As people started sharing their most influential female biblical scholars, I started noticing that more people may be interested in apocalyptic literature and thought than I had known. Quite a few young scholars, as a matter of fact.
My impression has been that many biblical scholars haven’t cared much for research into apocalyptic writings and thought. One Fuller professor told me she thought it was “tedious.” Indeed! I have found apocalyptic research mind-numbingly difficult, but for some reason that just pushes me to look deeper.
There has, of course, been a steady stream of research coming out regarding apocalyptic literature since the 1970’s or so. Many scholars in this field have married themselves to the topic–it seems to take that level of commitment to come to some sort of understanding of these divine mysteries.
Lately, though, I have noticed apocalyptic themes being exposed in more “mainstream” scholarship–the kind that gets widespread attention from folks in various subfields. Take, for example, Douglas Campbell’s new The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul or C. Kavin Rowe’s recent World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age (speaks of Luke’s “attempt to form communities that witness to God’s apocalypse”). They must be putting something revelatory in the water over there at Duke.
Aside from this, all these bibliobloggers seem to be interested in apocalyptic literature–including many who are working on their Ph.D.’s right now (like me). That suggests to me that apocalyptic thought is starting to heat up in biblical scholarship.
Here’s a list of bloggers who have research interests in apocalyptic literature and thought. I am basing it off a combination of personal communication, listed interests on about pages, known publications, and frequency of the topic in blog posts (for Steph, her comments). Please let me know if I should remove/add any names from this list:
- Alan Bandy
- Michael Bird
- Greg Carey
- Stephen Cook
- Steph Fisher
- Philip Harland (he even teaches a course on apocalypticism)
- David Larsen
- Pat McCullough
- Brant Pitre
- Rob Reid
- Loren Rosson III
- James Tabor
- “Theophyle”
- Colin Toffelmire
- “Johannes Weiss”
- Michael Whitenton
- Danny Zacharias
Who else?
In my view, Apocalypticism is where it is at! If you don’t know Second Temple Jewish Apocalyptic and the socio-political, indeed heavily imperial context in which it arises, I would argue you have little chance of recovering the Zeitgeist of first century Palestinian Judaism, much less make coherent formulations regarding the world in which the NT texts are negotiating! But, I’m certainly not biased or anything
Feel free to add me to that list Pat (though it’s more of a side hobby than a main interest these days). I know a lot of people working in the apocalyptic literature these days, but lots of them also push back against the definitions of apocalyptic lit, suggesting that they are artificial modern contructs. The idea is that no matter how different Enoch or Daniel is from Isaiah, the authors of the so-called apocalypses thought of themselves as prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah and so on. I don’t mind the definitions as an heuristic device, but the point is an important one I think.
Oh, and Rob’s comment is totally correct, and pushes back the other direction into OT/HB studies as well. You gotta know that 2nd Temple lit front to back.
Interesting comment I received in Facebook:
“I wonder also how much of this is just ‘in the air’ since we’re still close to 2000 and now even closer to 2012, and on top of that we’re going through one of the most difficult periods of this nation’s history.”
Something to think about. I have always felt that I got into apocalyptic simply by reading 1 Enoch in a class taught by James VanderKam. It’s so cool!
No doubt, Patrick. Apocalypticism spans across the spectrum of the NT and Second Temple Literature. My interest in it began when I realized how little attention it had in comparison with Jesus and Pauline studies. What I thought would be a stroll on a scenic path has turned into an expedition through the Grand Canyon. Each corner I round explodes with new vistas full of revolutionary possibilities.
Thanks for this post.
Alan
I’m with you Rob. Frankly, I don’t understand why the aversion to apocalyptic topics in the past. I mean, I understand that many people are embarrassed by it, but scholars oughtta move past that.
Thanks, Colin. One of the things that I love about studying apocalyptic thought is that it forces me to span so many different areas typically removed from one another. Though I fancy myself a New Testament scholar primarily, I also can’t neglect texts in the Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha, later Christian origins. I also have to move beyond texts to try to understand social theory. It’s such a complicated subject.
In response to my own comment in response to Rob, I suppose I can see how many would be daunted by the scope and complicated nature of apocalyptic writings and thought. But the mind-numbing challenge of it is what keeps me going.