Apocalyptic Literature Research Articles

Violence and apocalyptic notions in Mark 13

Mark 13 is famously known as the most challenging text in the entire Markan gospel. In Mark 13:7–8, the Markan Jesus foretells a tumultuous period marked by wars, rumours of wars, nations in conflict and natural hazards, aligning with common motifs in apocalyptic literature. The language vividly depicts a world in upheaval, emphasising cosmic and earthly disturbances as harbingers of climactic historical moments. The destruction of the temple, announced in Mark 13:2, is subject to both literal and symbolic interpretations, with some associating it with the historical event of the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 CE and others perceiving it as a symbol of the end of an age. Approaching Mark 13 without being triggered by violent connotations is unthinkable. Hence, responsible interpretation is pivotal in addressing such potentially violent connotations, particularly considering contemporary world conflicts. Sensitivity, without compromising the truth of the message of Mark 13, is crucial when considering the text’s impact on war-torn communities. This applies both to a reading that simulates the possible intention of the text within the context in which the Gospel, according to Mark, originated and to a historically informed use of such a reading considering contemporary conflicts. This study aims to employ a historiographical hermeneutic as an investigative tool to contribute a plausible understanding of the present text and avoid utilising this text as proof to promote violence and wars today. Especially, when one considers the recent catastrophes: natural hazards, civil unrest and wars across the world. Some are quick to utilise the Olivet discourse to explain such gruesome activities.Contribution: This study contextualizes Mark 13 within the 1st century CE, focusing on the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 CE. It promotes a sensitive interpretation, avoiding justifications for contemporary violence, and highlights the text’s relevance by drawing parallels between its turmoil and current global conflicts, encouraging ethical reflection.

A influência da Escola de Ezequiel em Daniel 10

The relationship between the book of Daniel and prophetism has been studied for a long time. Initially, Lücke considered apocalyptic literature to be a late development of the prophetic spirit, but this idea was later challenged by Von Rad, who suggested that the apocalypse had origins in wisdom traditions. Despite this, Daniel makes reference to texts from Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which weakens Von Rad's theory. This article aims to show the influence of prophetic literature on Daniel's apocalyptic literature, from a linguistic and worldview point of view. A comparative analysis will show these influences, as there are parallels that reveal a dependent relationship between the book of Daniel and the book of Ezekiel. In this article we highlight an example with Daniel 10 and some chapters of the text of the Prophet of Ezekiel.

ISLAMIC APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE AND EXTREMISM: CONTEXTUAL READING OF HADITHS ON THE MAHDI WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI LANKA

Like any other religious community, the apocalyptic literature in Muslim society has become a source of pessimism instead of optimism. The extremists who conducted a series of suicide attacks on religious places and hotels in Sri Lanka in 2019 justified their violent activities, referring to apocalyptic literature that prophesied the advance of Mahdi. These extremists misunderstood the hadiths on the Mahdi and intended to create instability in the world to accelerate his coming to resolve the present issues of Muslims. This research studied the relevant hadiths quoted by the extremists to kill innocent people and explored their meaning. The contextual analysis method has been employed to extract the meaning of these hadiths. This research shows that the extremists have misinterpreted these hadiths and used the Islamic apocalyptic literature out of context. The socio-political context of the usage of these hadiths further elaborates the change that has taken place in the understanding of their purpose throughout history. Therefore, this research recommends that Muslim religious and social leaders review interpretation traditions and educate young people to adopt socio-political and historical contexts to understand Islamic apocalyptic literature, mainly hadiths, to protect young people from extremism and radicalism.

Kings from the Sun: Usages of an Eastern title in the Sibylline Oracles and related material

The title “King from the Sun”—in the sense of a deliverance royal figure that will come from the Sun—appears repeatedly within apocalyptic literature throughout varied historic periods, albeit in slightly different depictions. We shall consider for this analysis how coming “from the Sun” and “from the East” are not synonymous and how the personalities, so to speak, of these anointed kings in the sources differ from one another. The present article examines and compares the usage and significance of the title in the Sibylline Oracles (Sib. Or. 3.652-656 and Sib. Or. 13.147-171) and in other oracular texts from the Hellenistic and the Roman periods (the Oracle of the Potter, which is Egyptian and Apoc. El. (C) 2.44-46, which is not a Sib. Or. passage). This parallel is drawn not only due to the fact that we are dealing with different primary materials, but also because in each case a different referent is intended—the “King from the Sun” is a different savior in each of the texts examined.

La autoría ficticia de Juan Unay

This paper reflects on the question of fictional authorship based on the case of the Libro de los grandes hechos, an apocalyptic text circulated in Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese during the fifteenth century. All versions attribute its creation to a supposed visionary friar of the order of the “Sancti Spiritus” named Juan Unay (or similar). However, no other documents on this figure exist. To analyze this problem from both theoretical and practical perspectives, I will organize the paper in three sections. First, I will introduce two general approaches with which to address the study of authorship in the field of medieval apocalyptic literature. Secondly, I will explore the different hypotheses developed by specialists regarding the authorship of the Libro de los grandes hechos. Finally, I will propose my own interpretation of the identity of Juan Unay with the help of Umberto Eco’s concept of the “model author.”

The Old Testament in Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature

The Old Testament in Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature

Apocalypse Memories and the Continuing Relevance of Apocalyptic Literature in the Modern World

This article examines the continuing popularity and popularisation of apocalyptic texts in modern literature, taking as a case study the novel Apocalypse Memories based on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This text seeks to demonstrate that a spoofy-horror-teen novella such as Apocalypse Memories can be examined and questioned in a way that tells us a lot about the evolution and fundamental appeal of eschatological texts and humanity’s constant fascination with the idea of the End. To do so this article investigates Frank Kermode’s theories on apocalyptic literature as set out in his seminal work The Sense of an Ending while examining elements from the Book of Revelation which introduces the ancient religious concept of the apocalypse. I argue that the eschatological inspiration illustrates the continual appeal for the apocalypse and reveals something fundamental about human nature.

시간의 시작과 끝을 너머 새로운 지평으로

This paper endeavors to elucidate the semiotic, morphological, and historical observations of some Hebrew vocabularies signifying the commencement and culmination of time and space, in the context of the era of return marked by the widespread dissemination of apocalyptic literature and eschatological worldview. The early period of the return, following the exile, stands as one of the most theologically fertile phases in ancient Israel’s history. During this time, the Hebrew language evolved to become more multilayered and diversified, coinciding with the spread of apocalyptic and eschatological thought.
 Upon scrutinizing such terminology, it becomes evident that ancient Israel, within the purview of apocalyptic eschatology, embraced and assimilated foreign linguistic elements on the one hand, while reinterpreting and infusing distinctive expressions with signification on the other. Some terms like קץand אחרית, for example, signifying the end of time, and ראשית,ראש,קדם, representing the beginning of time, reveal the theological development during this era in multilayered ways. New terminology that crosses the the boundaries of time and space also emerged during the era of return. ‘Island’(אי) signifies Israel’s expansion of awareness beyond geographical limits. Additionally, the loanword סוף, imported Aramaic term, clearly denoted the end of eschatological time, while the Persian loanword פרדס did not yield such meaning. This multifaceted and diversified nature reveals that the documents of ancient Israel were shaped through continuous dialogue and interchange with external influences.

The Providential Genocides: Racial Survival and Acts of God in Fin-de-Siècle Apocalyptic Fiction

This paper focuses on three narratives from the popular press during the boom in apocalyptic literature at the turn of the twentieth century: George Griffith’s Olga Romanoff (1894), Robert Barr’s “Within an Ace of the End of the World” (1900), and M. P. Shiel’s The Purple Cloud (1901). In all three texts, a catastrophic event causes the near extinction of humanity, and the event is inscribed in a religious narrative wherein humanity’s moral failings justify the cataclysm. In these texts, the survivors are European or descended from Europeans, such that post-apocalyptic humanity is exclusively White; all racial Others are depicted as unworthy of divine protection, or even as worthy of divine destruction. The survivors of these disasters fuse social Darwinism and theology to present themselves as racially superior and thus divinely favoured, compared to the deceased. The providential genocide significantly alters ethical ramifications by ensuring that racial elimination does not occur because of deliberate actions on the part of characters, sparing them from any culpability; instead, racial cleansing is presented as God’s will. This sets up a White exclusivist racial utopia free of moral stain, although the persistence of racial ideology into the apocalypse can undermine the utopian sentiment.

Jihad after the Fall of IS – Reframing the Apocalyptic Narrative

This study analyzes the use of apocalyptic frames by jihadist groups and how they have been developing after the fall of IS. It contextualizes these developments in the history of Muslim apocalyptic though and literature. After describing the apocalyptic narrative in the hadith literature and in the Quran, as well as the differences between classical and modern apocalyptic literature, the study analyzes differences in how jihadist groups have used apocalyptic framing of their fight. Finally, using interview data, the study analyzes how the Salafi-jihadist environment in Sweden has started to reframe the apocalyptic narrative after the military defeat of IS.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Apocalyptic Thought

Abstract Apocalyptic literature has been designated as “crisis literature” and as a “form of protest against society” by some interpreters. This essay explores Martin Luther King Jr.’s reception and use of apocalyptic literature and thought in his sermons and writings. In doing so, it examines how King appropriates this literature as well as apocalyptic motifs to speak about the significance of African American history and to protest racism in American society. Such an analysis provides insight into the ongoing importance of the protest and crisis features of these apocalyptic texts. Moreover, the apocalyptic facets of King’s work have never been analyzed from a biblical studies perspective and this essay highlights the significance of these dimensions for his social justice work.

‘An Industrial Revelation’ – The Political Apocalyptic in Gaskell’s North and South

Abstract This essay examines the religious contents of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1854–1855 novel, North and South, within the context of Apocalyptic literary traditions from Antiquity, and in the literary and historical contexts accessible to Victorians. Inviting this comparison is the character Bessy Higgins, a terminally ill factory seamstress who quotes the Book of Revelation and reports prophetic dreams of some actual merit. By placing this anachronistically apocalyptic voice amid the working poor of her industrial urban setting, Gaskell effects a return to the original political function of the Apocalyptic genre: the vindication of a disenfranchised underclass. Drawing upon examples from Christian and pre-Christian Antiquity, this essay establishes the generic features of Apocalyptic literature as they pertain to its political function, and identifies key points at which Gaskell’s text aligns with them. Though Gaskell does not replicate the genre’s form in full, North and South being a novel rather than a dream-vision, she nonetheless uses the character Bessy to incorporate apocalyptic concepts, images, arguments, and rhetoric into her otherwise realistic narrative of nineteenth-century class struggle. The result, coded in layers of Biblical reference, is an indictment of the capitalist class, comparing them to the sinners who temporarily inherit the Earth in the Apocalypse of John, after the righteous have been purged from it. The final part of this essay further contextualizes Bessy Higgins within the Methodist traditions contemporary to North and South, and within Gaskell’s intersecting religious and political views.

“The Abomination of Desolation”: Eastern Christian Apocalyptic Literature and the Symbolic Construction of Islam

This article focuses on the Christian apocalyptic literature that was produced as a specific reaction to the emergence of Islam and the consolidation of the Islamic rule in the Eastern provinces of Byzantium. The discussion examines how these texts re-cycled, used and manipulated long established cultural stereotypes, biblical exegetical topoi and traditional apocalyptic motifs in order to construct an image of the Muslims as the symbolic “Other”.

Yeṣer ha-Raʻ and Original Sin

Many modern rabbis insist that original sin was invented by St. Paul, and that it does not have a Jewish antecedent. Instead, rabbinic Judaism explains human evil in terms of “yeṣer ha-raʻ,” “the evil inclination.” But evidence from Second Temple period wisdom and apocalyptic literature suggests that ideas like Paul’s were indeed common in certain quarters of Jewish thought in the first century. Paul’s doctrine of original sin draws from an assortment of Old Testament texts. What seems novel in Romans 5 is essentially an aspect of his apocalyptic vision. Rabbinic texts from the Mishnah onwards intentionally suppress this apocalyptic account of original sin. Instead of original sin, rabbinic doctrine posits the yeṣer ha-raʻ as the explanation for human wickedness. This is an innate aspect of human nature. But it is something that good discipline, and especially the practice of Torah, can amend. Some aspects of Pauline teaching actually run parallel to these later texts pertaining to the yeṣer ha-raʻ, as well. In particular, his use of sarx seems to be a theological cognate to this concept of an evil inclination.

"By an Immediate Revelation": Studies in Apocalypticism by Christopher Rowland

Reviewed by: "By an Immediate Revelation": Studies in Apocalypticism by Christopher Rowland Francis J. Moloney christopher rowland, "By an Immediate Revelation": Studies in Apocalypticism, Its Origins and Effects (WUNT 473; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022). Pp xiii + 861. €229. Christopher Rowland was the Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1991 till 2014. His doctoral dissertation at the University of Cambridge (1975) focused on the influence of the vision of the first chapters of the prophet Ezekiel on Judaism and early Christianity. It resulted in his influential book The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982). The present large collection continues to reflect on and develop these themes. R. shares his conviction and experience that apocalypticism continues to exercise a transforming power in an unjust society. An opening essay sets the theme and describes the genesis and ongoing importance of R.'s views on apocalypticism ("By an Immediate Revelation: Studies in Apocalypticism, Its Origins and Effects; Rationale and Retrospect," pp. 1–27). R. then divides the studies into five sections. Section 1, "The Nature of Apocalypticism" contains "The Visions of God in Apocalyptic Literature" (pp. 29–45); "Apocalyptic Literature and Scripture" (pp. 46–63); [End Page 374] "Apocalyptic: The Discourse of Heavenly Knowledge" (pp. 64–84); "'A Man Clothed in White Linen': Daniel 10:6ff. and Jewish Angelology" (pp. 85–96); "The Book of Daniel and the Radical Critique of Empire: An Essay in Apocalyptic Hermeneutics" (pp. 97–113); "'A Door Opened in Heaven': A Comparative Study of the Character of Visionary Experience in Ancient Judaism and Christianity [with Patricia Gibbons and Vincente Dobroruka]" (pp. 114–30); "Apocalyptic Literature" (pp. 131–50); "Mysticism Recorded: Text, Scripture and Parascripture" (pp. 151–65); and "'The Heavens Were Opened and I Saw Visions of God': The Open Heaven – Nearly Four Decades On" (pp. 166–84). Section 2, "Apocalyptic, Eschatological and Related Themes in the New Testament" offers the following articles: "The Vision of the Risen Christ in Revelation 1:13ff.: The Debt of an Early Christology to an Aspect of Jewish Angelology" (pp. 185–94); "Apocalyptic Visions and the Exaltations of Christ in the Letter to the Colossians" (pp. 195–203); "John 1:51, Jewish Apocalyptic and Targumic Tradition" (pp. 204–14); "Keeping Alive the Dangerous Vision of a World of Peace and Justice" (pp. 215–25); "The Parting of the Ways: The Evidence of Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic and Mystical Material" (pp. 226–51); "Apocalyptic, the Poor and the Gospel of Matthew" (pp. 252–65); "Apocalyptic, Mysticism and the New Testament" (pp. 266–89); "The Lamb and the Beast, the Sheep and the Goats: 'The Mystery of Salvation' in Revelation" (pp. 290–99); "Apocalypse, Prophecy and the New Testament" (pp. 300–315); "The Temple in the New Testament" (pp. 316–30); "Prophecy and the New Testament" (pp. 331–49); "'Intimations of Apocalyptic': The Perspective of the History of Interpretation" (pp. 350–63); "Joachim of Fiore and the Theology of the New Testament" (pp. 364–80); "The Apocalypse: Sensitivity and Outsiders" (pp. 381–95); "The Book of Revelation: The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ" (pp. 396–411); "Paul as an Apocalyptist" (pp. 412–35); "'Eschatology Properly Understood, and Acted On': A Perspective on Eschatology in Honour of Andrew Chester" (pp. 436–48); "Why Albert Schweitzer's Writing on the New Testament Is So Important" (pp. 449–60); and "'Diversely and in Many Ways God Spoke by the Prophets': The Perspectives of the New Testament and the Texts and Images of William Blake on the 'Prophetic Word'" (pp. 461–76). Section 3, "The Reception of Apocalypticism and Its Significance" includes "Apocalypse and Violence: The Evidence from the Reception History of the Book of Revelation" (pp. 477–92); "English Radicals and the Exegesis of the Apocalypse" (pp. 493–509); "Imagining the Apocalypse" (pp. 510–28); "Tyconius and Bede on Violent Texts in the Apocalypse (with Ian Boxall)" (pp. 529–46); "'By an Immediate Revelation … by the Voice of His Own Spirit to My Soul': A Perspective from Reception History on the New Testament and Antinomianism" (pp. 547–69); "The Reception of the Book of Revelation: An Overview" (pp. 570–92...

The Prophets of Israel: Walking the Ancient Paths by James K. Hoffmeier

Reviewed by: The Prophets of Israel: Walking the Ancient Paths by James K. Hoffmeier John A. Beck james k. hoffmeier, The Prophets of Israel: Walking the Ancient Paths (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2021). Pp. 398. $49.99. James K. Hoffmeier's experiences as a field archaeologist couple with forty years of teaching Hebrew exegesis and the prophets to deliver this masterly treatment of prophecy and prophetic literature in the Hebrew Bible. Hoffmeier sees the prophets of the Hebrew Bible as divinely sent guides who superintend the spiritual health of the Lord's people by measuring conformity with the directions found in the Sinai covenant. The goal of this publication is to lay the foundation for a sound understanding of biblical prophets and a sound reading of the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. Such competent reading requires an understanding of the various contexts of the communication event. Consequently, the author links the prophets and prophetic texts with the geopolitical realities that reside behind the texts, offers cultural insights derived from literary and archaeological sources, and attends to the role that geography plays in making the texts of the prophets meaningful. This includes sensitivity to the connotations that become linked to places—the way people think and feel about a place given what happened there before. Hoffmeier develops his discussion of the prophets and their literature over eight chapters, most averaging sixty pages in length. Chapter 1 animates the study with a general introduction to the idea of prophecy and prophets as conceived in the ancient Near East and evidenced in the language of the OT. For readers of the Bible, the prophet was a "proclaimer of divine revelations" (p. 23). Many were "personal chaplains to the rulers" putting them in "an ideal position to record the acts of the kings and comment on their fidelity to God's law" (p. 21). They were intercessors whose task was "to bring people back to a right relationship with God vis-à-vis the covenant" (p. 43). In chap. 2, H. offers a wonderful overview of the prophets of the OT who are not depicted as writing or whose writings have not survived. These are the so-called nonliterary prophets. We find such prophets active in most OT eras. They include Deborah, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Shemaiah, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and a host of male and female prophets whose names are not preserved in the texts. With the idea of prophets and prophecy firmly placed before the reader, H. moves chronologically and geographically, treating the writing prophets who share a given era and context. Chapter 3 treats the eighth-century prophets of Israel; chap. 4, the eighth-century prophets of Judah; chap. 5, the seventh- and sixth-century prophets of Judah; chap. 6, the prophets of the Babylonian exile; chap. 7, the postexilic prophets; and chap. 8, the prophets [End Page 339] of the NT. In each of these chapters, H. identifies the key issue or issues that need attention, provides copious quotations of the prophetic texts to illustrate how such issues are raised and addressed by the language of the book itself, illustrates the organization of the book and its movement of thought, all the while addressing the various types of historical, cultural, and geographical background that sharpen understanding of the messaging. Each chapter includes sidebars that offer insight on topics like the use of the bow and arrow as symbol, NT citations from Isaiah, Jeremiah's travels to Egypt, and apocalyptic literature. Finally, each chapter closes with a set of discussion questions that invite the reader to recall key elements of the chapter's presentation and solicits thought beyond the bounds of what the author said. This publication stands apart from others in a variety of ways. Given H.'s scholarly credentials, this book could have been written with a depth that made it inaccessible to the nonspecialist. That is not the case. The book has a narrative-like quality, written in clear prose that flows logically throughout. Page-spreads are beautifully composed with photographs, maps, and illustrations that further illustrate the insights the author is delivering. In short, this is a highly accessible book. I can see...

The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature, edited by Colin McAllister

The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature, edited by Colin McAllister

The World and the Desert: A Comparative Perspective on the "Apocalypse" between Buddhism and Christianity

abstract: In this essay, the concept of apocalypse, understood as the "end of the world," will be examined within the context of ancient Buddhism and Christianity. The study will focus on the genealogy and use of expressions such as lokanta, lokassa anta ṃ, and lokassa atthaṅgama , as found in the Pāli canon of Buddhism, going on to compare them with Jewish, as well as early Christian, apocalyptic literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Epistles of James and Jude, and the Gospels. The goal of this article is to identify points of convergence in the history of these two concepts of apocalypse, foregrounding the central role within both traditions of analogous socio-cultural circumstances that were actually more influential than their respective doctrinal visions. The essay will argue how the ascetic character of early Buddhism and Christianity, reflecting their opposition to the surrounding social order, contributed to the emergence of similar apocalyptic visions.

Схождение Инанны и похищение Персефоны: очерк о двух литературных источниках о мифах смерти и возрождения

The article deals with two literary works originating from two highly distinct traditions: ancient Sumerian and Greek. Despite their different origins, the two works in question, “The Descent of Inana to the Underworld” and Homeric Hymn “To Demeter”, share several key features, which thematically connect them to Greek Mystery cults: topics of death and possibility of salvation, mysteries of the underworld, which can be transcended by means of initiation rites, aetiological connection between the death and rebirth of a fertility deity and agricultural fertility of the land. Based on the assumption that these two sources can be identified as apocalypses and given the widespread correlation between formal literary complexity and philosophical (or theological) depth found in apocalyptic literature (especially in Judeo-Christian tradition), this paper seeks to establish the same correlation in Greco-Sumerian and, more precisely, Eleusinian milieu. However, the final analyses proves the opposite of the initial hypothesized conclusion.

“Who Knows What We’d Make of It, If We Ever Got Our Hands on It?” The Bible and Margaret Atwood ed. by Rhiannon Graybill and Peter J. Sabo

Reviewed by: “Who Knows What We’d Make of It, If We Ever Got Our Hands on It?” The Bible and Margaret Atwood ed. by Rhiannon Graybill and Peter J. Sabo Shuli Barzilai Rhiannon Graybill and Peter J. Sabo, eds., “Who Knows What We’d Make of It, If We Ever Got Our Hands on It?” The Bible and Margaret Atwood. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2020. xiii + 421 pp. The reiterated “It” in the main title of this book is identified in the subtitle: The Bible. Among its varied functions in Atwood’s writings, the Bible may represent a dangerous object, to be kept under lock and key from unauthorized readers. The referents of the reiterated “We” in the book title are such forbidden (mostly female) readers. Thus in Atwood’s dystopian 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, rather than regarding the Bible as a sacred text to be communally shared and interpreted, the totalitarian rulers of Gilead recognize its potential to undermine their hegemony. The narrator Offred’s ironic question — “Who knows what we’d make of it, if we ever got our hands on it?” — underscores her subjugation in Gilead as a “handmaid,” a two-legged womb, who is not allowed to read and write, even while designating the insubordinate thoughts that the regime has not succeeded in quelling or eradicating. In contrast to the Bible oppressively interpreted and utilized in Handmaid’s Tale, the Bible encompasses many texts for Atwood. As Rhiannon Graybill and Peter Sabo observe at the outset of their introductory essay, “The work of Margaret Atwood is full of Bibles” (1). Her biblically literate reach extends not only to the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament but also to non-canonical texts. Atwood got her hands on it/them, so to speak, from the beginning of her decades- long career. As the contributors to The Bible and Margaret Atwood fully demonstrate, Atwood’s Bibles, including apocalyptic literature, provide a continual source of inspiration, appearing in multiple explicit references and allusions throughout her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Moreover, biblical texts are made to do different types of narrative work and perform wide-ranging functions. Atwood draws upon the Bible for themes, motifs, (in)tangible objects, storylines, subtexts, and more. The essays collected here substantiate the extraordinary frequency and variability of her uses of the Bible. However, despite the critical discussion surrounding Atwood’s works as well as the media attention focused on her public persona, this significant aspect of her literary production has been largely under-examined and neglected to date. The Bible and Margaret Atwood identifies and fills a gap in the existing scholarship. In addition to the editors’ excellent “Introduction” and “Afterword,” the collection contains fifteen essays equally divided among five parts. Each part bears the name of an Atwoodian work or phrase: “Surfacing,” “In Other Worlds,” “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down,” “Scales and Tails,” and “Negotiating with the Dead.” [End Page 173] The three essays presented in Part One, “Surfacing,” exemplify the informative and often innovative analyses presented in this collection. The section opens with Hannah Strømmen’s overview, “‘Always a Potent Object’?: The Shifting Role of the Bible in Margaret Atwood’s Novels,” which persuasively shows that from The Edible Woman (1969) to The Testaments (2019) Atwood’s fiction has reflected a variety of attitudes and approaches to the Bible in the modern world. Along with the secularizing trends that characterize contemporary culture, her novels also present the Bible as a powerful and potent factor on disparate individual, sociopolitical, and ideological levels. Strømmen’s definitive summation is corroborated by many of the essays that follow: “As Atwood’s characters find themselves constrained by different scripts — sexist, classist, nationalist, religious — their fictional lives demonstrate the possibilities of resisting and rewriting these scripts, sometimes through a rewriting of scripture itself” (49). In “Margaret Atwood’s Survival as Prophetic Canadian Nation-Building,” Sara Parks and Anna Cwikla assess Atwood’s impact as an expressly Canadian writer. Her early critical work revealed or even discovered a national literary pattern: an obsession with survival both in the literal sense, given Canada’s vast harsh wilderness, and in the sense of self...