Apocalyptic Material Research Articles

On the Emergence of the Iranian Apocalypse Between the Sixth and Seventh Centuries

The Iranian apocalyptic texts belong to the body of Pahlavi literature that was written in the ninth and tenth centuries. While most scholarship points to the early Islamic reworking and redaction of these apocalyptic accounts, which is clearly evident in the overlapping narratives, various late Sasanian historical and apocalyptic material still seems to be detectable. This article reassesses the identification of some Iranian apocalyptic figures, in order to discuss the origin of some literary models that were likely shared with some coeval neighboring traditions. It will thereby situate the emergence of Iranian apocalyptic ideas between the end of the sixth to the first decades of the seventh century.

Ezekiel 38–48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

Ezekiel 38–48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

Book Review: End of Days: An Encyclopedia of the Apocalypse in World Religion

Wendell G. Johnson, editor of End of Days: An Encyclopedia of the Apocalypse in World Religion (EOD), provides an excellent collection of essays related to various eschatological (study of the end of times) views. The purpose of EOD is fourfold: to provide readers with an overview of apocalyptic themes; to place popular apocalyptic motifs within their appropriate historical context; to enable a more complete appreciation and understanding of the presence of apocalyptic material in popular culture, literature, and the arts; and to present information in a single volume that will serve researchers in a variety of contexts (xii–xiii). Through the contributors of this work, Johnson exceeds these goals and provides a superb resource that will be a welcome addition to any library collection.

Al-Ḥabasha in Miṣr and the End of the World: Early Islamic Egyptian Apocalypse Narratives Related to Abyssinia

Abstract This paper deals with the representation of al-Ḥabasha (Abyssinia) in the apocalyptic texts written in early Islam and the importance of Egyptian scholars in the transmission of this material. The historical background of this literature and the political context of its writing shows a strong Yemeni influence, related to the struggle between the kingdoms of Ḥimyar and Axum in the sixth century CE. One could ask if Muslim sholars from Fustat, the new Islamic capital of Egypt, enacted a “coll ective memory” by borrowing apocalyptic material from Christian literature, as well as fragments from the pre-Islamic history of Yemen.

Dreams, Riddles, and Visions: Textual, Contextual, and Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel by Michael Segal

Reviewed by: Dreams, Riddles, and Visions: Textual, Contextual, and Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel by Michael Segal Malka Z. Simkovich Michael Segal. Dreams, Riddles, and Visions: Textual, Contextual, and Intertextual Approaches to the Book of Daniel. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 455. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016. 248 pp. The book of Daniel is often studied as two independent halves that derive from distinct historical contexts. Daniel 1–6 is usually viewed as part of the “Jew in a Gentile’s Court” stories from the Persian period, while Daniel 7–12 is considered representative of the emerging apocalyptic material that was developed over the second half of the Second Temple period. Michael Segal’s recent contribution to the study of Daniel, however, shows that as a whole, the book interacts with biblical material by incorporating themes in prophetic passages into the [End Page 202] Danielic stories. Such incorporation implies that the authors of Daniel believed that the events recorded or alluded to in Daniel were the fulfillment of prophetic predictions. By exploring the ways the authors of Daniel drew on biblical material and used it to understand Jewish life under Persian rule, Segal offers a compelling new perspective on Daniel’s place in scriptural tradition. Segal uses the term “narrativization” to refer to narrative texts that draw on themes that appear in earlier nonnarrative biblical texts. He posits that the authors of Daniel used narrativization to advance polemical arguments, such as the idea that the restoration of the Judean community and its temple was a fulfillment of the earlier prophets’ predictions. The author of Daniel 5, for example, makes this point by narrativizing material from Isaiah 21 in a way that suggests that the speaker of this passage is not Isaiah, but the king of Babylonia. Segal’s opening study of Daniel 1 demonstrates how this chapter establishes the exilic setting and the major themes that will recur throughout the book. He argues that the first chapter comprises two originally independent units, a unit that now makes up the outer “frame” of the chapter concerning Daniel’s training in the royal court, and a narrative unit in the middle of the chapter regarding Daniel’s dietary restrictions. These narratives were later woven together, which accounts for certain exegetical difficulties in the chapter. Segal’s analysis of Daniel 2 establishes his focus on how early biblical stories influenced the writers of Daniel. According to Segal, the bulk of Daniel 2 was influenced by the Joseph stories in Genesis, but differences between the Joseph stories and Daniel 2:15–24a, as well as the fact that Daniel 2:14 and 2:24 have Daniel approaching Arioch twice, indicate that Daniel 2:15–24a was added by a later writer. Segal suggests that this section was written as a parallel to Daniel 7. The parallels between these chapters reflect a contrast between God and Antiochus that indicate that Antiochus’s rule will ultimately be nullified by God. Segal next examines Daniel 5, which he compares to Daniel 2, arguing that thematic and linguistic links between these two chapters reflect a common editorial hand. Segal offers a novel reading of Daniel 5:2–3, arguing that Belshazzar, and only Belshazzar, saw the writing on the wall in a revelation that was given to him. This reading strengthens the connection between Daniel 5 and Daniel 2, in which only Nebuchadnezzar receives a divinely sent dream. In both stories, the king’s courtiers do not share the king’s experience, and only Daniel can interpret the king’s vision. Both chapters, therefore, “demonstrate the superiority of divinely inspired knowledge to the extensive educational training of Mesopotamian scribes and scholars in antiquity” (67). Segal then turns to Daniel 4, arguing that the Old Greek and Masoretic versions of the chapter derive from an original version, which he seeks to reconstruct based on parallels between the two extant versions. Segal believes that the tree featured in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream symbolizes the king, who has become arrogant and does not recognize the Jewish God’s dominion over him. This imagery depends on similar tree imagery in Ezekiel 31. The twelve-month time span in Daniel 4...

The Open Mind: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland ed. by Jonathan Knight, and Kevin Sullivan

Reviewed by: The Open Mind: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland ed. by Jonathan Knight, and Kevin Sullivan Dirk G. van der Merwe Knight, Jonathan, and Kevin Sullivan, eds. 2015. The Open Mind: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland. Library of New Testament Studies 522. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. Hardcover. ISBN 978-0567658517. Pp. 312. $122. The Open Mind, with Jonathan Knight and Kevin Sullivan as editors, is a Festschrift in honour of Christopher Rowland, published in the series of the Library of New Testament Studies. It is a compendium of essays from former doctoral students and friends of Rowland. The one thing that they have in common is angels in the thought world of developing Christianity. The significance of Jewish contributions to the developing Christian ideology is critically assessed. The impact of original Jewish sources on the earliest Christian belief is evident. In this volume, Angelology and Christology emerge as the central themes. The choice for the title The Open Mind was inspired by publications from Rowland himself: The Open Heaven and subsequent publications in which he redefined the concept of apocalypticism and opened new vistas on the understanding of first-century Christianity. This compendium consists of thirteen chapters with authors mostly from the United Kingdom (Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Paul Foster, Andrew [End Page 223] Gregory, Jonathan Knight, J. W. Rogerson), and from the United States (April D. DeConick, Charles A. Gieschen, Phillip B. Muñoa, Andrei A. Orlov, Kevin P. Sullivan). Then there is one from Germany (Tobias Nicklas), one from South Africa (Jonathan A. Draper) and one from Brazil (Vicente Dobroruka). Chapter one: “Escape from the Wheel of Time: The Cognitive Basis for Gnostic Ascent Practices” (DeConick). According to DeConick, diversity exists in Gnosticism. Nevertheless, he is convinced that across the vast spectrum of gnostic groups, a common deep structure exists to stabilise the variety. In this chapter he tries “to describe this deep structure and suggest where it might come from” (3). He then presents a new model “to explain both the structural uniformity and local variance” (3). Chapter two: “On Trees and Visionaries: The Role of the Cosmic Tree and Related Material in Baruch, Daniel and Pseudo-Danielic Literature” (Dobroruka). In this chapter Dobroruka tackles the relationship between vines, trees, and gardens on the one side, and the apocalyptic material of Baruch and Daniel on the other. For him a kind of crossover exists between the apocalyptic visionary traditions that occur in Baruch and Daniel. His conclusion is that “trees and plants in general played a special role in visionary experiences both in Baruch and Danielic-type apocalypses” (30). Chapter three: “Performing the Cosmic Mystery of the Church in the Communities of the Didache” (Draper). Draper responds to a statement made by Rowland that “there is a missing link in current understandings of apocalyptic visions, ‘What is not clear … is the content and origin of such visions’” (37). Draper’s interpretation of this statement is that “some knowledge of the context and performative aspect of the claim to prophecy and mystical experiences is essential in answering the kind of questions raised by apocalyptic visions” (37). In this chapter he takes up this challenge and investigates the valuable clues embedded in the text of Didache. Chapter four: “The Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37–71): The Son of Man, Apocalyptic Messianism and Political Theology” (Fletcher-Louis). According to Fletcher-Louis, 1 Enoch conveys an apocalyptic text, a particular political theology and “not an escape from this world and from political realities” (60). Therefore, the transcendent messianism of 1 Enoch (37–71) in all likelihood draws on older biblical priestly notions of identity to create a distinctive messianic expectation in response to the prevalent political and religious circumstances of his day. In this chapter Fletcher-Louis [End Page 224] makes three proposals to contribute to the thinking that the Similitudes is a mainstream, pre-Christian Jewish text and its content is crucially important for a proper understanding of Jesus and the gospels. Chapter five: “The Open Hell: A Study of the Apocalypse of Peter” (Foster). According to Foster, descriptions of the underworld are rare in Rowland’s apocalyptic surveys. In his detailed analysis of the Apocalypse...

Apocalyptic and metanoia in the Shepherd of Hermas

The very inclusion of the Shepherd of Hermas in the literary genre of apocalyptic has been disputed many times over, due in part to the prominence in its text of non-apocalyptic, largely moral material. This paper offers a survey of the apocalyptic features of this writing and then approaches the less apocalyptic material in the Shepherd, usually omitted from such enquiries. The proposal will be put forward that, even beyond its apocalyptic frame, further apocalyptic features are embedded in the moral material in Hermas, including a so-called “interiorized apocalyptic” sui generis. On the whole, the Shepherd offers an instructive example of how the purpose of an early Christian work can modify its genre.

Turcy i Imperium Osmańskie w proroctwach południowosłowiańskich

The main aim of this work is the presentation and analysis of anti-turkish and anti-Islamic ideas found in the South Slavonic prophecies. Prophetic and apocalyptic literature developed in two connected directions in the Ottoman period among the Orthodox Slavs in the Balkans. On the one hand, old prophetic and apocalyptic material (such as the Revelation of Pseudo-Methodius , prophecies of Leo the Wise, the apocryphal Visions of Daniel ) was actualized according to new historical-political circumstances. On the other hand, new anti-turkish prophecies were created in that period. However, marginal glosses, interpolations or compilations were often used in that process. Anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic ideas focused mainly on the future Ottoman doom and the image of the legendary emperor who was supposed to defeat the “Ishmaelites” .

An Unanswered Question: Apocalyptic Expectation and Jesus' Basileia Proclamation

The several sayings from the Jesus tradition which explicitly deny an apocalyptic interpretation of the message of Jesus are surveyed, with the conclusion that this sentiment is to be found at every layer of the tradition, including its earliest. At the same time, it is acknowledged that apocalyptic materials are also to be found throughout the tradition. This conclusion is ventured: perhaps the tradition is authentically ambiguous about this issue because Jesus himself was undecided about this notion, which he inherited from John the Baptist.

AGAINST MYTHICISM: A CASE FOR THE PLAUSIBILITY OF A HISTORICAL JESUS

A position that appears to be growing in popularity in atheist and rationalist circles is known as ‘mythicism’. According to this position we have no adequate reason to believe that the gospels refer to a historical figure called Jesus at all. This position of strong scepticism holds that the gospels are entirely mythological texts and that we are mistaken in reading them as embellished accounts of a man who lived and preached in the Middle East around 2000 years ago. I disagree with this position for a number of reasons. In particular, I contend that the apocalyptic material found on Jesus' lips and the hopes for a very real earthly historical transformation strongly suggest that there is an underlying historical basis to the claims that a man named Jesus made ‘prophetic’ statements about events that were expected to happen within his lifetime, and that this historical figure was considered by his band of followers to be the long awaited Messiah. The fact that hopes for eschatological transformation and claims of the coming of a Messiah are nothing more than religious mythological notions does not preclude there having been a historical figure to which these hopes were attached.

The Book of Daniel in Recent Research (Part 1)

This is the first of two articles exploring recent research on the book of Daniel. The focus of Part 1 is the court tale narratives of Daniel 1—6, with particular attention to genre identification, sociological and ideological viewpoints, and textual and language issues. Other topics of interest are represented in the bibliography, which identifies important publications since 1993. Foundational works published prior to 1993 are also included. Historical-critical analysis of Daniel 1—6 has furthered understanding of important topics such as the nature of court tale literature and the context of conquest, exile and empire in the ancient Near East, and how those constructs affect the biblical writings. New explorations of Daniel 1—6 that focus on literary, multi-critical and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of this book suggest interesting answers to perennial debates over issues such as the language, genre and ideology of these court tales, and are a main focus of this survey article. Part 2 will explore the apocalyptic material of Daniel 7—12, including discussion of topics such as the Son of Man and the nature of vision material in the Hebrew Bible.

Astrology and the Sibyls: John of Legnano's De adventu Christi and the Natural Theology of the Later Middle Ages

ArgumentMedieval authors adopted a range of postures when writing about the role of reason in matters of faith. At one extreme, the phrase “natural theology” (theologia naturalis) was used, largely pejoratively, to connote something clearly inferior to revealed theology. At the other end, there was also a long tradition of what one might term “the impulse to natural theology,” manifested perhaps most notably in the embrace of Nature by certain twelfth-century authors associated with the school of Chartres. Only in the fifteenth century does one find authors using natural reason to investigate religious truths who also employ the term “natural theology,” now in a positive light, for their activities. Among such thinkers, astrology and eschatology frequently played an important role. In that respect, the writings of fourteenth-century Bolognese jurist John of Legnano offer an important example of the place of astrological, prophetic, and apocalyptic material in late medieval natural theology. In his 1375 treatise De adventu Christi, Legnano demonstrated that ancient poets, pagan seers such as the Sibyls, and non-Christian astrologers had all predicted, like Old Testament prophets, the virgin birth of Christ. For Legnano, not simply was Creation part of God's revelation, but, equally importantly, the very categories of reason and revelation blur in a way that points toward the works of Renaissance humanists and lays a foundation for a model of natural vaticination that showed reason's capability to reach fundamental religious truths.

«MANY LAMPS ARE LIGHTENED FROM THE ONE»: PARADIGMS OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL VISION IN THE MACARIAN HOMILIES

In the Second Temple apocalyptic materials visionaries normally «see» the extent of the divine glory, God's Kavod, often portrayed as enthroned anthropomorphic figure. As a consequence of this encounter, the visionary experiences a dra¬matic external metamorphosis which often affects his face, limbs, and garments, making them luminescent. In spite of the dominant role of the Kavod pattern in biblical and apocalyptic theophanic accounts, it becomes increasingly challenged in the postbiblical rabbinic and patristic environments which offered new understandings of the transformational vision. In these new developments, one can see a growing emphasis on the interiorization of the visionary experience. The article investigates the formative role of the Macarian Homilies in the transition from outer to inner in the transformational visions of Eastern Christian tradition.

"Your Name Will No Longer Be Aseneth": Apocrypha, Anti-Martyrdom, and Jewish Conversion in Thirteenth-Century England

Previous articleNext article No Access"Your Name Will No Longer Be Aseneth": Apocrypha, Anti-Martyrdom, and Jewish Conversion in Thirteenth-Century EnglandRuth NisseRuth Nisse Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 81, Number 3Jul., 2006 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0038713400015694 Views: 58Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2006 The Medieval Academy of AmericaPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Angela Standhartinger Recent Scholarship on Joseph and Aseneth (1988-2013), Currents in Biblical Research 12, no.33 (Jun 2014): 353–406.https://doi.org/10.1177/1476993X14526968

Contemporary Muslim apocalyptic literature

Although apocalyptic visions and predictions have long been part of classical and contemporary Islam, David Cook's book is the first scholarly work to cover this disparate but influential body of writing. Cook puts the literature in context by examining not only the ideological concerns prompting apocalyptic material but its interconnection with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Arab relations with the United States and other Western nations, and the persistance of violence in the Middle East.Cook suggests that Islam began as an apocalyptic movement and has retained a strong apocalyptic and messianic tone. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary Muslim apocalyptic writings, Cook convincingly demonstrates the influence of non-Islamic sources on such literature, tracing anti-Semitic strains in Islamist thought in part to Western texts and traditions. Through a meticulous reading of current documents, incorporating exegesis of everything from holy texts to assertions of supernatural phenomena, Cook shows how radical Muslims, including members of al-Qa'ida, may have applied these ideas to their own agendas. By exposing the undergrowth of popular beliefs contributing to religion-driven terrorism, this book casts new light on today's political conflicts.

Understanding the concept of "time" in Daniel

The temporal axis of apocalypses has always invited a wide range of interpretations. Not only dispensational schemes since the Christian era, but especially contemporary mass suicides arising from activist millennialism, points to the role of the conceptualization of time in eschatology. Mbiti's African concept of time as well as Malina's description of Mediterranean time indicate an alternative matrix for understanding time in the book of Daniel. An investigation into commentaries on Daniel shows that commentators are rather using a Western concept of time than an ancient Near Eastern concept. The need for reorientation in the time concept for studying the apocalyptic materials of Daniel is indicated.

The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity

The question of apocalyptic influence on Jesus and early Christianity is again strongly contested. The issues connected with this question include terminology, genre, historical reconstruction, sectarian self-definition, and many others. This book provides a fresh assessment of the nature and significance of early Christian appropriation of Jewish apocalyptic material.

Milton and the Apocalyptic

WHEN MILTON chose the story of the Fall for his epic, he at once faced the problem of portraying in human terms an action and setting which are not directly accessible to human experience. By presenting not only the fall of man but the entire celestial cycle-creation, the war in Heaven, the fall of man, and redemption-he further increased the proportion of supernatural and apocalyptic material in his narrative.' As a result, Paradise Lost is concerned with the more than any other poem in the language, and the poem is accurately described by the narrator as one which relates invisible exploits (V.565) and tells Of things to mortal sight (1I1.55).2 The action of the poem is removed from ordinary human experience by its heavy reliance on supernatural agents, by the fact that the two human characters are unfallen through most of the epic,3 and by the fact that the events occur in the mythic world of prehistory, before human experience as we know it existed. Although any study of how Milton portrayed apocalyptic reality must ultimately be based on an analysis of the poem itself, a preliminary question which deserves attention is the matter of the theoretic considerations with which Milton approached his supernatural subject matter. An awareness of these theoretic aspects will provide a historical perspective for reading Paradise Lost and will suggest profitable critical approaches to the poem. In the discussion which follows I have attempted to reconstruct the elements of poetic theory and general philosophic outlook which Milton brought to bear on the problem of how to portray the apocalyptic in humanly comprehensible terms. The most important of these theoretic considerations is undoubtedly the theory of accommodation, but the strain of Platonism in Milton's poetic theory is also part of the background of the subject.