xix | Introduction
organization of preexistent material. In many respects, eschatology represents both
completion and climax of creation at the end of time.
Apocalyptic in the Judeo-Christian Tradition
In his authoritative work on Jewish apocalyptic, D. S. Russell contends that the
apocalyptic tradition succeeded the prophetic tradition. He describes apocalyp-
tic literature as “esoteric in character, literary in form, symbolic in language, and
pseudonymous in authorship” (Russell 106). Apocalypses contain secret knowl-
edge revealed to an illustrious religious character in a dream or a vision and then
often recorded in a scroll and hidden for generations, only to come to light in the
“last days.” The author of the Apocalypse of John was on the island of Patmos (off
the Greek coast) and instructed by the Spirit of God to “write on a scroll what you
see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea” (Rev. 1:11). These secrets are made known to
the messenger in a dream or vision in which he is often given a glimpse of heaven
or hell. The Apocalypse of Peter (second century CE) is the first Christian writing
to chronicle a journey through heaven and hell. It subsequently influenced such
works as Dante’s Divine Comedy and Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights.
In the Apocalypse of Peter, hell is described as a place of horrifying punishment
where blasphemers are hung by their tongues, adulterous women are hung by their
hair over bubbling mire, and usurers kneel in a lake full of blood and foul matter.
Heaven, on the other hand, is a place of flowers and spices, populated by beauti-
ful people in shiny clothes, singing choral prayers. The Apocalypse of Peter was a
popular treatise in the early church and was accorded near-canonical status. Even-
tually, because of its Gnostic undertones, the book was excluded from the New
Testament canon. In the Apocalypse of Baruch (late first century or early second
century CE), Baruch engages in a dialogue with God. The narrative of the apoca-
lypse takes place anachronistically during the destruction of the First Temple (587
BCE). A new, heavenly Jerusalem is revealed to Baruch, who seeks to comfort the
Jewish people by promising imminent eschatological salvation.
In contrast to the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, who spoke the word of God
(which was subsequently transcribed), the writers of the apocalypses were primar-
ily authors who wrote their message. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed
to deliver a message from God. These prophets initially conveyed their messages
by word of mouth, and the messages were subsequently transcribed, either by the
prophets themselves or by later editors. By the beginning of the second century
BCE people associated divine revelation with the written rather than the oral word.
It was thus appropriate (and to be expected) that apocalyptic literature appearing at
this time would be in literary form.
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