I apologize for my mistake, yes it is Daniel. I can’t believe I did that
I have heard that it is an apololyptic book from Catholic Sources and also, within reading it, it would seem plainly to be discussing end-times (the end of the world end-times)
Well, here’s the thing.
‘Apocalyptic’ is a type of literary genre. The Greek word
apokalypsis means an ‘unveiling’, an ‘uncovering’ or a ‘revelation’, and this is exactly what you see in apocalyptic works: the human seer has symbolic or allegorical visions ‘unveiled’ to him by an angel or other heavenly messenger, who usually also explains what these visions mean.
It’s true that ‘apocalyptic’ and ‘apocalypse’ are now often associated with the end of the world (the
eschaton, to use another Greek word), but when we speak of ‘apocalyptic’ in this context, it does
not necessarily have that connotation. Simply speaking, some apocalypses do focus on the end of this world, but in others it really plays a smaller role. (Some literature classified as ‘apocalyptic’ actually communicate a body of knowledge that had nothing to do with end time concerns: say, proper living.)
Apokalypsis refers to the ‘revelation’ proper, without regard to the content of the revelation. Really, other than the end of the world, the ‘revelations’ in a given apocalyptic work can be things such as a tour of Heaven and/or Hell (basically, places human beings cannot normally reach), the fate of souls after death, or the secrets of nature (for example, how the sun or the moon or the stars or weather patterns work).
Apocalyptic literature is often contrasted with prophetic literature. The differences between the two genres are:
- Prophetic literature consists primarily of words the prophets hear God speak (“the oracle of the LORD”). Apocalyptic literature, by contrast, consists primarily of visions or dreams or a heavenly journey by the seer.
- Prophetic literature is conditional: the outcome depends upon the actions of the people. So if, say, a disaster is about to strike Israel because of its sins, the prophet would say that if Israel repents, God will withhold His punishment, but if it continues in its evil ways, the disaster would hit Israel hard. That’s why the prophets often try to incite the people to repent. Apocalyptic literature, on the other hand, is deterministic: history is viewed as moving forward according to a predetermined, definite schedule and toward a predetermined end, like a scripted play: everything that is said to happen will happen because that is how God scripted it and because He allows them to happen. That’s why the seer could receive a ‘revelation’; the conceit is, God had chosen to give spoilers to the seer.
- Another difference between the two genres is how they view the future. The prophetic future is a continuation of the present and is itself part of the course of history, but the apocalyptic future is a decisive break with the present age brought about by the direct intervention of God, so cataclysmic that history itself will end and the present order will collapse as a result.
Apocalyptic literature generally originates in periods of oppression or persecution, usually as a means to cope with these crises. Apocalypses divert the reader’s attention away from the problems of the present to the heavenly world and the eschatological future, thereby offering a means to cope with and to make meaningful present existence. (“As you can see, better days will come, so hold on tight.”) One of the aims of the genre as a whole is to address the seeming disparity between the idea of reward for righteousness and the fact that many righteous people in the world seem to suffer while the bad seem to prosper; in other words, the old theodicy question. (An issue with close relevance for Jews of the period: why did and do they suffer repeated trials and tribulations if they were indeed God’s own chosen nation?)
In other words, apocalyptic works express dissatisfaction with the status quo and try to convince their readers that suffering is not what God has in store for them. Basically what they try to show is that God is sovereign.
