Eschatology in a Secular Age: An Examination of the Use of Eschatology in the Philosophies of (original) (raw)

Babylonian "Combat myth" (Gattung), 2 whose themes included "primal time" (Urzeit), "end-time" (Endzeit), creation and new creation (Clifford 2003:3). 3 These dramatic narratives were ancient Near Eastern way of thinking "philosophically" about the world. Clifford notes, Retelling one basic narrative in slightly different versions enabled ancients to reflect about the governance of the world and explain the course of history, especially the history of their own nation. Their era took for granted the existence and power of the gods and factored them into their reflection, as our era takes for granted and reckons with a different (and less ultimate) range of forces, for example, the power of ideas, of free trade, of energy resources. To do philosophy, theology, and political theory, modern thinkers employ the genre of the discursive essay rather than the narrative of the combat myth. Despite the differences, one should not forget that ancients and moderns share an interest in ultimate causes and both are intent on explaining the cosmos, the nature of evil, and the validity and the functions of basic institutions. Apocalyptic literature at bottom is not bizarre and opaque, but is rather a narrative way of reflecting about theology, philosophy, and history, and of inculcating a way of life. (2003:26) Central to ancient Mesopotamian eschatological understanding was the interpretation of the movements of the astrological constellations. The practice of astrology in ancient Babylon goes back to 3000 BCE. The Babylonian "Dominion of the Zodiac" consisted of the number twelve, which represented their gods. Twelve divisions were assigned time values of one-thousand years each to form the Dominion of the 2 See Hermann Gunkel, Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit and Endzeit: Eine religiongeschichtliche Untersuchung über Gen 1 Ap Joh 12 where he argues that Genesis 1 and Revelation 12 are adaptations of traditions ultimately from Babylon. Gunkel argued that apocalyptic literature was rooted in The Combat Myth was the normal way of thinking about the world. Examples of Mesopotamian myths include Lugal-e, Anzu, and Enuma elish. Later discoveries (from 1929) of Ugartic, Sumerian and Akkadian texts have demonstrate a link, according to Clifford, to the Biblical apocalyptic literature. "Creation" accounts were not typically of the physical order, but what emerged from the victory of a successful God was a populated universe of organized human society in service to the gods and king. 3 "Prophetic" texts from Mesopotamia typically begin with the phrase "a prince shall arise" which are prophecies after the fact (vaticinia ex eventu). Clifford notes that passages from Daniel, I Enoch, and the Sibylline Oracles follow this style. The prophecies show that "the apocalypticists were anthologists, borrowing genres such as the post-factum prediction to demonstrate that the course of history was under God's control and that in their day history as they knew it had come to an end and a new ages was about to dawn." The most relevant themes from these early works which influence the later apocalyptic literature are cosmic threat and new creation.