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The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (The Biblical Resource Series)

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John Collins is probably the foremost scholar on apocalyptic literature today. Quite rightly Collins begins his book with a definition of this genre. Apocalypticism is "revelatory liturature in a which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient." Is that all? No, there's more that Collins has in mind. This revelation discloses a transcendent reality which envisages eschatological salvation (temporal) and another supernatural world (spatial).

With this definition in mind, Collins excludes much which had been called apocalyptic literature. He excludes Akkadian literature and the more modern political apocalypticism (see
Zimbaro's _Enc of Apoc Lit_) and discounts Persian apocalypticism. Then Collins begins a survey of apocalypticism as he knows it, beginning with the Book of Enoch. The reader is then taken through the Book of Daniel and other 2nd Temple, Diaspora, and Qumran literature until one arrives at early Christianity.

Along the way, what had seemed to be the parameters of a well-defined genre of literature have expanded. When Collins begins to discuss Christian literature, it becomes apparent that that book which had lent its name to Collins' genre of literature was not a pure form of that genre. On page 269 Collins must concede that the Revelation of John is not just an apocalypse but revelation _and_ prophecy.

Collins concludes that apocalypticism was not just the work of one group or movement, but different groups during different situations aand time, and maybe there was no group or movement behind a particular piece of literature at all (p 281).

I thought Collins did an excellent job at covering how Jewish eschatology came to be. He asserts that apocalypticism did not form in a vacuum, but was instead part of tradition of biblical prophetic and wisdom literature. Collins does good work also in including the apocryphal books of 1 Enoch and 2 Esdras.

As mentioned by others, John Collins is probably the leading scholar of apocalyptic literature, as well as other intertestamental Jewish writings. This volume remains the best, basic introduction to the scope of the vast literature and how it developed over several hundred years. Collins takes just enough of a close-up to intrigue those who want to know more, but not overwhelm those who are just beginning.

As I was doing my initial research on what became my own "Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now" (1999) this book was a steady guide.

I'd also highly recommend Collins' Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora (The Biblical Resource Series) as well as his Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (Old Testament Library). Collins is a master of the introductory overview!

John Collins provides an excellent introduction of Jewish apocalyptic literature, vital to better understanding of Christian apocalyptic such as the book of Revelation. An intriguing read for anyone trying to deepen their understanding of New Testament apocalyptic literature.

I read this book some years ago (in the 80s or 90s, I think), and it was one of the most important books I have ever read for me personally. Reading the non-canonical apocalyptic literature (which Collins guided me through with The Apocalyptic Imagination and other of his works) that came from the time of the canonical apocalyptic passages (Daniel, Revelation, and others) enabled me to say that the canonical stuff was the same sort of thing as the non-canonical stuff and not something sui generis that should be interpreted in some special, non-historical way, as if it had dropped from heaven and had an origin entirely different from the non-canonical literature. In The Apocalyptic Imagination I felt I had a trustworthy guide through the entire tradition, canonical and non-canonical. I am using The Apocalyptic Imagination as one of two required textbooks for a course I am currently teaching at Northern Kentucky University entitled "Apocalyptic Visions and World Religions."