A companion to the premodern Apocalypse
By: edited by Michael A. Ryan
Series: Brill's companions to the Christian tradition -- VOLUME 64
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 448
ISBN-13: 9789004243095; 9789004307667
Subjects: History and criticism; Apocalyptic literature
Description: The final book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse, has been controversial since its initial appearance during the first century A.D. For centuries after, theologians, exegetes, scholars, and preachers have grappled with the imagery and symbolism behind this fascinating and terrifying book. Their thoughts and ideas regarding the apocalypse - and its trials and tribulations - were received within both elite and popular culture in the medieval and early modern eras. Therefore, one may rightly call the Apocalypse, and its accompanying hopes and fears, a foundational pillar of Western Civilization. The interest in the Apocalypse, and apocalyptic movements, continues apace in modern scholarship and society alike. This present volume, 'A companion to the premodern Apocalypse', collates essays from specialists in the study of premodern apocalyptic subjects. It is designed to orient undergraduate and graduate students, as well as more established scholars, to the state of the field of premodern apocalyptic studies as well as to point them in future directions for their scholarship and/or pedagogy.