Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature

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Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature

• BIB509-2006

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1. Definitions of "Apocalypse"

• 1.1 ...as far as the preserved evidence goes, we
  must say that the literary form we call an
  apocalypse carries that title for the first time
  in the very late first or early second century
  AD. From then on, both title and form are
  fashionable, at least to the end of the classical
  period. Their fashionable-ness is part of the
  well known growth of superstition and of claims
  to special revelations and to occult knowledge,
  complementary characteristics of the later Roman
  Empire which forms their daily familiar social
  background. Smith, Morton, On the History of
  APOKALUPTW and APOKALUYIS, In Apocalypticism in
  the Mediterranean World and the Near East, ed. D.
  Hellholm, 19

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1. Definitions of Apocalypse

• 1.2 "'Apocalypse' was a well-known genre label in
  Christian antiquity, beginning from the end of
  the 1st century CE, when it appears as the
  introductory designation in Rev 1.1. Thereafter
  apocalypses are attributed to both NT (Peter,
  Paul) and OT figures (e.g., the gnostic
  Apocalypse of Adam, the Cologne Mani Codex speaks
  of apocalypses of Adam, Sethel, Enosh, Shem, and
  Enoch). Prior to the late 1st century CE the
  title is not used." Collins, Early Jewish
  Apocalypticism, ABD, I, 283

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1. Definitions of Apocalypse

• 1.3 "In general we understand apocalyptic to
  apply to two things first, a certain body of
  writings, the apocalypses, that is, revelatory
  writings which intend to reveal the secrets of
  the transcendental word and the end-time second,
  it applies to the world of concepts and ideas
  which comes to expression in those texts." Betz,
  Hans Dieter, On the Problem of the
  Religio-Historical Understanding of
  Apocalypticism, Journal for Theology and the
  Church, No. 6, 1969, p. 135

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• A. "'Apocalypse' is a genre of revelatory
  literature with a narrative frame work, in which
  a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being
  to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent
  reality which is both temporal, insofar as it
  envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial
  insofar as it involves another, supernatural
  world." Collins, John, "Towards the Morphology
  of a Genre," Semeia 14, 1979, p. 9

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• 1. ...the recipient of the revelation in Jewish
  apocalypses is invariably a venerable ancient
  figure Enoch, Daniel, Moses, Ezra, Baruch,
  Abraham. Collins, FOTL, 5
• 2. ...the narrative framework invariably
  contains some account of the way in which the
  revelation was received. Collins, FOTL, 5
• 3. One weakness in this definition...is that it
  neglects the issue of function, though it does
  directly address the characteristic form and
  content of the genre apocalyptic. Aune,
  Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient
  Mediterranean World, 109

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• N.B that Yarbro Collins has responded to this
  by ...there is on a rather general level, a
  common function an apocalypse is intended to
  interpret present, earthly circumstances in light
  of the supernatural world and of the future, and
  to influence both the understanding and the
  behavior of the audience by means of divine
  authority. Collins, Early Jewish
  Apocalypticism
• 4. While the apocalypses constitute a distinct
  genre, they cannot be understood in isolation
  from various types of related literature.
  Collins, Early Jewish Apocalypticism

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• B. The term apocalypse should be applied
  strictly as the designation of a literary genre.
  It is one of the favored media adopted by
  apocalyptic seers for communicating their
  message, though it is not the exclusive nor even
  the dominant genre. Rather, it takes its place
  among other genres such as the testament, the
  salvation-judgment oracle, and the parable as a
  means of giving expression to the perspective of
  apocalyptic eschatology and as a vehicle for
  expressing the ideology of an apocalyptic
  movement. As in the case of all genres, the
  apocalypse is not rigid but underwent a history
  of development over the biblical and
  post-biblical period. Hanson, The Dawn of
  Apocalyptic, 430

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• 1. Structure and typical features These are
  expressed succinctly in Rev. 1.1-2 (1) a
  revelation is given by God, (2) through a
  mediator (here Jesus Christ or an angel), (3) to
  a seer concerning (4) future events. Hanson,
  Apocalypse, Genre, IDBSup Also note
  revelation occurs in a vision in which the seer
  peers into the heavens to see future events
  ecstatic state of seer direct commutation from
  the Lord and interp. from angelic guide seer
  responds in awe words of comfort cosmic drama
  with elaborate symbolism. The genre may have one
  or more visions incorporated hymns, historical
  resumes, prayers, testaments, etc.

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• 2. Setting and function
• 2.1 ...the primary function is to disclose to
  the elect the secret of what is and what is to
  take place, thereby serving to comfort the
  oppressed and encourage them to remain faithful
  to their beliefs. Hanson, Apocalypse, Genre,
  IDBSup, 27
• 2.2 ...seem to stem from settings of persecution
  within which they reveal to the faithful a vision
  of reversal and glorification (Dan 12.1). This is
  made possible by concentration on heavenly
  realities, whether given in the form of symbols
  or in purported direct description. Earths woes
  are seen as the shadows of a passing epoch.
  Though it is likely that ecstatic experience
  played a part in the apocalypses, there is also
  evidence of studies application of conventional
  devices. Hanson, Apocalypse, Genre, IDBSup,
  28

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2. Apocalypse as a Genre

• 2.3 The popular view that apocalypses are
  reactions to persecution is based primarily on
  the canonical apocalypse of Daniel and
  Revelation, and is erroneous even in the latter
  case.... It is true, however, that all the
  apocalypses are related to a crisis, but the
  crises are of different kinds.... Collins,
  FOTL, 22

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• A. The Historical Apocalypses (Daniel Book of
  Dreams and Apocalypse of Weeks in 1 Enoch
  Jubilees 4 Ezra 2 Baruch.)
• 1. The Media of Revelation
• 1.1 The symbolic vision. Dan 7-8 Note the
  pattern of (1) indication of circumstances (2)
  description of the vision (3) request for
  interp (4) interpretation by an angel (5)
  conclusions are usually variable.
• 1.1.1 visions usually allegorical
• 1.1.2 visions differ in pattern from Amos 7.7-9
  Zech 1.7-17 1.18-21 6.1-8.

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• 1.1.3 symbolic dreams in Bible basically
  distrusted Deut 13.1-5 Jer 23.25-32 27.9-10
  29.8-9.
• 1.1.4 Note the parallels of Daniel and Joseph
  stories.
• 1.1.5 Zech and Ezek 40-48 parallel angel interp.
• 1.2 Epiphany. Vision of a single supernatural
  figure like in Dan 10.
• 1.2.1 Note Ezek 1-2 8.
• 1.2.2 God came to X in a dream by night...
  pattern Gen 20.3 31.24 1 Kgs 3.5 9.2

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• 1.3 Angelic Discourse. A revelation delivered by
  a speech of an angel. Note Dan 10-11.
• 1.4 Revelatory Dialogue.
• 1.5 Midrash. ...a work that attempts to make a
  text of Scripture understandable, useful, and
  relevant for a later generation. Collins, FOTL,
  9
• 1.6 Pesher. Like a exegetical midrash, but interp
  of dreams and writings on the wall.
• 1.7 Revelations Report.

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• 2. The content of the Revelations
• 2.1 Ex Eventu Prophecy. (1) Periodization of
  History Dan 7 9 (2) Regnal prophecy Dan 11
• 2.2 Eschatological Predictions. The pattern is
  crisis-judgment-salvation. (1) Signs of the end.
  (2)Description of Judgment Scene. (3) Epiphany of
  a Heavenly Figure. (4) Prophecy of Cosmic
  Transformation.

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• B. Otherworldly Journeys (Book of the Watchers,
  Astronomical Book, Similitudes all in 1 Enoch
  2 Enoch 3 Baruch Testament of Abraham
  Apocalypse of Abraham Apocalypse of Zephaniah
  Testament of Levi 2-5)
• 1. Biblical tradition by contrast has no clear
  precedent for the apocalyptic otherworldly
  journey. The OT does not describe what Enoch or
  Elijah saw when they were taken up. The prophets
  are said to stand in the divine council (Jer
  23.18 cf. 1 Kgs 22) but in not case is their
  ascent described. The nearest biblical
  approximation to this type of apocalypse is found
  in Ezekiels guided tour of the temple area in
  Ezek 40-48, but this involves neither an ascent
  to heaven nor a descent to the netherworld.
  Collins, FOTL, 15

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3. The Two Basic Apocalyptic Genre

• 2. The Media of Revelation.
• 2.1 Transportation of the Visionary. (1) Report
  of Ascent. (2) Report of Descent.
• 2.2 The revelation Account. (1) Report of tour.
  (2) Report of Ascent through a Numbered Series of
  Heavens.
• 3. The Content of the Revelation.
• 3.1 List of Revealed things.
• 3.2 Visions of the Abodes of the Dead.
• 3.3 Judgment Scenes.
• 3.4 Throne Visions.
• 3.5 Lists of Vices.

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4. Literary Features

• Some of the striking literary features of
  apocalypses are pseudonymity, reports of
  visions, reviews of history presented as
  prophecies, number speculation, the figure of the
  interpreting angel (angelus interpres), the
  tendency to make frequent allusions to, but not
  quote, the OT, and the conscious attempt to
  present the compositions as revelatory
  literature. The more distinctive religious
  features of apocalyptic authors include imminent
  eschatology, pessimism, spatial and temporal
  dualism, determinism, secrecy, a longing for
  individual, transcendent salvation, and an
  emphasis on the detailed knowledge of the
  physical and supernatural universe. Aune,
  Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient
  Mediterranean World, 108

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• Apocalyptic eschatology...is neither a genre
  (apocalypse) nor a socio-religious movement
  (apocalypticism) but a religious perspective
  which views divine plans in relations to
  historical realities in a particular way.
  Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic, 430

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology Buber
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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• A. Hanson
• 1. Hanson argues, the line of connection between
  prophetic eschatology and apocalyptic eschatology
  can be seen in the orientation of both toward the
  future as the context of divine redemption and
  judging activity. The two are differentiated by
  the degree to which that activity is regarded to
  be integrated into the structure of historical
  realities and mediated by human agency. Hanson,
  The Dawn of Apocalyptic, 432

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• 2. Eschatology, as the study of end-time
  events, developed earlier in biblical prophecy.
  The perspective of apocalyptic eschatology can
  best be understood as an outgrowth from prophetic
  eschatology. Common to both is the belief that,
  in accordance with the divine plan, the adverse
  conditions of the present world would end in
  judgment of the wicked and vindication of the
  righteous, thereby ushering in a new era of
  prosperity and peace.... Prophetic eschatology
  and apocalyptic eschatology are best viewed as
  two sides of a continuum. The development from
  the one to

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• the other is not ineluctably chronological,
  however, but is intertwined with changes in
  social and political conditions. Periods and
  conditions permitting members of the protagonist
  community to sense that human effort would be
  repaid by improved fortune tended to foster
  prophetic eschatology, that is, the view that
  Gods new order would unfold within the realities
  of this world. Periods of extreme suffering,
  whether at the hands of opponents within the
  community or those of foreign adversaries, tended
  to cast doubts on the effectiveness of human
  reform and thus to abet

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• apocalyptic eschatology, with its more rigidly
  dualistic view of divine deliverance, entailing
  destruction of this world and resurrection of the
  faithful to blessed heavenly existence." Hanson,
  Apocalypses and Apocalypticism, ABD, I, 280-281

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• B. Collins
• 1. The distinctive novelty here was the belief
  in the judgment of the dead. An apocalypse like
  Daniel might still proclaim an eschatological
  kingdom of Israel, but it also promised that the
  faithful would rise in the glory, and thereby
  offered a perspective on life which was very
  different from that of the Hebrew prophets.
  Collins, Early Jewish Apocalypticism
• 2. The two problems in the discussion of an
  apocalyptic eschatology

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5. Apocalyptic Eschatology

• 2. The two problems in the discussion of an
  apocalyptic eschatology
• 2.1 The question whether there is a consistent
  apocalyptic eschatology. All the apocalypses,
  however, involve a transcendent eschatology that
  looks for retribution beyond the bounds of
  history. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination,
  9
• 2.2 ...neither the judgment of the dead nor even
  the scenario of the end of history is peculiar to
  apocalypses hence the objective that there is no
  distinctive apocalyptic eschatology.... The genre
  is not constituted by one or more distinctive
  themes but by a distinctive combination of
  elements, all which are also found elsewhere.
  Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, 9

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• A. Early Theories Paul Hanson 6th cen. BCE
• The origins of the apocalyptic must be searched
  for as early as the sixth century BC. In the
  catastrophe of the Exile the order forms of the
  faith and tradition came into crisis, and
  Israels institutions, including the religious
  institutions, collapsed or were transformed.
  Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, 343

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 1. Ancient myth and the rise of prophetic
  eschatology.
• 1.1 Because apocalypticism in it many forms
  draws so heavily upon concepts and motifs of
  ancient myth, its roots must be traced to the
  great cosmogonic myths of the second millennium
  BC. Hanson, Apocalypticism, IDBSup, 32
• 1.2 There is obvious continuity between the
  apocalyptic expectation of a final judgment and
  the prophetic day of the Lord. The idea of a
  cosmic day of judgment is widely attested in the
  prophets and the psalms (e.g., Pss 96, 98 Isa
  2.4). The apocalyptic interest in the heavenly
  council (e.g., Ps 82.1) which can be traced back
  to Canaan and Mesopotamia in the 2d millennium.
  Collins, Early Jewish Apocalypticism, ABD, I,
  284

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 2. Transition to apocalyptic.
• 2.1 The transformation of prophetic eschatology
  into apocalyptic eschatology was the gradual
  result of community crisis and national
  disintegration, circumstances which led prophets
  like Jeremiah and Ezekiel to envision redemption
  increasingly on a cosmic level through the use of
  motifs drawn from myth (Jer 4.23-28 Ezek 47).
  Hanson, Apocalypticism, IDBSup, 32

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 3. Birth of the first apocalyptic movements.
• 3.1 ...Ezekiel and Second Isaiah both were able
  to bequeath to their followers programs of
  restoration written from perspectives quite
  advanced along the continuum from prophetic to
  apocalyptic eschatology. Hanson,
  Apocalypticism, IDBSup, 32
• 3.2 The writings which seem related to this
  apocalyptic movement (2nd Isaiahs) (Isa 34-35
  24-27 56-66 Malachi Zech 9-14 Joel ?)
  spanthe period from the Exile to the latter half
  of the fifth century. There seem to be no
  apocalyptic writings from the fourth century.
  Hanson, Apocalypticism, IDBSup, 32

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 3.3 Old oracle types (Güttungen) persisted, but
  were radically altered. The old songs of the wars
  of Yahweh were transformed into the
  eschatological songs of the imminent war in which
  Yahwehs universal rule would be established. A
  new Conquest was described in terms of the
  language of the old Conquest of Israels Epic. A
  new Exodus was described in anguage of the old
  Exodus, and with bold mythological language which
  dissolved both old and new Exodus into the
  language of the battle with Yamm or Leviathan,
  dragon of chaos. The myths of creation, in short,
  were given an eschatological function. The old
  lawsuit oracle (rib) was transformed into a
  rhetorical lawsuit between Israels god and the
  gods of the nations. Royal and prophetic offices
  were democratized, and the old oracles of
  kingship and the inaugural oracles or
  confessions (autobiographical oracles) of the
  prophet proclaimed to the nation Israel. Israel
  herself was to be the prophet, the servant of the
  Lord. The people Israel was to be ambassador to
  the nations bearing the law to the peoples.
  Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, 345-346

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 3.4 Two traits or patterns that emerged One is
  the democratizing and eschatologizing of
  classical prophetic themes and forms. A second is
  the doctrine of two ages, an era of old things
  and an era of new things. Cross, Canaanite
  Myth and Hebrew Epic, 346

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• 4. Apocalypticism in the second century BC
• 4.1 ...the world view of these postexilic
  writings is significantly different from what we
  will later find in 1 Enoch and Daniel. The
  crucial difference can be seen in the nature of
  the eschatology. In Isaiah 65 the new creation is
  one where the child shall die a hundred years
  old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be
  accursed, but they will die nonetheless. There
  is no question of personal immortality. Even
  Isaiah 24-27, which speaks of the destruction of
  death and says that Gods death shall live (Isa
  26.19),

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6. Theories About the Origins of the Apocalyptic

• most probably only envisages the resurrection of
  the Israelite people, in the manner of Ezekiel
  37. There is still no suggestion that a human
  being can pass over the world of the angles or
  become a companion to the host of heaven.
  Consequently these oracles retain the
  this-worldly emphasis traditional in biblical
  prophecy. In view of this, the oracles of Isaiah
  56-66 and other postexilic prophecies are best
  regarded as examples of late prophecy, even
  though some of their themes are later taken up in
  a new context in the apocalypses. Collins,
  Early Jewish Apocalypticism, ABD, I, 284

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7. The Social Setting of Apocalypses

• A. Two primary religious orientations of
  postexilic Judaism
• 1. There is broad agreement that two primary
  religious orientations arose within postexilic
  Judaism, the priestly-theocratic perspective
  (represented by the Priestly document in the
  Pentateuch, the work of the Chronicler, and 1 and
  2 Maccabees), and the prophetic-eschatological
  orientation (represented by Daniel, in addition
  to the deutero-prophetic writings and
  Malachi...). Aune
• 2. Hanson calls these two visionary and
  hierocratic.

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7. The Social Setting of Apocalypses

• B. Nature of Community
• 1. Apocalyptic eschatology is the idiom of those
  who are oppressed and powerless and whose hopes
  appear impossible of realization within the
  existing order.... There is some agreement that
  apocalypticism in early Judaism was a
  supernaturalistic response to the social,
  political, and religious oppression experienced
  by many segments of early Judaism under foreign
  powers as well as under native representatives of
  those powers, the priestly-theocratic group.
  Aune

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7. The Social Setting of Apocalypses

• 2. Apocalyptic eschatology during the late
  Second Temple period was a widespread ideological
  matrix which gave rise to various forms of
  collective behavior. Aune
• 3. All attempts to link apocalyptic literature
  to specific sects or movements have proven
  unsuccessful. Yet it is clear that Daniel and
  other apocalypses are learned, scribal phenomenon
  produced by maskilim (the wise, Dan 11.33, 35),
  who are commonly (but unnecessarily) identified
  with the Hasidim. These scribes, only loosely
  connected with one another if at all, wrote
  apocalypses as tracts for the times in various
  situations of oppression. Aune

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8. Apocalyptic Worldview

• A. Philipp Vielhauser J.Christiaan Beker, Paul
  the Apostle, 135-136
• 1. The doctrine of the two ages with its radical
  dualism.
• 2. Pessimism and otherworldly hope, which
  expresses the fundamental thought of apocalyptic
  dualism, that is, the radical discontinuity
  between this age and the coming age.
• 3. Universalism and individualism, that is, the
  cosmic, universal scope of apocalyptic and its
  view of the person as no longer a member of a
  collective entity.

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8. Apocalyptic Worldview

• 4. Determinism and imminent expectation of the
  kingdom of God, which involves Gods prefixed
  plan of history, calculations about the end of
  history, and its periodization (four, seven, or
  twelve periods).

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8. Apocalyptic Worldview

• B. Klaus Koch J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the
  Apostle, 136
• 1. An urgent expectation of the impending
  overthrow of all earthly conditions in the
  immediate future.
• 2. The end appears as a vast cosmic catastrophe.
• 3. The time of this world is divided into
  segments.
• 4. The intro of an army of angels and demons to
  explain the course of historical events and the
  happenings of the end time.
• 5. Beyond the catastrophe a new salvation arises,
  paradisal in character and destined for the
  faithful remnant.

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8. Apocalyptic Worldview

• 6. The transition from disaster to final
  redemption takes place by means of an act issuing
  from the throne of God, which means the
  visibility on earth of the kingdom of God.
• 7. The frequent introduction of a mediator with
  royal functions.
• 8. The catchword glory is used wherever the
  final state of affairs is set apart from the
  present and whenever a final amalgamation of the
  earthly and heavenly spheres is prophesied.