Apocalyptic Writings

Apocalyptic Writings are such as, like the prophecies of Daniel, their prototype, set forth in a figurative and pictorial manner the future progress and completion of the world's history, especially in its religious aspects. The two apocalyptic books received into the canon of Scripture are the books of Daniel and the Apocalypse specially so called, the Revelation of St John. But Jewish and early Christian literature produced numerous apocalypses from about 170 B.C. to 130 A.D. Most of them were attributed to famous men of old by their authors. They deal largely with the increasing troubles and trials of God's people, and their final redemption and salvation by God's mighty works or Christ's special appearance again. The Book of Enoch (q.v.) is the best known of the non-canonical Jewish apocalypses; it dates from the later Maccabee period; another is the apocalypse of Ezra. The Shepherd of Hermas (q.v.) is the most important Christian work of this kind. See Hilgenfeld, Die Jüdische Apokalypptik (Jena, 1857).