tool of hermeneutical theory; [22]
3. The contributions of the SBL Genres Project (1979) and the International Colloquium on apocalypticism held in Uppsala (1979);
4. The work of David Hellholm including his important essay, The Problem of Apocalyptic Genre and the Apocalypse of John (1982);
5. The scholarly response to the fundamentalist interest in Revelation which was especially heightened during the last decade of our second Christian millennium. [23]
[1] D. E. Aune writes that the subject becomes clearer if apocalypticism is divided into four related aspects: (1) 'apocalyptic eschatology', a system of religious beliefs; (2) 'apocalypticism' and 'millennialism', forms of collective behaviour based on those beliefs; (3) 'apocalypse', a type of literature giving written expression to those beliefs; and (4) 'apocalyptic imagery', the language and conceptions of apocalyptic eschatology found in bits and pieces in a variety of ancient literary setting: David E. Aune, The New Testament in its Literary Environment, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1987), 227.
[2] D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic, (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964), 37.
[3] D. S. Russell's conclusion on this disputed subject in which the role of pseudonymity is finely brought out, appears the best way to proceed, "...the apocalyptist, like the prophet, 'foretold' the purpose of God in his exposition of predictive prophecy. But is there here anything to compare with the prophetic 'forth-telling' in which he declares God's message, not for some far-off distant time, but for that very day and hour? At first sight no such comparison is at all obvious; the apocalyptist's utterances are so often couched in terms of the forecasting of the end. Such a judgement, however, is only an illusion brought about by the curious device of pseudonymity which gives the reader the impression of 'prediction proper' rather than of 'history in the guise of prediction'. This device should not blind us to the fact that, from the point of view of the apocalyptic writers and indeed from the point of view of the original readers, the End was not in some far off time but was imminent": ibid., 99.
[4] Klaus Koch, The Rediscovery of Apocalyptic, (London: SCM Press, 1972), 20.
[5] Also referred to as religio-historical criticism it is a school of interpretation which applies the principles of comparative religion to the study of Early Christianity.
[6] See Adela Yarbro Collins, Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism, (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 1-20; see also John J. Collins, "The Apocalypic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature" (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998).
[7] This is a representative list taken from M. Eugene Boring, Revelation, (Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1989), 38.
[8] Paul D. Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 7f.
[9] See Christopher Rowland, Revelation, (London: Epworth Press, 1993), 18.
[10] H. H. Rowley, The Relevance of Apocalyptic: A Study of Jewish and Christian Apocalypses from Daniel to the Revelation, (London: Athlone, 1944), 15.
[11] Hans Dieter Betz, "On the Problem of the Religio-Historical Understanding of Apocalypticism", Journal for Theology and Church 6, (1969), 134-156.
[12] See David E. Aune, op. cit., Chap. 7; also D. E. Aune, "The Apocalypse of John and Graeco-Roman Revelatory Magic", New Testament Studies 33, (1987).
[13] M. Eugene Boring, op. cit., 38.
[14] Cited by Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, (Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1977), 19.
[15] Hengel calls this "higher wisdom by revelation": Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism Vol. I, (1974), 217.
[16] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of Saint John, (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1966), 10.
[17] D. S. Russell, op. cit., 88.
[18] Walter Schmithals, The Apocalyptic Movement: Introduction & Interpretation, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1975), 14.
[19] Klaus Koch, The Rediscovery of Apocalyptic: A polemical work on a negelected area of biblical studies and its damaging effects on theology and philosophy, (London: SCM Press, [English edn] 1972), 13- 17.
[20] "Die Anfänge christlicher Theologie", Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 57, (1960), 162-185.
[21] Klaus Koch, op. cit., 14.
[22] Now widely accepted and documented as early as 1983 by Grant Osborne, "Genre Criticism- Sensus Literalis", Trinity Journal 4, (1983), 1-27. Importantly Osborne asks whether genre relates to the whole or to the parts as well. His conclusions are balanced, and like Blomberg after him (art. cit.), is concerned with the multiplicity of approaches that have continued unabated to the present. Osborne concludes his paper, which points out the pitfalls of unchecked deconstructionism and the in toto abandoning of the sui generis, by saying, "[g]enre is particularly useful the further the contemporary situation is removed from the ancient culture. It forces one to recognize the proper language game. As such the primary purpose of genre is literary/aesthetic, i.e., it is an epistemological tool for discovering the intended meaning of a text. The apologetic result, i.e., the resolution of seeming discrepancies, is a secondary biproduct of this major goal. Nevertheless, genre is both valid and valuable in this latter enterprise. Genre, as an inherent part of all language, has a transcultural dimension; as an initial part of the hermeneutical task, it is foundational to exegetical theology and thereby to apologetics. We deny that genre criticism may legitimately have priority over Scripture or introduce categories which a priori negate the internal evidence in the historical record of Scripture. Genre cannot be studied in isolation from the other theological-exegetical disciplines. It is one among many tools in the historical-grammatical enterprise, and contributes to the unlocking of the rules of the proper language game in order to trace the text back to its original, intended meaning": Osborne, 27.
[23] For informative discussion on Christian and secular apocalyptic thought and end-times speculation, see Richard Kyle, Awaiting the Millennium: A History of End-Time Thinking, (Leicester: IVP, 1998).
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Michael G. Michael has completed his Doctoral Studies with the Centre for Early Christian Studies (2002)
