Word of the Day: Apocalyptic Literature

This is from the Fortress Press Forum (HT John Byron):

WORD OF THE DAY:

“Apocalyptic Literature “: uh-PAH-kuh-lihp-tihk-LIH-duhr-uh-chuhr

Status:

If you don’t know how to read apocalyptic literature, it’s the end of the world; if you do know how, it isn’t.

Definition:

“Apocalyptic literature is a kind of story that God’s people found particularly helpful during times of oppression. These stories have recurring features. Ancient heroes of the faith: perhaps because the people were being persecuted, they felt safer telling stories about people who had lived long ago. Dreams: these ancient heroes have visions, often featuring strange imagery. Angels: an angel appears who interprets the meaning of the visions. Predictions: the meaning of these visions is often a prediction by the long-gone hero of the faith concerning the situation in which God’s people were suffering. Daniel was written in a time when God’s people were oppressed by the Seleucid empire (c. 167 BCE). Revelation was written when the church was oppressed by the Roman empire (c. 90 CE). If you know how to read this literature, you’ll know these books are about the Seleucid and Roman empires, respectfully. If you don’t know how to read this literature, you might get tempted to pull a “Chicken Little” and run around yelling, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Which would be entertaining. Misguided, yes. But certainly entertaining.”