The Apocalyptic Literature

by Cook, Stephen L.

• ISBN13: 9780687051960
• ISBN10: 0687051967
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

Biblical texts create worlds of meaning and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the IBT series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the text as on the worlds created by the texts in their engagement with readers.Nowhere is the world of the biblical text stranger than in the apocalyptic literature of both the Old and New Testaments. In this volume, Stephen Cook makes the puzzling visions and symbols of the biblical apocalyptic literature intelligible to modern readers. He begins with definitions of apocalypticism and apocalyptic literature and introduces the various scholarly approaches to and issues for our understanding of the text. Cook introduces the reader to the social and historical worlds of the apocalyptic groups that gave rise to such literature and leads the reader into a better appreciation and understanding of the theological import of biblical apocalyptic literature.In the second major section of the book, Cook guides the reader through specific examples of the Bible's apocalyptic literature. He addresses both the best-known examples (the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation) and other important but lesser known examples (Zechariah and some words of Jesus and Paul).

Author Biography

Stephen L. Cook is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD	9	(2)
PREFACE	11	(4)
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS	15	(4)
PART ONE ISSUES IN INTERPRETING APOCALYPTIC TEXTS
CHAPTER 1 ENCOUNTERING APOCALYPTIC WORLDS	19	(20)
What Is Apocalypticism?	22	(4)
Biblical Apocalyptic Literature	26	(5)
The Roots of Apocaltyptic Imagination	31	(8)
CHAPTER 2 THE DANGER OF DOMESTICATING THE APOCALYPTIC TEXTS	39	(23)
Domesticating Apocalyptic Texts through Spiritual and Symbolic Readings	40	(4)
Domesticating Apocalyptic Texts through Futuristic Readings or through Historicized Readings	44	(9)
Domesticating Apocalyptic Texts Credulous or Overly Suspicious Readings	53	(9)
CHAPTER 3 A NEW SEARCH FOR THE LITERAL SENSE OF APOCALYPTIC TEXTS	62	(17)
Formulating a Canonical Approach	64	(6)
Theological Contributions of Apocalyptic Texts	70	(5)
Apocalyptic Texts and Liberation	75	(4)
CHAPTER 4 THE SOCIAL WORLDS BEHIND THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE	79	(12)
The Rise of Apocalyptic Groups	80	(3)
Various Biblical Texts, Various Apocalyptic Groups	83	(8)
PART TWO READING THE APOCALYPTIC TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
CHAPTER 5 EARLY APOCALYPTIC TEXTS AMONG THE PROPHET BOOKS	91	(33)
Selected Texts within Ezekiel	94	(5)
The Book of Zechariah	99	(6)
The Book of Joel	105	(6)
Selected Texts within Isaiah	111	(8)
The Book of Malachi	119	(5)
CHAPTER 6 THE BOOK OF DANIEL	124	(24)
Issues in Reading	124	(6)
Tracing Scriptural Allusions in Daniel	130	(4)
Contents and Theological Highlights	134	(5)
Reading Daniel as Canonical Scripture	139	(6)
Group Origins and Social Background	145	(3)
CHAPTER 7 APOCALYPTICISM AND THE JESUS GROUP	148	(20)
Jesus as an Apocalyptic Herald	151	(4)
Jesus' Catastrophic Messiahship	155	(6)
Jesus' Transcendent Identity	161	(7)
CHAPTER 8 APOCALYPTIC WORLDS AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES	168	(24)
The Letters of Paul	169	(14)
The Apocalyptic Discourse of the Gospels	183	(9)
CHAPTER 9 THE BOOK OF REVELATION	192	(27)
Issues in Reading	192	(4)
Tracing Scriptural Allusions in Revelation	196	(3)
Contents and Theological Highlights	199	(6)
Reading Revelation as Canonical Scripture	205	(8)
Group Origins and Social Background	213	(6)
NOTES	219	(7)
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY	226	(3)
INDEX	229