Apocalypses and Apocalyptic Literature in the Early Church

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2010

Currents in Biblical Research, 2007

This paper, in two parts, discusses the significant scholarship on apocalypses and apocalypticism in antiquity published since Mysteries and Revelations: Apocalyptic Studies since the Uppsala Conference (Collins and Charlesworth [eds.] 1991). Part II contains the second half of the section on (4) origins and influences, here the prophetic and sapiential traditions of Israel. This is followed by sections on (5) apocalyptic historiography and (6) the development of apocalypticism in antiquity and late antiquity, plus (7) a brief conclusion. The bibliographies are partspecific, but their entries are integrated.

An analysis in the development of apocalyptic literature and themes in Late Antiquity, meant for a general audience.

Currents in Biblical Research, 2007

This paper, in two parts, discusses the significant scholarship on apocalypses and apocalypticism in antiquity published since Mysteries and Revelations: Apocalyptic Studies since the Uppsala Conference (Collins and Charlesworth [eds.] 1991). Part 1 contains (1) the introduction, sections on studies that address issues of (2) taxonomy and definitions, and (3) function and settings, plus the first half of the section dealing with (4) origins and influences, specifically Ancient Near Eastern and classical. The bibliographies are part-specific, but their entries are integrated.

Angela Kim Harkins and Harry O. Maier (eds.), Experiencing the Shepherd of Hermas (Ekstasis 10; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022), 215-33.

If,a st he contributionsi nt hisv olume extensivelys how, theS hepherdi sr ipef or questions on thevarious types of experienceitreflects, it is allthe morefitting to ask: howwas thebookexperienced by itsearly Christian readers? Unsurprisingly, thereisnoshort-handanswertothisquestion, especiallysince theway we experience theb ookt oday hardly parallelsi ts success with early and late-antique Christians.I ti sd ifficult to imagine many modern readersw ho read theb ooka s an accounto fg enuine revelation;¹ at thes amet ime, virtually anyg raduate student undertakingr esearch on theS hepherdw illh aveh eard at somep oint from othere arly Christianity scholars thatt heir research questioni si nteresting,b ut thebookitself is so tedious. There is in fact along-standingmodernscholarly tradition of consideringthe book subparasaliteraryw ork, as is occasionallydocumented in introductorys ectionso fc ontributionso nt he Shepherd.² Even when the author of the book is not judgeda gainst an imaginary classical or Pauline literaryideal, acomment such as that of Carolyn Osiek,according to whom the visions in the Mandatesand Similitudes "are usuallyexplained  Although isolated, examples can be found. Fori nstance, Roelof vanD eemter addressed in 1929 the question of whether the Shepherd is an allegory or an apocalypse, and concludes that the book is intended as an apocalypse and not as al iterary fictional construct and, even though allegory is heavilye mployed, the book is not to be regarded as ap ure allegory but an account of Hermas'sv isionary experiences: "Ausd em bisher Gesagtenw ären ur folgender Schluss zu ziehen: Es liegen keine Gründe vor, an dem Selbstzeugnis des Verfassers zu zweifeln.

Vigiliae Christianae, 1998

Contents PREFACE XI CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION by Williarn Adler Jewish Apocalypses in Christian Settings 1 The Christian Use of the Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition 2 Approaches to the Question 2 P. Vielhauer and Early Christian 'Apocalyptic' 3 Early Christianity as the Bearer of the Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition 5 Scope and Method of the Present Study 7 Early Christian Perceptions of the Jewish Apocalypses Liturgy 154 Literary Continuities Between Jewish Apocalypses and Gnostic Texts 155 Conclusions 161 Egyptian Apocalypticism (2): Millemialist Groups and Holy Men 163 Apocalyptic Movements in the Third Century 164 Apocalypses and Sectarianism in the Fourth Century 170 Anchoritic Charisma, Third through Fifth Centuries 174 Visions I76 Names and Avatars of the 'Saints' I81

1997

Many commentaries on the Apocalypse were produced in the early Middle Ages. This book provides translations of two Apocalypse commentaries from the seventh and eighth centuries. On the Mysteries of the Apocalypse of John is part of a large one-volume Reference Bible composed about 750. Written probably by an Irish teacher residing in northern France, it answers difficulties arising from the biblical text. The Handbook on the Apocalypse of the Apostle John, attributed erroneously to Jerome and written before 767, contains brief moral and allegorical interpretations of particular words and phrases of the Apocalypse. The introduction highlights the unique features of each commentary and the interrelationship of the three texts.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_teamscs/1007/thumbnail.jp

Chapter in The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought, edited by Benjamin E. Reynolds and Loren T. Stuckenbruck

2017

This essay will present a short form critical comparison between exemplars from early Jewish (Daniel and 1 Enoch) and Christian apocalyptic literature (Revelation of John) up to the end of the 1st century CE. I want to demonstrate that Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings show similarities in their literary devices and in their underlying worldview. Yet, there are significant differences, of which I will explore two fundamental ones: Jesus' role as the main agent in God's intervention in history; and the idea of a two-stage invasion of the present age by the age to come-the first with the Jesus' event and the second with Jesus' parousia.