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Apocalypse
What Is the Meaning of Apocalypse in the Bible?
by Amanda Prahl
The concept of apocalypse has a
long and rich literary and religious tradition whose meaning goes beyond what
we see on dramatic movie posters.
The word apocalypse is derived from the Greek word apokálypsis, which translates most literally to “an
uncovering.”
In the context of religious texts
like the Bible, the word is most often used in relation to a holy disclosure of
information or knowledge, usually through some sort of prophetic dream
or vision.
The knowledge in these visions is
typically related to either end times or to insights into the truth of the
divine.
Several elements are often
associated with biblical apocalypse, including but not limited to
image-based symbolism,
numbers, and specific or significant periods of time.
In the Christian Bible,
there are two major apocalyptic books; in the Hebrew Bible, there is only one.
Key Terms
· Revelation: An uncovering of a truth.
· Rapture: The idea that all true believers alive at the end of
times will be taken to heaven to be with God. The term is often misused as a
synonym for apocalypse. Its existence is the subject of much debate among
Christian denominations.
· Son of man: A term that appears in apocalyptic writings but has no
consensus definition. Some scholars believe it affirms the human side of
Christ's dual nature; others believe it is an idiomatic way of referring to the
self.
The Book of Daniel and the Four
Visions
Daniel is the apocalypse that
both Jewish and
Christian traditions share.
It is found in the Old Testament of
the Christian Bible among the Major Prophets (Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
Isaiah) and in the Kevitum in the Jewish Bible.
The section related to apocalypse
is the second half of the texts, which consists of four visions.
The first dream is of four beasts,
one of which destroys the whole world before being destroyed by a divine judge,
who then gives eternal kingship to a “son of man” (itself a particular phrase
that turns up frequently in Judeo-Christian apocalyptic writings).
Daniel is then told that the
beasts represent the “nations” of the earth, who will one day wage war against
the holy but will receive divine judgment.
This vision includes several
hallmarks of biblical apocalypse, including numerical
symbolism (four beasts represent four kingdoms), predictions of
end times, and ritualistic periods of time undefined by normal standards (it is
specified that the final king will make war for “two times and a half").
Daniel’s second vision is of a
two-horned ram that runs rampant until being destroyed by a goat. The goat then
grows a small horn that gets larger and larger until it desecrates the holy
temple.
Once again, we see animals used
to represent human nations: the ram’s horns are said to represent the Persians
and the Medes, and while the goat is said to be Greece, its destructive horn is
itself representative of an evil king to come.
Numerical prophecies are also
present through the specification of the number of days that the temple is
unclean.
The angel Gabriel, who explained
the second vision, returns for Daniel’s questions about the prophet Jeremiah’s
promise that Jerusalem and its Temple would be destroyed for 70 years.
The angel tells Daniel that the
prophecy actually refers to a number of years equivalent to the number of days
in a week multiplied by 70 (for a total of 490 years), and that the Temple
would be restored but then destroyed again by a wicked ruler.
The number seven plays a major
role in this third apocalyptic vision, both as the number of days in a week and
in the crucial “seventy,” which is fairly common: seven (or variations like
“seventy times seven”) is a symbolic number that often stands in for the
concept of much greater numbers or the ritualistic passage of time.
The fourth and final vision of
Daniel is probably the closest to the revelatory, end-of-times concept of
apocalypse found in popular imagination.
In it, an angel or other divine
being shows Daniel a future time where the nations of man are at war, expanding
upon the third vision in which an evil ruler passes through and destroys the
Temple.
Apocalypse in the Book of
Revelation
Revelation,
which appears as the last book in
the Christian Bible, is one of the most famous pieces of apocalyptic writing.
Framed as the visions of the
apostle John, it is packed with symbolism in images and numbers to create a
prophecy of the end of days.
Revelation is the source of our
popular definition of “apocalypse.”
In the visions, John is shown
intense spiritual battles centered around the conflict between earthly and
divine influences and the eventual final judgment of man by God.
The vivid, sometimes confusing
images and times described in the book are laden with symbolism that often ties
into the prophetic writings of the Old Testament.
This apocalypse describes, in
almost ritualistic terms, John’s vision of how Christ will return when it is
time for God to judge all earthly beings and reward the faithful with eternal, joyful
life.
It is this element–the ending of
earthly life and the beginning of an unknowable existence close to the
divine–that gives popular culture the association of “apocalypse” with “end of
the world.”
Amanda Prahl
Introduction
Arizona State University
instructor in theater and film with a specialization in writing craft
and history
Award-winning playwright,
lyricist, and dramaturg with credits in regional and festival productions
MFA in Dramatic Writing, B.A.
in English and Political Science
Experience
Amanda Prahl is a writer and
faculty associate at Arizona State University, where she teaches
university-level courses in theater and film. Her written work, which focuses
on history and the arts, has been published on HowlRound, Slate, and
BroadwayWorld. In addition, Amanda is a contributor for Chegg, where
she advises students on writing, grammar, and navigating the academic and
professional worlds
Amanda is also an
award-winning playwright, lyricist, and dramaturg. Her plays and musicals have
appeared at numerous festivals and new works series. In both her academic and
her creative work, Amanda often showcases the lesser-known stories of
women in history.
Education
Amanda received an MFA in
Dramatic Writing from Arizona State University. Her master's
thesis/applied project, Til Death, was a musical exploring the themes
of history and nostalgia. She earned a B.A. in English (Literature) and a B.A.
in Political Science from Arizona State.
Awards and Publications
Nominee: Phoenix Mayor's Arts
Award (Theatre), 2018
Finalist: The Bechdel Test
Fest, 2017
Selected for the Pandora
Festival at Arizona Women's Theatre, 2016
Semi-finalist: The Bridge
Initiative Playwright of the Year, 2016
"Revising and Feminizing The Fairytale in Anastasia"
HowlRound, 2017
"If I Loved You: The Evolution of the Conditional Love Song"
HowlRound, 2016
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