Table of Contents

Contributors
Preface

1. What is Apocalyptic Literature? - John J. Collins

Part I. The Literary and Phenomenological Context
2. Apocalyptic Prophecy - Stephen L. Cook
3. The Inheritance of Prophecy in Apocalypse - Hindy Najman
4. Wisdom and Apocalypticism - Matthew Goff
5. Scriptural Interpretation in Early Jewish Apocalypses - Alex P. Jassen
6. Apocalyptic Literature and the Study of Early Jewish Mysticism - Ra'anan Boustan and Patrick G. McCullough
7. Dreams and Visions in Early Jewish and Early Christian Apocalypses and Apocalypticism - Frances Flannery

Part II. The Social Function of Apocalyptic Literature
8. Social-Scientific Approaches to Apocalyptic Literature - Philip F. Esler
9. Jewish Apocalyptic Literature as Resistance Literature - Anathea Portier-Young
10. Apocalypse and Empire - Stephen J. Friesen
11. A Postcolonial Reading of Apocalyptic Literature - Daniel L. Smith-Christopher

Part III. Literary Features of Apocalyptic Literature
12. The Rhetoric of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature - Carol A. Newsom
13. Early Christian Apocalyptic Rhetoric - Greg Carey
14. Deconstructing Apocalyptic Literalist Allegory - Erin Runions

Part IV. Apocalyptic Theology
15. Apocalyptic Determinism - Mladen Popovic
16. Apocalyptic Dualism - Jörg Frey
17. Apocalyptic Ethics and Behavior - Dale C. Allison, Jr.
18. Apocalypse and Torah in Ancient Judaism - Matthias Henze
19. Apocalypticism and Christian Origins - Adela Yarbro Collins
20. Descents to Hell and Ascents to Heaven in Apocalyptic Literature - Jan N. Bremmer
21. Apocalypses amongst Gnostics and Manichaeans - Dylan M. Burns
22. The Imagined World of the Apocalypses - Stefan Beyerle

Part V. Apocalypse Now
23. Messianism as a Political Power in Contemporary Judaism - Motti Inbari
24. Apocalypticism and Radicalism - Christopher Rowland
25. Apocalypse and Violence - Catherine Wessinger
26. Apocalypticism in Contemporary Christianity - Amy Johnson Frykholm
27. Apocalypse and Trauma - Dereck Daschke
28. Apocalypticism and Popular Culture - Lorenzo DiTommaso

Index

About the Author

John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University. He previously taught at the University of Chicago and at Notre Dame. His books include The Apocalyptic Imagination (1998), The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (co-editor; 1998) and The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls (co-editor, with Timothy Lim, 2010).

Reviews

"This handbook will be a vital resource for all those working on Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings... The essays exemplify the emerging understanding of the term 'apocalyptic' as a descriptor of a broad phenomenon (or set of related phenomena) that includes literary, religious, social, cultural, political, and environmental dimensions in both ancient and modern settings. A significant benefit of this broader inquiry is the attention given by several
essays to the modern legacies and manifestations of apocalypticism." --Brad E. Kelle, Religious Studies Review
"[A] valuable resource that explores all important aspects of apocalyptic thinking."
--Church of England Newspaper