apocalypse

Revelation disclosed only to a chosen person. The term is applied to the last book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse of St John, otherwise known as Revelation.

There were many earlier writings of this kind which were supposed to reveal the end or the future state of the world. Apocalyptic writing despaired of the present, and trusted in deliverance from suffering and reward in a new age that would follow a catastrophic judgement and the end of the world.

Jewish apocalyptic literature was prompted by the silence of the prophetic voice, evil days, the failure of God's Messiah to appear, and a series of pagan rulers culminating in fearful persecution under Antiochus IV.

In the Old Testament, parts of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are apocalyptic in character. Among the noncanonical Jewish apocalypses the Book of Enoch and the Psalms of Solomon are outstanding. In the New Testament, besides Revelation, Mark 13 (and parallels in Matthew and Luke) is apocalyptic.

Christian apocalyptic writings, which are outside the canon, include The Shepherd of Hermas, who was traditionally known as one of the Apostolic Fathers. The Shepherd, which was composed in stages c. 90-150, perhaps by three different authors, is included as Scripture in some of the earliest Greek manuscripts of the Bible and was very widely regarded as scriptural in the early Church in the East, though less esteemed in the West.