FREE Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Literature Essay (original) (raw)

1 Enoch is one of the foundational texts of Jewish apocalyptic literature. 1 Though not an official part of the Jewish canon, Enoch's journey into the realm of angels, and God's revelation of "all mysteries" (Enoch 59:2) regarding the end of days and the salvation of the elect do form an important scaffolding upon which subsequent Jewish apocalyptic literature is built. (Couliano 1991) Scholars believe that Enoch was composed by several different authors over the span over 200 years, from the third to first century before Christ.2 The Revelation of St. John, one of the foundational Christian apocalyptic texts (Vanderkam 1996), was written at the end of the first century AD3. It is in several ways strikingly similar to Enoch's otherworldly journey. Both texts make reference to the Lamb(s) of God, to a messianic figure who will herald the end of days, to the beasts (dragons and leviathons) who will raze the earth of sinners, and both texts describe a very similar process by which this earth will be destroyed, and replaced by the eternal "holy city." (Revelation 22:20) Because the texts share several similarities in style and symbolic usage, there is some scholarly debate as to whether or not Enoch (Book 1 and The Book of Dreams) is the template for The Revelation to St. John, or if the Revelation was written with little reference to this particular Jewish apocalyptic text (Couliano 1991). In a close reading of the two texts it is clear that Revelation and Enoch draw from a shared pool of .
apocalyptic symbols and numerological concepts. However, a careful analysis of the thematic and theological differences between the two texts provides evidence that Enoch is not, in fact, the foundational text of the Revelation to St. John. In this paper, a review of the literature regarding Enoch's influence on Revelation will be followed by an analysis of the similarities and differences in the symbols and themes of Enoch and the Revelation of St.

1. Greco-Roman Influences on Major World Religions

"The focus around Jewish apocalyptic thought is the Jewish obsession with "end times. " Though Jewish apocalyptic literature closely resembles Greek eschatology, the difference comes in the form of divine revelation. It is believed that certain figures throughout Jewish and Christian history, received revelations from God through dreams. ... Throughout the period of apocalyptic thought and literature, the Jewish population was subject to scourges of violence and oppression by outside forces and rulers. ... This harsh treatment of the Jewish population may be one of the leading causes of a...

2. The Nature and Origins of Medieval Anti-Semitism

The Jewish people originated from ancient semitic tribes that were formed well before the birth of Christ3. ... Jewish property was taken as a punishment for those who took active roles in the various peasant revolts. ... Oddly enough, it was in fact a Jew who spurred the investigation by the Pope of those very scriptures, and its discovery that it was a primary source of Judaism in the time of Christ, that is contained anti-Christian literature, came across as shocking to many of the faith. ... And it did so by incorporating anti-Jewish theology into Christian teachings. ... Jewish civil an...

3. The Scandalous Messages of James

Sophie Laws, a professor of the University of London, says that the author is someone who took the name of James, a pen name, which was a common practice in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Laws also states that the letter is from Rome, because of its similarity to other literature like 1 Peter and Clement of Rome. ... We know that the author was Jewish, he knows the Hebrews Scriptures thoroughly. ... No one is sure if the poor belong to a Christian community, we do know that the rich in the letter do not belong to a Christian community. Tamez gets this statement from knowing that the ric...

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