APOC'ALYP'TIC LITERATURE (Gk. diroicaX6r-reic,apokalylitein, to uncover, reveal). the designation of certain alleged prophecies and revelations of Jewish and Christian author ship dating from about B.C. 200 to about A.D. 200. Their main theme is the problem of the final triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Jewish apocalypses profess to reveal the future of Israel with the coming of the as the savior and avenger of God's elect. The Christian inter polations and additions, written from the point of view of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, unveil the future struggles and ultimate victory of the Church and the future state of the evil and the good. Within the-se limits large opportunity was found for treating of a variety of occult subjects. The purpose of these works was to vindicate God's ways to the faithful, who were sorely tried by the apparent triumph of the wicked, i.e., the heathen without and the irre ligious within Israel. The fundamental ideas represented are those of the Pharisaic Judaism of the popular, non-scholastic type—legalistic indeed, but full of passionate earnestness. This literature is pseudepigraphic. The various writ ings were put forth under the name of ancient worthies, long since dead, as Enoch or Moses. Hence the form of statement is largely pre dictive. But it is not difficult, in most cases, to see that the pretended prediction is but the rhsumb of past history. Where the pseudo prophecy ends and the attempt at prediction really begins. the author is seen to be dealing with his own times, and the date of the work is thus betrayed. The tone of these works is one of great assurance, well adapted to deceive the uncritical. They were once widely accepted as genuine prophecies, and as such found a warm reception in the Christian Church during the first four or five centuries. In time they began to he looked upon with suspicion, and were gradually dropped from use, except in the less enlightened circles of the Church. Several of the most important are known to-day only in such translations as the Ethiopic or Syriac, though written originally in Hebrew (Aramaic) or Greek. These works are of value to-day be cause of the insight they afford us into the growth of eschatological and Messianic doctrines among the .Tewish people just previous to the rise of Christianity, especially since these doc trines have, in a purified form, found a perma nent place in the Christian system.
The following list contains all the titles about which anything positive can he asserted. Many such works have probably been lost. (I) The Book of Enoch is a compilation from several sources. Nearly all of the book is to be dated before B.C. 63. It professes to give r:velations to Enoch of the deliverance of Israel and the coming of the Messianic Kingdom. It also con tains much about angels and supramundane matters. The hook is quoted in Jude 14. (2) The Sibylline Oracles were originally a "Jewish work under a heathen mask," in imitation of the utterances of the heathen Sibyls, but written in wretched Greek hexameter. The present col lection in fourteen hooks represents the growth from beginnings made by Hellenistic Jews in the second century E.C. The latter portions are by Christian hands. The oldest and most im portant parts are in Book iii., lines 97-828. These oracles were highly esteemed and fre quently quoted by the early Church Fathers. (3) The Psalms of Solomon. A collection of eighteen patriotic and religious psalms, written originally in Hebrew ( now extant only in Greek) shortly after Pompey made Judalt sub ject to Rome (me. 63). The apocalyptic ele ment in these is very small. Psalm xvii. con tains strong Messianic hopes. These psalms are interesting for comparison with the early Christian hymns in Luke i. and ii. (4) The Book of abilee.s, or Leplogenesis (Little Genesis), purports to he a revelation made to Moses of the course of events from Adam to Moses's own day.
The history is divided into fifty periods of fifty years each; hence the name of the book. The outline is, of course, that of Genesis, but great liberties are taken with the text. Deeds of patriarchs not approved in Genesis are even praised; the patriarchs are all strict legalists. The book was written near the beginning of the Christian era. (5) The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs gives the dying exhortations of each of the twelve sons of Jacob to his children. Each testament deals with some virtue or fault which the patriarch exemplified in his life, and also contains predictions relating to the future of his descendants. These predictive portions have been largely worked over by Christian hands. The original Jewish parts belong to the First, possibly the Second, Century B.C. (6) Liber Antiquitat um Bibliarum is the title of a pseudo-Philonic work somewhat similar to Fourth Esdras. It is perhaps pre-Christian in date. (7) The Secrets of Enoch is a portion of the once extensive Enoch literature. It is extant only in a Slavonic version. It contains a great deal about Paradise, the several heavens, angels, the secrets of creation, the millennium, and similar subjects. The first century A.D. is its most prob able date. (8) The Assumption of Moses, or Testament of Moses, written shortly after the death of Herod (n.c. 4). gives the parting com munications of Moses to his successor, Joshua, in which he unfolds the course of Israel's his tory down to the time of the successors of Herod. Incidentally the work furnishes a valu able view of the attitude of the Pharisees toward the Sadducees. (9) The Apocalypse of Baruch is one of several Baruch books once current in .Jewish circles. It dates from A.D. 50-90, and illustrates the Messianic hopes of Pharisaic Judaism just before and after the fall of Jeru salem, 70 A.D. (10) Fourth Esdras (Second Esdras in the English Apocrypha of the Old Testament) contains seven alleged visions of Ezra, the famous scribe. His grief over the hard fate of Zion is relieved by the revelation of the coining Messianic era and punishment of the wicked. The book was written by a Jew, probably about 81-96 A.D., but has been revised and added to by Christian hands. (11) The Ascension of Isaiah is a compilation containing (1) The Martyrdom, (2) The Vision, and (3) an Apocalypse treating of the history of the Church to the end of the Ncronian persecution. The compilation was made about 100 A.D. Only The Martyrdom is of Jewish origin.
The following apocalyptic works are of minor importance: (12) The various Adam, books. (13) The Testament of Abraham. (14) The Rest of the Words of Baruch. (15) The Propheey of Ilystaspes. (16) The Prayer of Joseph. (17) The Prophecy of Eldad and Modad. (1S) The Apocalypse of Elijah. (19) The Apocalypse of Zephaniah. (20) The various Noah books. (21) The Book of Zoroastcr. (22) The Book of Seth.
In the foregoing article no mention has been made of the very lafge number of apocalyptic writings of distinctly Christian origin which were produced from the Second Century onwards, to satisfy an unhealthy craving for the occult and marvelous, or to embellish the stories of the saints. For these and the "Shepherd of Hernias." see (of the Testament). For the two canonical apocalypses. The Book of Daniel and The Revelation of St. John, see the special articles treating of the same.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Deane. Pseudepiprapha (New Bibliography. Deane. Pseudepiprapha (New York. 1891) ; Schfirer, History of the Jewish People in the Times of Jesus Christ, §§ 32-33 (translation New York, 1885-91) ; article "Apoe alyptic Literature" in the Encyclopa•lia Biblica (New York, 1S99).