B.H. Carroll’s Pastoral Theology
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 2 – Spring 2016
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Edited by John J. Collins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 564 pages. Hardcover, $160.00.
The present volume is a compendium of essays that survey the forefront of thinking and research on apocalyptic literature. It is not concerned with the genre of apocalypse “narrowly defined,” but with the “broader category of analogous literature” (6).
As mentioned in the preface, The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature is not intended to replace the three volumes of The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism, but should be viewed as a companion volume (ix). Whereas The Encyclopedia presents a historical and more descriptive overview of apocalypticism, The Oxford Handbook is more thematic and analytical. It focuses on various aspects of apocalyptic literature and the different ways it can be interpreted. The Oxford Handbook primarily limits its scope to ancient Judaism and Christianity.
Twenty-eight essays, which correspond to individual chapters, comprise The Oxford Handbook and are divided into five parts. Part one surveys the literary and phenomenological context of apocalyptic literature. The relationships between different genres such as apocalypse, prophecy, and wisdom are assessed. Although wisdom and prophetic literature may contain apocalyptic elements and conversely apocalyptic literature may have elements of wisdom and prophecy within it, apocalypse did evolve into a distinct genre. Further, apocalyptic literature used and adapted other contemporary phenomena such as Jewish mysticism, dreams, and visions.
Part two surveys the social function of apocalyptic literature. This section begins with an explanation of how social-scientific ideas and perspectives “have and will shed new light on apocalyptic texts” (124). Philip Esler concludes that most situations that gave rise to apocalyptic literature were negative (132). The remainder of part two focuses on specific social issues that potentially gave rise to apocalyptic literature and its use by those who wrote and read it.
Part three assesses the literary features of apocalyptic literature. This section focuses primarily on rhetorical analyses of Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic literature. It concludes with a chapter on deconstruction where Erin Runions suggests that the structure of the Revelation imitates the Roman Empire in contrast to the book’s critique of empire, which would have enabled it to be used by those within the empire (236).
Part four, the largest section of The Oxford Handbook, surveys apocalyptic theology. This section covers a wide range of topics from determinism and freewill to the use of already-established claims of Torah.
Part five surveys apocalypse in the present age. This section has two strands: essays that assess modern Jewish and Christian use of ancient apocalyptic texts and essays that assess the twenty-first century apocalyptic worldview that is not necessarily directly linked to ancient apocalyptic texts.
The critique of The Oxford Handbook will be limited to the book as a unified whole because it would be impossible to evaluate the arguments and claims of each essay within a brief review such as this. There are three major strengths, first, it brings the reader to the forefront of apocalyptic scholarship and thought. With the help of a bibliography at the end of each chapter, the reader may also easily continue his research on a particular topic of interest. Second, it is sure to stimulate more thought and publications on apocalyptic literature. Many articles raise good questions and areas of interest, but are not long enough for a thorough treatment. A good example is Matthias Henze’s chapter on how the authors of apocalyptic literature related their work to the already-established claims of Torah (chapter 18). Henze only interacts with 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. His chapter leaves a need for others to pursue similar research on other apocalyptic literature. Third, part five of this book, which covers apocalypticism today, brings apocalyptic literature into the field of religious studies. This is an area that is often neglected. The study of apocalyptic literature is usually relegated to fields of biblical studies, literary studies, or theology. The Oxford Handbook should be commended for engaging in the field of religious studies.
While reading The Oxford Handbook, a number of weaknesses and needs for the field of apocalyptic literature made themselves evident. First, the section on the literary features of apocalyptic literature was surprisingly meager. Of the three chapters in this section, two were dedicated to rhetorical criticism and one to deconstruction. More chapters on other literary features of apocalyptic literature were needed, such as time and space, style and how the authors exploit the various linguistic possibilities, the roles of narration and dialogue, imagery, and repetition and recapitulation to name a few. The many areas of literary criticism available and the lack of chapters dedicated to it in The Oxford Handbook indicate the need for further research and study in the field of apocalyptic literary criticism. Second, a chapter on the effects of dating apocalyptic literature would have been helpful. Many chapters, such as chapter nine, assumed a late date for the book of Daniel (150). However, one wonders if the conclusions reached regarding literary context, phenomenological context, and social context would remain the same if the authors had taken a conservative date of Daniel. A chapter detailing the differences of interpretation based on date would have been helpful for the reader.
The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature is a compendium of essays that survey the forefront of thinking and research on apocalyptic literature. The work demonstrates that research in the field of apocalyptic literature has come a long way in the past 35 years. However, it also indicates that there is much work to be done. This book is sure to be a useful resource for graduate students and scholars alike that will hopefully stimulate further research and insights into this fascinating field.
