Apocalypticism Research Articles

Cynics and Christian Origins (review)

Reviewed by: Cynics and Christian Origins Richard I. Pervo F. Gerald Downing . Cynics and Christian Origins. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1992. Pp. ix + 377. This serves as a synthesis and extension of Gerald Downing's decade of labor on the relevance of ancient Cynicism to early Christianity. Renewed interest in Cynicism has emerged in the course of attention to the historical Jesus and the related investigation of "Q," no longer viewed as a hypothetical synoptic sayings source but as a hypothetical "gospel," the limits, structure, genre, history, and meaning of which deserve analysis. The underlying historical issue is the basic preference of the emergent catholic church for an ethos more like Paul's than that of Jesus. The nineteenth-century liberal quest for the historical Jesus produced many romantic understandings of his ethics. Church historians are aware that such movements are by no means limited to the past one hundred years but represent a recurrent [End Page 62] phenomenon. Specifically, historians of early Christianity are aware that antisocial, ascetic, world-denying manifestations of the faith survived in marginal or heretical groups and became more or less regularized within monasticism. Downing's object is to elucidate this phenomenon within its social and intellectual context. Cynicism supplies the most likely context—and a bag full of problems. Although the movement was of great duration, it lacked formal organizations, like the Academy, generally disdained "schools" of even the ancient sort, and had no formal dogmatics. Furthermore, it had two major wings, a "harsh" kind of tradition that nearly everyone reviled, and a "gentle" embodiment from which nearly everyone cribbed. Finally, one may ask, how does Cynicism fit into rural, first-century Galilee? M.-O.Goulet-Cazé has clarified the problem of description (ANRW II 36.4, 2720-2823). While scholars have been challenging such oppositions as "Hellenistic" and "Jewish," archaeologists have been revealing a Galilee deeply immersed in an urban network. Granting these advances, Downing must still face the problems of identifying and evaluating "influences" and "parallels." Even those inclined to dispute his conclusions must admit that he is quite explicit about his methods and the texts he selects, that his research comprehends a full range of primary and secondary works, that he dodges no problems, and that he recognizes the difficulties. The conclusion is that "from very early days Christianity looked like a variant of a popular . . . Cynicism, and that this Cynic strand went on being obvious and entirely acceptable to informed Christian writers in the early centuries . . ." (p. 302). One must read the book to appreciate the strength of his case. Downing's repeated emphasis upon the lack of embarrassment relates to his program for contemporary church and society. His focus upon how others might see at least some early Christians is historically apposite. Much criticism of early Christianity's effort to inculcate virtue in men and women of every status, as well as its exhibitionism and disrespect for social convention and structure, closely resembles what critics had to say about at least some Cynics. The two most formidable obstacles to this comparison are religion and dogma, both of which aroused considerable Cynic ire. Much of the prophetic element of emergent Christianity, as well as the missions of John the Baptizer and others, is quite congenial to a Cynic perspective and model. Eschatology, specifically apocalyptic eschatology, is not. (At this point I should note that some students of the Jesus tradition, such as J. D. Crossan, regard the historical Jesus as anti-apocalyptic, but do accept the Cynic strains.) Downing's solution to the question of eschatology is not very convincing. On religion in general he can show that both Cynics and Christians were contemptuous of conventional religion, but the root problem is more basic: prior to c. 250 there was little in the Greco-Roman world that would conform to our understanding of a religion. Comparison with philosophy was normal in descriptions of Judaism and early Christianity. Lucian mocks miracle and exorcism (e.g., Philopseudes) without mentioning Christians. When he does use the term, it is in conjunction with Epicureans (Alexander the False Prophet) and, of course, in his story of the Cynic Peregrinus. In terms of ancient models, Downing...

Kerby-Fulton, K., Reformist Apocalypticism and Piers Plowman

Kerby-Fulton, K., Reformist Apocalypticism and Piers Plowman

Review: Reformist Apocalypticism and Piers Plowman

Review: Reformist Apocalypticism and Piers Plowman

Apocalypticism and the Psalter

Apocalypticism and the Psalter

The Defeat of Death: Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5

The Defeat of Death: Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5

The Revelation to John: A Case Study in Apocalyptic Propaganda and the Maintenance of Sectarian Identity

Sociologists of religion and biblical scholars often define the function of apocalpyses and apocalyptic eschatology as a means of comforting the oppressed, a form of otherworldly theodicy in Berger's terminology. Careful scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the writing and transmission of the Revelation of John leads to another possibility - apocalyptic literature and ideology may serve as a call to action and to protest of the dominant societal institutions and values. In this study, I examine the tensions weighing on the Christian communities at the close of the first century C.E. and explore Revelation's interaction with these circumstances, particularly the imperial cult, as a summons to the churches to choose a path that will maintain the integrity of the subgroup's boundaries. Rather than comfort the disenfranchised, Revelation appears to have set the Christians on a course of action that would lead to ultimate disenfranchisement. Apocalpytic literature here displays itself as revolutionary in character and intention.

Book Review: Reformist Apocalypticism and Piers Plowman

Book Review: <i>Reformist Apocalypticism and</i> Piers Plowman

Adémar of Chabannes, Apocalypticism and the Peace Council of Limoges of 1031

Comme la credibilite des materiaux fournis par Ademar sur le Concile de Limoges se revele tres fragile, il faut en user avec la plus grande prudence. Ils constituent la source principale pour le mouvement de Paix de Dieu en Aquitaine et, dans le contexte de son oeuvre, nous font comprendre sa conception de la Paix : associee a l'Alpha, la paix apportee par le Christ et repandue par ses apotres, elle prefigure la paix eternelle, l'Omega, qu'Ademar considerait comme tout proche

Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross

ANCIENT ISRAELITE RELIGIONEssays in Honor of Frank Moore CrossA distinguished tribute to a truly distinguished scholar and teacher.-Catholic Biblical QuarterlyAlthough the Hebrew Bible serves as the main source of knowledge of ancient Israelite religion, much additional information comes from the material and written remains uncovered in the archaeological investigations of the Ancient Near East. In this volume, internationally renowned scholars examine all of these sources in order to present the most impressive, comprehensive study of ancient Israelite religion yet to appear.The EditorsPATRICK D. MILLER is Professor of Old Testament Theology Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. His books include Interpreting the Psalms (1986) and They Cried to the Lord (1994), both published by Fortress Press. PAUL D. HANSON is Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of The Dawn of Apocalyptic: The Historical & Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology (1984) and the editor of several volumes in the Hermeneia series, all published by Fortress Press.S. DEAN McBRIDE is Cyrus H. McCormick Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. He is an author and editor for the Hermeneia series published by Fortress Press.

Prophecy, Eroticism, and Apocalypticism in Popular Music: Prince

Prophecy, Eroticism, and Apocalypticism in Popular Music: Prince

The ‘Our Father’ in Matthew as Apocalyptic Eschatology

The ‘Our Father’ in Matthew as Apocalyptic Eschatology

The Nature of Paul's Early Eschatology

It is fairly common today to explain the development of New Testament thought along the lines of an early fixation on the future and progressive shifts brought about by the parousia's delay. On such a view, it was apocalyptic eschatology that dominated Paul's outlook in his early days, while soteriology, christology, ecclesiology and ethics came to assume importance only later. Few scholars, of course, lay out Paul's thought quite so explicitly as that. Yet it is something like that which has become fairly fixed in the minds of many.

Apocalypticism and Mourning in Beowolf

Apocalypticism and Mourning in Beowolf

The Dawn of Apocalyptic. The Historical and Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology

The Dawn of Apocalyptic. The Historical and Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology

Theological Diversity in the Letters of St. Paul

By J. W. Drane. Diversity between realised and apocalyptic eschatology in Paul’s letters provides evidence that Paul's thought did not develop in any formal way; both perspectives are clearly visible from the outset.

Zechariah 9 and the Recapitulation of an Ancient Ritual Pattern

TIVELY discussion currently is being carried on over the question of the sources of Jewish apocalyptic. Zechariah 9 should be introduced into that discussion as a composition betraying one sphere of influence which was of vast significance in the emergence of apocalyptic eschatology from its roots iru ciassical prophecy, viz., the sphere of archaic ritual forms. Tracing ultimately to the ritual of ancient Near Eastern myth, these forms were mediated by the league and especially the royal cult of Jerusalem, being absorbed into the complex stream which we call apocalyptic from the sixth century on. Nevertheless, this chapter has been denied its important message by a phenomenon not uncommon in biblical research, the repeated application of a method of interpretation which, while yielding satisfactory results elsewhere, simply does not apply to the material at hand. For over a century biblical scholars have persisted in dating and interpreting Zechariah 9 on the basis of alleged historical allusions, especially the military campaign in vss. 1-7 and reference to the sons of Yawan in vs. 13. For hundreds of pages arguments have been advanced, with equal persuasiveness, for an htstorical setting during the reign of Hezekiah, Josiah, Tiglath-pileser, Sargon, Alexander, or the Alaccabees.l The flaw in this line of interpretation is methodological: the genre of the composition has been perceived incorrectly, and thus an inappropriate method of interpretation has been applied; in short, a Di-

Cult and Eschatology in the Apocalypse of John

Previous articleNext article No AccessCult and Eschatology in the Apocalypse of JohnLeonard ThompsonLeonard Thompson Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 49, Number 4Oct., 1969 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/486191 Views: 69Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1969 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Katerina G. Kudryavtseva Mythological Motifs in the Apocrypha of the Second Temple Period and Revelation of St. John, Observatory of Culture , no.11 (Feb 2015): 118–125.https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2015-0-1-118-125Stephen Pattemore The People of God in the Apocalypse, 30 (Sep 2009).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511488153

The Passing of Apocalypticism

The Passing of Apocalypticism