The Oxford handbook of apocalyptic literature /

The contributors to this volume move away from abstract definitions of apocalyptic(ism) to carefully examine texts that involve various types of dualism, ascents to the "above," descents to the "below," and a host of other traits associated with the word "apocalyptic." They argue cogently that the "roots" of apocalyptic thought are many and varied, including Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, and Greek sources, as well as Jewish and "Christian" ones. Contributors demonstrate a remarkable grasp of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but also of the Dead Sea Scrolls and noncanonical apocalypses such as 1 Enoch and 2 and 3 Baruch. They give a thorough appraisal of modern apocalyptic writings such as the Left Behind series of Timothy LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and events such as the March 1997 suicide of the Heaven's Gate group, founded by Marshall H. Applewhite Jr. They also demonstrate apocalyptic ideas in fictional writings. A significant conclusion the contributors reach is that "the root of the misunderstanding about 'apocalyptic' is its modern conflation with the notion of the 'end of the world.'" This volume is a masterpiece with a breadth and depth of scholarship that this reviewer has not encountered elsewhere. --Joe E. Lunceford, Georgetown College