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The Shore of Eternity: Considering the Apocalyptic

WHAT might a modern reader expect when opening an Apocalypse? Perhaps culturally familiar with Revelation or Daniel, or film titles such as Apocalypse Now or Armageddon, one might not actually know what to expect at all. It can evoke apathy, fanaticism or alarm - maybe all at once.

WHAT might a modern reader expect when opening an Apocalypse? Perhaps culturally familiar with Revelation or Daniel, or film titles such as Apocalypse Now or Armageddon, one might not actually know what to expect at all. It can evoke apathy, fanaticism or alarm - maybe all at once.

The world of the apocalyptic often resides at the outer limits of our imagination. It sits awkwardly at the edges of our theological comfort zone and it is easy to omit its study in favour of something else more palatable, more tangible. Nonetheless, the apocalyptic genre is impossible to ignore and it would be prudent to explore ideas about that which was and that which will be against the echo of our sacred texts. Apocalyptic literature gives us a unique window through which we are afforded a glimpse into what those who went before us thought about the world we live in and its possible endings. Through engaging with the apocalyptic, we are immersed into the Scriptures and stories which shaped early Judaism and therefore Christianity.

* Full article available in printed copies.

Julie McKinley

is development officer and general secretary of the National Bible Society of Ireland with a PhD in Jewish Christian Dialogue relating to the Hebrew Bible.