The Apocalypse: A Brief History (Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion)

191 Pages·2010·1.43 MB·English

by  Martha Himmelfarb

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The Apocalypse
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BLACKWELL BRIEF HISTORIES OF RELIGION SERIES
This series offers brief, accessible, and lively accounts of key topics
within theology and religion. Each volume presents both aca-
demic and general readers with a selected history of topics which
have had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The
word “history” is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural
and social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship
but they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood
by general readers.
Other topics in the series;
Published
Heaven Alister E. McGrath
Heresy G. R. Evans
Islam Tamara Sonn
Death Douglas J. Davies
Saints Lawrence S. Cunningham
Christianity Carter Lindberg
Dante Peter S. Hawkins
Spirituality Philip Sheldrake
Cults and New Religions Douglas E. Cowan and
David G. Bromley
Love Carter Lindberg
Christian Mission Dana L. Robert
Christian Ethics Michael Banner
Jesus W. Barnes Tatum
Shinto John Breen and Mark Teeuwen
Paul Robert Paul Seesengood
Islam 2nd Edition Tamara Sonn
Apocalypse Martha Himmelfarb
Forthcoming
The Reformation Kenneth Appold
Monasticism Dennis D. Martin
Sufism Nile Green
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The Apocalypse
A Brief History
Martha Himmelfarb
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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This edition first published 2010
© 2010 Martha Himmelfarb
Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007.
Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scient ific,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Himmelfarb, Martha, 1952–
The apocalypse : a brief history / Martha Himmelfarb.
P. cm. – (Blackwell brief histories of religion series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-1346-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-1347-2
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Apocalyptic literature–History and criticism. I. Title.
BL501.H55 2010
220¢.046–dc22
2009030164
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 10/12.5pt Meridien by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Singapore
01 2010
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For Steve, Asher, Margaret and Ben-Aviv, Ruth, and Abigail
blessing doubled and redoubled
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Chronology ix
1 Revelation in the Age of the Torah 1
2 The Book of the Watchers and Ascent to Heaven 15
3 The Book of Daniel and the Kingdom
of the Holy Ones 31
4 The Heavenly Messiah 49
5 The Heavenly Temple, the Fate of Souls after Death,
and Cosmology 75
6 Tours of Paradise and Hell and the Hekhalot Texts 97
7 Eschatology in the Byzantine Empire 117
8 Apocalyptic Movements in the Modern Era 137
Further Reading 161
Index 167
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Acknowledgments
Quotations of biblical books and 4 Ezra, unless otherwise indicated,
are taken from the Revised Standard Version Translation, Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 (2nd edition, 1971)
by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Quotations of all portions of 1 Enoch are taken from George W.
E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: A New Translation
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004). © 2004 by Augsburg Fortress.
Reprinted with permission from the publisher.
Quotations of 2 Enoch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Apo-
calypse of Zephaniah (the Anonymous Apocalypse), and the Ascen-
sion of Isaiah are taken from H. F. D Sparks, ed., The Apocryphal
Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
The quotation of the Apocalypse of Peter is taken from Wilhelm
Schneemelcher, ed., New Testament Apocrypha, Revised Edition of the
Collection Initiated by Edgar Hennecke, vol. 2, trans. R. McL. Wilson
(Cambridge: James C. Clarke; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John
Knox, 1992).
Citations of the hekhalot texts refer to Peter Schäfer with
Margarete Schlüter and Hans Georg von Mutius, Synopse zur
Hekhalot-Literatur (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1981). The texts in
this source are in Hebrew; translations are my own.
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