Apocalypse

APOCALYPSE. - A prophetic book that closes the New Testament.

The title consists of the first Greek word of the text (Ἀποκάλυψις Ἱησοῦ Χριστοῦ), which does not occur again afterward. The customary form in the codices is Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου, with various additions in the minuscules and in the versions (Clementine Vulgate: Apocalypsis sancti Ioannis apostoli). The term ἀποκάλυψις (17 times elsewhere in the New Testament: Lk. 2:32, and 13 times in St. Paul, 3 times in 1 Pt.; ἀποκάλυψις: 26 times in the New Testament) means "revelation" of a hidden reality (mystery) and often has an eschatological sense; here it means: "manifestation of Jesus Christ as sovereign and judge" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:7; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Pt. 1:7-13; the verb has the same sense: Lk. 17:30).

1. THEME AND ANALYSIS

The general subject is formulated at the sound of the 7th trumpet (11:15-18): "The kingdom of the world has passed to our Lord and to his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever"; and in vv. 17-18 this "mystery of God" (10:7) is explained, equivalent to that revealed by St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15:24-28. This thematic proclamation, around which the whole complex symbolic staging unfolds, echoes throughout the book (1:5-8; 4:8-11; 5:9-13; 7:9-12; 12:10; 14:3-5; 15:3-4; 17:14; 19:6-8, 12-16; 21:22-27). The central idea is an antithesis between the two kingdoms (Church and world), between Christ and Antichrist (v.), between the elect and the reprobate; and the antithesis is periodically emphasized (B. Allo, p. LXXVI ff.). The synthesis in which this antithesis is resolved is the Judgment (understood in the biblical double sense of dominion and of the restoration of order through just retribution) which God exercises through Jesus, Lord and Judge.

The formal arrangement of the book is fairly clear. Beyond the prologue (1:1-8) and the epilogue (22:6-21), the Apocalypse is divided into three parts, the 1st concerning the present, the 2nd prophetic-eschatological, the 3rd synthetic-anagogic.

1st PART: Letters to the seven churches of Asia. In an introductory vision to the whole book, the "Son of Man" appears in glory among 7 golden lampstands (1:9-20). He dictates the letters to the 7 churches (of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea), in which he exhorts them to fervor and spiritual repentance (2-3).

2nd PART (4:1-21:8): Symbolic visions concerning the struggles and the triumph of the Church in the world. It is divided into two sections, of which the 2nd takes up and develops the 1st, both concluding with the general judgment.

The 1st Section (4-11) opens with the principal vision that serves as the supreme backdrop until the conclusion (21:8). In heaven appears the throne of God borne by 4 living creatures (Cherubim) and surrounded by 24 elders acclaiming; on the throne appears the Lamb (Jesus Christ) to whom God hands the scroll closed with 7 seals (4-5). The Lamb opens the first six seals (6): the unsealings reveal the salient lines of the divine decrees; at the first seal opened a crowned horseman on a white horse rides to victory (Jesus Christ will be the victor); at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th horsemen come forth representing the calamities (war, famine, pestilence) that will be instruments of Christ's justice destroying a fourth of the living; at the 5th the martyrs invoke divine justice, which will be fulfilled at the end; at the 6th the universal upheaval is unleashed that must precede the end. Meanwhile four angels mark on the forehead the 144,000 elect of the 12 tribes of Israel, then comes an innumerable crowd of every race, acclaiming, in white robes and with palms; having overcome tribulations, they will be rewarded (7). When the 7th seal is opened, silence falls in heaven for half an hour (8:1). The 7 trumpets (8-11) mark the execution of the secrets of the book of the 7 seals. While an angel offers the incense on the heavenly altar, from which he pours fire upon the earth, 7 angels receive 7 trumpets. At the sound of the first four trumpets, cataclysms destroy a third of creation on land, sea and springs, and of the stars. An eagle cries three "woes!". At the sound of the 5th trumpet (1st "woe!") a star, falling to earth, opens the abyss, from which come countless monstrous locusts, led by Abaddon (v.), which torment men for 5 months. At the 6th trumpet, immense hosts of horsemen kill a third of mankind; the survivors, however, are unrepentant (2nd "woe!").

Consoling interlude (10-11). A radiant angel, after 7 thunders, swears that the "mystery of God" will be fulfilled at the sound of the 7th trumpet and makes the seer eat a small open book containing the many prophecies he must deliver (10). John receives the order to measure the temple and the altar, but not the outer court which the Gentiles will trample for 42 months (3 and a half years) during the great persecution, in which two witnesses will prophesy, will be killed in "Sodom" by the Beast of the abyss and after 3 and a half days will rise again and ascend to heaven, while a tenth of "Sodom" is destroyed by an earthquake in which 7000 men perish; the survivors glorify God (11:1-13). At the 7th trumpet the proclamation of the perpetual Kingdom of God and of his Christ bursts forth (11:14-18). This 3rd "woe!" is not described: it will be in the 2nd section. The final victory of God (11:18) includes the parousia and the final judgment.

2nd Section (11:19-21:8). The ark of the covenant appears (11:19), then visions follow one another that illustrate more precisely the destinies (promulgated in 10:15-18) of the Kingdom of God (Church) until the end of the world. A radiant woman (the heavenly Jerusalem of chs. 21-22, but in her earthly state) appears in heaven, a red Dragon (or Serpent) with 7 crowned heads and 10 horns (= Satan) wants to destroy her with the newborn child (Messiah) who will reign over all peoples; but the Dragon is defeated and cast down to earth by Michael with his angels. The newborn child is taken up to the throne of God, and the woman flees into a desert for 3 and a half years, escaping the persecution of the Dragon who turns to fight "the rest of her offspring."

The array of forces ready for battle is described in a diptych vision (13:1-14:5). The Dragon raises up two instruments of his: a) the sea Beast (which rises "from the sea") with 7 heads and 10 crowned horns (political Antichrist: pagan Rome and the successive powers), whose head wounded to death is healed, and all the earth adores the Dragon; the latter enthrones the Beast, which dominates the peoples for 42 months blaspheming and persecuting the saints; b) the earth Beast (which rises "from the earth" of Asia), of less ferocious appearance, has two horns like a lamb, but speaks like the Dragon (doctrinal Antichrist) and, seducing with prodigies, induces all to adore the sea Beast and its image, of which it has the mark or number (= name) imprinted on all, which is 666 (probably: Heb. Nron Qsr, Nero Caesar). But on Zion the Lamb is encamped with his escort of 144,000 virgin men marked with his name and the Father's, who sing the new canticle.

Vision preparatory to the battle (analogous to the "seals" of ch. 6): three angels announce the threefold judgment of God (14:6-20). The 1st, who bears the "eternal Gospel," proclaims the imminent judgment; the 2nd predicts the fall of Babylon (pagan Rome); the 3rd threatens eternal fire to the worshipers of the Beast. Anticipated vision of the judgment that will crown the struggle: the Son of Man on the cloud presides over the harvest of the elect and the vintage of the reprobate.

Divine victory over the beasts and over Babylon (15-19). After the thematic proclamation (15:1-4), from the heavenly temple come 7 angels who pour from the 7 bowls of the wrath of God (analogous to the 7 trumpets) the 7 last calamities upon the empire of the Beast (15:5-16:21): when the 1st bowl is poured, a sore strikes the worshipers of the Beast; at the 2nd and 3rd the waters of the sea and rivers turn to blood; at the 4th the sun burns men and at the 5th darkness invades the kingdom of the Beast, but men remain unrepentant; at the 6th three demons gather against God all the kings of the earth at Armageddon (v.) where they will be defeated (Christ the Judge announces himself: 16:15); at the 7th horrible earthquake and hail convulse the earth, but men remain unrepentant: God promulgates the destruction of Babylon.

This destruction is described in 17:1-19:10. One of the 7 angels of the bowls shows great Babylon as a sumptuous harlot seated on the sea Beast; all the kings fornicate with her, who becomes drunk on the blood of the saints. He explains the "mystery": the Beast is Rome ("7 mountains")

with its 7 emperors (from Nero to Domitian, it seems), the Beast itself is one of the 7 and will be the 8th (continuator of the series, which reproduces Nero); the 10 horns are 10 kingdoms dependent on the Beast with which they will fight the Lamb, but they will be conquered by him and will destroy the prostitute Babylon. Another angel announces the fall of Babylon for her wickedness; another describes the laments of the kings, merchants and sailors (18:9-20; cf. Ezek. 26-27), matched by the canticle of heavenly jubilation: alleluia! (19:1-8). Epilogue: the revealing angel forbids the seer to adore him (19:9-10).

The two Beasts are then defeated (19:11-21): the white horse reappears ridden by the Word of God crowned and with his garment blood-stained, followed by the heavenly armies; the kings gathered with their armies (cf. 6th bowl) are slaughtered by the sword that comes out of the mouth of the Word, and the two Beasts are cast into the "lake of fire."

Satan is finally defeated (20:1-10): he is first imprisoned for a thousand years (a long and indeterminate duration) while Christ reigns with his martyrs and saints (14:1-5): this is the "first resurrection" (spiritual). Then Satan, released, hurls Gog and Magog against the city of the saints (Ezek. 38), but "fire from heaven" devours these last enemies, and Satan is cast into the "lake of fire" forever.

After the resurrection of the dead, the universal judgment takes place ("the books," 20:12-15) before the throne of God: the wicked are cast into the "lake of fire" ("second death"), and the saints exult with God in the new Jerusalem (20:11-21:8).

3rd PART (21:9-22:5): The holy Jerusalem is described (shown by one of the 7 angels of the bowls), city of God and bride of the Lamb, opposed to the harlot Babylon; it is a transcendent image of the Church once her glorious aspect is broken, whereas in ch. 12 she is in her militant phase. She comes down from heaven, splendid and immense; God and the Lamb are her temple and her light; men in earthly life find in her the means of grace (river and trees of life), and in the future life full beatitude in the divine vision.

In the epilogue (22:6-21) Jesus promises his imminent coming (22:12, 20).

After the parenetic introduction of chs. 2-3, the A. depicts in allegorical form the future or eschatological history, but in close connection with the present ("synthetic" eschatology), in accordance with the canon of true prophecy; he teaches that the Kingdom of God and of Christ is in act, and that now are "the last times" in which God and Christ overcome the last violent resistances and aggressions of the defeated Enemy: already the judgment of the perverse world is being executed, preluding the final judgment, and even now the faithful raise themselves spiritually to the "holy Jerusalem" in expectation of reigning there eternally, free from every temptation and sorrow, with God and the Lamb. He describes the messianic age, in which persecutions and tribulations give occasion for faithful "testimony" after the example of Jesus (1:5), until the judgment of God takes the place of human tribunals (cf. John 3:14-21; 5:20-29; 8:34-36; 15:18-27; 16:16-33; 17:9-23).

The theology of the A. resolves itself into a Christological-soteriological poem. The arduous and contested redemption of humanity is outlined in seven salient aspects or tableaux: God on the throne with his angels as ministers, the Lamb (Jesus) and his followers, Satan with his monsters, the earthly powers with their pomp, the battle, the judgment, the glory. The Lamb (v.) immolated and glorious is the fulcrum of the drama; earth and heaven look to him (cf. O. Kuss, Die Theologie des N. T., 2nd ed., Regensburg 1937, pp. 361-81). The A., transposing onto the eternal plane the symbolism and prophecy of the Old Testament, is the concluding synthesis of the ideas and hopes of the New Testament, and at the same time is the new prophecy of the new and final time.

2. AUTHENTICITY AND CANONICITY

The author calls himself John (1, 1. 4. 9; 22, 8), presents himself with the prestige of an undisputed master to the churches of Asia, and by his language reveals himself as a Jew. From the 2nd century onward, therefore, writers and Fathers identify him without hesitation with the apostle John. Justin (C. Tryph. 81, 4) is explicit in this sense, and the importance of his testimony will be pointed out by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, 18) and by St. Jerome (De viris ill., 9). The Muratorian canon (line 57) sanctions the Johannine authorship of the A., which St. Irenaeus cites 22 times, often naming John as the author. This is then often attested by Clement of Alexandria and especially by Origen, St. Hippolytus (De Antichristo), St. Cyprian. With the exception of the presbyter Gaius (v. ALOCI), who dared to attribute it to Cerinthus, since in opposing Montanism he fought all the Johannine writings, the Latins never had doubts on the matter: Jerome affirms it, adding with much exaggeration: «Graecorum ecclesiae Apocalypsim Joannis... non suscipiunt» (Ep. 129 ad Dardanum, 3).

In the East, in fact, doubts first appear with Dionysius of Alexandria (d. 265), who, in order to rebut the millenarianism (v.) of Nepos bishop of Arsinoe, wished to attribute the book, relying on internal criticism (divergences between the A. and the Fourth Gospel), not to the apostle but to another John. And in the 4th-5th centuries the Antiochene school seems to deny the authenticity and canonicity of the A.: St. Cyril of Jerusalem omits the A. from his canon; St. John Chrysostom and Theodoret, St. Aphrahat and the Peshitta seem to ignore it. Hence the strange conclusion of Eusebius (Hist. eccl., III, 25) that the A. is to be placed either among the undisputed canonical books (homologoumena) or among the spurious ones (since the discussion hinged on authenticity) «according to opinions», and he opines that the author of the A. could be «John the Presbyter».

On the other hand, the Alexandrians St. Athanasius, Didymus, St. Cyril, together with St. Methodius of Olympus and St. Epiphanius, affirm the authenticity and canonicity of the A. Among the Cappadocians, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Amphilochius do not dare to include it in the canon; but St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa are, without hesitation, with the Alexandrians (N. B. Stonehouse, The Apocalypse in the Ancient Church, Goes 1929).

The uncertainties lasted in the East a little more than a century, and already well before the Trullan Synod (692) the apostolicity and canonicity of the A. of John was admitted by all the Greeks and Syrians, so that today the A. is in the canon of all the Eastern heretical or dissident churches.

In the 16th century, Erasmus renewed the doubts; Luther repudiated the A., which however the other Protestants retained. But in the 18th century liberal Protestants reject the traditional thesis, denying to John the apostle and evangelist the authorship of the A. After the Tübingen critics (O. Pfeiderer), many defined the A. as a Judeo-Christian work written around 50 or 60 by an unknown author or by the apostle John (distinguished from the evangelist): thus J. Weiss, O. Holtzmann, A. Jülicher; R. H. Charles differentiates John «the seer» both from the «presbyter» and from the apostle. But A. Harnack maintains the «critical heresy» that assigns the Fourth Gospel and the A. to the same author, identifying this author, however, with John «the presbyter». More exogoric, J. Behm (in his commentary, as in the 8th ed. of P. Feine, Einleitung in das N. T., Leipzig 1936) maintains that the author of the entire A., as of the Fourth Gospel, is the «apostle John, son of Zebedee».

Not a few «critics» assert that the A. originated from the fusion of various writings, resulting from the compilation of one or more redactors. Already H. Grotius (1644) discovered in the A. ten fragments. E. Vischer distinguishes in it (1886 and 1895) various superimpositions upon an earmitive Jewish source; F. Spitta (1889) discovers in it three Apocalypses, two Jewish and one Christian; and C. A. Briggs (1895) six Apocalypses and four redactions. D. Völter (1904 and 1911) finds in it two Apocalypses: one by John Mark and one by Cerinthus. The fragmentary tendency, however, is now on the decline among critics. W. Bousset, R. H. Charles, A. Loisy, E. Lohmeyer, as well as the Catholics Th. Calmes and A. Lemonnyer, rise up against the partisans of fragmentation (E. Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Joh., pp. 181-91), while nevertheless admitting that the author of the Apocalypse inserted into it fragments of earlier writings.

In fact the internal examination of the Apocalypse cannot leave any doubt as to its unity. The architectural unity of the book is evident, in which every part, bound by the law of concatenation (Allo, pp. LXXIII-LXXV) and articulated by numerical symbolism (the whole work is distributed in septenaries, each of which is divided into two series of three and four members: Allo, pp. LXXXI, XCIII), studded with the return of certain dominant symbols (the "Lamb" from ch. 5 to ch. 22, the "Beast" from ch. 11 to ch. 20, etc.), is inseparable from the whole, put together without any hiatus (notwithstanding 3:22; 11:19; 15:1). Quite different from the chaotic compilations of the apocryphal apocalypses, the Apocalypse presents a coherent and homogeneous doctrine. The style, with its strange anomalies, is identical from beginning to end; the vocabulary presents everywhere the same characteristic terms (e.g. παντοκράτωρ and θρόνος from the first to the last chapter, etc.). Singular thematic expressions link the introduction to the conclusion (1:1 and 22:6; 1:3 and 22:7-10; 1:8 and 22:13; 2:11 and 20:6; 3:12 and 21:2) and the other sections among themselves (1:6 and 5:10; 3:3 and 16:15; 12:9 and 20:2; etc.). Cf. Th. Zahn, Ein letztes Wort über die Einheitlichkeit und Echtheit der johanneischen Apokal., in Neue kirchliche Zeitschrift, 37 (1926), pp. 749-68;

Ph. Carrington, The Meaning of the Revelation, London 1931: Some overly systematic exegetes go so far as to stiffen this literary unity into a constant rhythmic structure, such as A. Olivier, who discovers at the basis of the entire composition of the Apocalypse the numerical devices 888 and 666. A little less arithmetical is R. [J.] Loenertz who, after having rightly illustrated how the whole work is divided into 7 septenaries, maintains that each septenary is subdivided into 8 minor sections and finds everywhere the literary artifice of intercalation (expressed by the formula A-B-A).

The internal difficulties adduced by modern "critics" to deny the identity of author between the Fourth Gospel (with the Johannine epistles) and the Apocalypse are the same ones produced in the 3rd century by Dionysius of Alexandria: differences of composition, of ideas, of style. The diversity is certainly notable, but it is largely explained by the difference of literary genre and of subject matter. On the other hand, characteristic affinities of thought and form appear between the two works. The doctrine of both issues into a transcendent eschatology, is hinged on the basic ideas of (eternal) life, light, the Lamb and the Shepherd, the Word of God (only Jn. 1:1-14 and 1 Jn. 1:1 and Rev. 19:13), divine judgment, two opposing kingdoms (God and Satan, heaven and world). Common is the author's disposition and outlook, common the dramatic and spiritual conception, common the literary procedure of progressive parallelism and of concatenation between the parts, common are various "Johannine" terms (ζωή, ἀλήθεια, ἐντολή, μαρτυρεῖν and μαρτυρία, νικῆν, etc.). Therefore critics such as A. Harnack and W. Bousset acknowledge that the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse come from the same "school of Johannine style." Historical testimonies and internal indications therefore agree in declaring John the Apostle the author of the Apocalypse.

3. LITERARY CHARACTER, LANGUAGE AND TEXT

The Apocalypse is connected, by its allegorical-symbolic form as well as by its general theme ("the age to come": hā-'ōlām hab-bā'), to apocalyptic literature (v.). But, in this literature, it constitutes a unique case: it is in fact true prophecy; pseudonymity is therefore excluded from it, as is every deceptive artifice and every servile imitation. The Apocalypse was born from a true vision, and from a divine command to narrate that vision (K. Schneider, Die Erlebnisschheit der Apok. des Johannes, Leipzig 1930).

Although it presents itself to us in the form of a single vision unfolding in several acts and many scenes (the only transition is the very frequent formula: "and I saw," "after this I saw"), it may be held that John had various visions at different times. According to St. Thomas, the visions of the Apocalypse are of the imaginative type (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 175, a. 3, ad 4), and St. Teresa well observes (Vita, ch. 28) that the imaginative vision and the intellectual vision occur almost always together (cf. St. Thomas, op. cit., 2a-2ae, q. 173, a. 2, ad 2). One has the impression that many images are purely intellectual, because of their notable complexity; they are "contemplated thoughts" (W. Förster, in Neutestamentliche Forschungen, 104 [1932], pp. 279-310). But on the whole the vast symbolic drama lacks neither plastic realism nor coherence. It is a celestial liturgy (J. Peschek), of the type of the Sunday synaxis of the time (J. C. Hedley, The Holy Eucharist, ch. 10), onto which is grafted God's judgment on the adverse powers and the triumph of the Lamb with his faithful (B. Brinkmann, De visione liturgica in A. s. Ioannis, in Verbum Domini, 11 [1931], pp. 335-42). John wrote what he saw and heard (22:8): the voice he hears is sometimes that of Jesus (1:10-13; 4:1; 21:5-8; 22:12-16), but more often (and this coincides with apocalyptic usage) it is that of an angel (15 times, from 5:2 to 22:6-11). The seer weeps (5:4), is astonished (17:6) or stunned (1:17), above all he adores and prays (22:8-9, 17, 20).

And everything is seen in unity sub specie aeternitatis. A vast allegorical drama of the victorious Kingdom of God, the Apocalypse presents in a transcendent degree the triple unity of action, time and place. In the rapid pressing of the scene-visions against the two-level scenic backdrop (heaven and earth), the plot develops in lightning-fast and total contrasts, up to the catastrophe and the final triumph, foreseen from the very opening. Sluggish earthly time, conjoined with celestial eternity, is concentrated in the "last times" (1:1, 19; 22:6, 10, 20). In the changing scenery there is one unchanging focal center: the celestial City-Sanctuary with the throne of God, and in the midst the Redeemer Lamb, who is the temple and the lamp of heaven (21:22-23). The drama is almost solely visual and consists in the succession of tableaux with few but powerful lines: Van Eyck's polyptych (the Mystic Lamb) at Saint-Bavon in Ghent corresponds to the pictorial character of the Apocalypse. But dialogue is missing from it, supplied by frequent choruses and arcane music (5:9-11; 14:2-3).

The symbolic images, supplying the inadequacy of human language, give prominence to the spirituality of the "revelation." The seer draws them, not from the Jewish apocalypses which are foreign to him in tone, spirit and doctrine, but from the sacred books of the Old Testament (J. Freundorfer and J. Michl, against R. H. Charles). In 405 verses, the Apocalypse has fully 219 references to the Old Testament; on the other hand, only in about twenty passages can some connection with apocryphal apocalypses be found. Its models are principally the last Prophets: Ezekiel (the background vision is in Ez. 1:4-28; cf. Is. 6:1-4; 24:23) and Daniel (Dan. 7-12), followed by Zechariah and Joel; it refers often also to the Mosaic books and the Psalms.

Of the New Testament it utilizes the "synoptic apocalypse" (Mt. 24; Mk. 13; A. Wikenhauser, Der Sinn der Apok., pp. 5-15), and in its Christology it recalls St. Paul (1:5: Col. 1:18). But even while continuing the furrow of the Prophets and of the Gospel, the Apocalypse has pure originality in its overall texture, and in adapting the earlier symbols to its high Christian theme it completes and transforms the prophetic symbols; it is a new and higher prophecy. A. Wikenhauser exaggerates in calling the Apocalypse the "book of Daniel of the New Testament."

The biblical coloring and originality must above all be asserted against those who make the A. a derivative of Hellenistic syncretism through cosmogonic influences (H. Gunkel, Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit, Göttingen 1895, reprinted 1921) or astrological ones (F. Boll, Aus der Offenbarung Johannis, Leipzig-Berlin 1914; id., Sternglaube und Sterndeutung, ibid. 1918, 2nd ed. 1926): J. Freundorfer has learnedly refuted such theories.

The style is unmistakable. Utterly simple, it is solemn and majestic, often even pathetic; monotony alternates with emphasis, since the soul oscillates between adoration and terror; the song periodically transforms from invocation into paean. The phrases are juxtaposed (parataxis); the period has parallelism as its basis, which often gives it a rhythmic appearance. But the theory of R. H. Charles, that the A. is for the most part a poetic composition distributed in strophes, is unfounded. In the symbolic scenes succeeding one another, parallelism gives way to a characteristic "spiral" progression (Allo): the description, first sketched, is taken up again to be completed. There is constant, as in the Fourth Gospel, the procedure of syncrisis, antithesis of the "contrappasso," spontaneous moreover where the divine Judgment is described.

The language, from the grammatical side, is the most singular known among Greek literary writings. It is disconcerting for the frequent failures of agreement in cases (e.g., 1:4, 5, 15; 2:20) and for strange constructions. The solecisms of the A. pose a problem, which today is generally resolved by adducing the Semitic character of the seer, inexperienced in Greek, into whose grammatical patterns he could not translate the thought that he mentally expressed in Aramaic formulas. The A. is ignorant, for example, of the genitive absolute and the narrative "and" frequent in the Fourth Gospel (cf. G. Sacco, La hoinè del Nuovo Testamento e la trasmissione del sacro Testo, Rome 1928, pp. 100-14). But there has also been much exaggeration in condemning the language of the A. The disagreements of cases are explained by the frequent parentheses that break the period, giving rise to "pendent nominatives." Anacolutha abound, but they are always explained by a Semitic conceptual substratum.

The lexicon of the A. presents no difficulty: out of 913 words (of which 108 are foreign to the other books of the New Testament), it presents only 6 not found in other Greek texts (hapaxlegomena). Singular is only the almost absolute lack of the most used particles, and the semantic modification of various terms, under the influence of the Semitic vocabulary. In vain has an attempt been made to reconstruct a Hebrew original (M. Mieses, Hebräische Fragmente aus dem jüdischen Urtext der Apok. des hl. Johannes, in Monatschrift für Gesch. u. Wissenschaft des Judentums, 74 [1930], pp. 345-62).

The text has come down to us in 252 Greek manuscripts, of which only 8 are uncial (several of them lacunose) and about ten cursives are earlier than the 11th century; among the complete ones the oldest is the Sinaiticus (4th century), but the most faithful (least retouched) is the Alexandrinus (cod. A, 5th century). The Chester Beatty papyrus (edited by F. G. Kenyon, London 1934) of the 3rd century contains A. 9:10-17:2, and confirms the primacy of cod. A (M.-J. Lagrange, in Revue Biblique, 43 [1934], pp. 488-92). The textual criticism of the A. is today the most precise that we have for a biblical book, thanks to the gigantic works of H. C. Hoskier, Concerning the text of the Apocalypse, 2 vols., London 1929. Cf. H. A. Sanders, The Beatty Papyrus of Revelation and Hoskier's Edition, in Journal of Biblical Liter., 53 (1934), pp. 371-80.

4. PLACE AND TIME OF COMPOSITION; ADDRESSEES

John declares that he had his vision on Patmos, an island of the Aegean, where he was exiled for having preached Christ (1:9), and this indication (which directly refers to the vision, not to the redaction of the work) gives the orientation for establishing the date.

Many "critics," after F. C. Baur, place the persecution alluded to (1:9) and therefore the composition of the A. at the end of the reign of Nero (between 65 and 68), basing themselves on three indications: Jerusalem and the Temple still figure as standing (11:1-2), the Beast certainly alludes to Nero (13:18 and 17:10), the language of the A. supposes several decades of distance from that, much advanced, of the Fourth Gospel (thus A. Hilgenfeld, J. B. Lightfoot, F. J. A. Hort, J. J. Scott).

But historical tradition places the composition of the A. at the end of the reign of Domitian, around 95, and if, for once, the "critics" strive to anticipate its date, it is only to detach the A. from the Fourth Gospel. On the symbols of the Temple (Church) and of Nero (Antichrist) no proof can be established. Clearly, on the other hand, St. Irenaeus attests (Adv. Haer., V, 30, 3): "The vision (of the A.) happened not long ago, but almost in our own century, at the end of the empire of Domitian," and so do Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Victorinus of Pettau (In Ap., 10, 11; 13, 10), Eusebius (in the Chronicon he places the A. in the year 14 of Domitian: A.D. 95) and St. Jerome (De viris ill., 9: A.D. 95). Some late conjecture, advanced by St. Epiphanius and by Apringius (under Claudius) or by the apocryphal Acts of John and by Theophylact (under Nero), does not invalidate the ancient and constant tradition (cf. R. Schütz, Die Offenbarung des Johannes und Kaiser Domitian, Göttingen 1933).

The letters to the 7 churches (chaps. 2-3) suppose the conditions prevailing at the end of the 1st century: the Asian churches appear organized and flourishing, after having overcome persecutions, and in part fallen from their primitive fervor; a generation seems to have passed since the time of the Pauline epistles.

Since therefore the A. precedes the Fourth Gospel by barely a lustrum, the difference of language between the two works must be explained, because, if John had not well assimilated Greek until old age, it does not seem that he could have shown himself a good master of the language four or five years later. Some seek the solution in the harsh conditions of the exile of Patmos, where the Apostle did not have sufficient time and leisure to watch over his style, whereas later at Ephesus he wrote the Gospel calmly, taking care with its wording. Most (H. B. Swete, J. H. Moulton, E. Jacquier, L. Radermacher, M. Meinertz, P. Gächter) hold that the A. presents the language of John in its raw state, while the form of the Fourth Gospel would have been polished or retouched by a secretary or reviser employed by the Apostle; and this can well be reconciled with the first explanation (A. T. Robertson).

The A. is a letter to the Christians of proconsular Asia represented by the 7 churches (1:11). John names the 7 churches (a symbolic number, expressing totality) with which he is in closer relation, omitting some important ones (Miletus, Hierapolis, Magnesia) while including some secondary ones (Thyatira, Philadelphia). The hypothesis that the names of the 7 churches were chosen on the basis of geographical location, as W. Ramsay wants, The Letters to the seven Churches of Asia, London 1904, is hardly probable.

The prophetic-epistolary message of John has the purpose of strengthening in faith and comforting in hope; it seeks to forearm the faithful, tending toward relaxation, against the persecution that announces itself ever more violent, describing the struggles and the triumph of the Kingdom of God: it is an exhortation to perseverance and to "martyrdom" amid earthly tribulations, it is a proclamation of certainty and of eternity. The gaze of the seer ranges beyond the Domitianic persecution, and embraces

(from Trésors des bibliothèques de France, 1938, pl. 6).
APOCALYPSE - St. John on Patmos. Miniature from a book of hours according to the use of Paris: ms. lat. 1176, fol. 14 (15th cent.), in the National Library of Paris.

the immense conflict of all times between the mystical Christ and the world of Satan: « Persecutio quam sancta Ecclesia toto terrarum orbe patietur, universa scilicet civitas Christi ab universa diaboli civitate » (Augustine, De civitate Dei, XX, 11). Only one thing matters here below: to conquer (2:7, 26; 3:12, 21; 21:7); woe therefore to the lukewarm and the cowardly (3:15-16; 21:8). But the anxious vigil, the anguished waiting, the bloody struggle, will be turned into joy and glory (cf. Jn. 16:16-22); the praying groan will be followed by the song of triumph. The flashing "revelation" of the A. is, today as yesterday, of quivering relevance (E. Riggenbach, Die Bedeutung der Offenbarung Johannis für die Gegenwart, Basel 1926; Dieu Vivant, fasc. 1 [1946], pp. 5-9).

5. INTERPRETATION

The obscurity of the A., inseparable from prophecy and even more from the allegorical-symbolic genre, noted moreover by the seer himself (13:18; 17:9; "book with the 7 seals") creates countless difficulties for exegesis (St. Jerome, Ep. 53 ad Paulinum: « Apocalypsis Ioannis tot habet sacramenta quot verba »). The enigmas were lesser for the addressees and the first readers, who were aware of various allusions to events and situations of the time, and familiar with certain symbolisms. However, no exegetical tradition has been preserved except in a fragmentary state. Already from the 2nd cent. systems of interpretation arise that are more influenced by Jewish apocalyptic ideas than conscious of the guiding lines of the prophetic representation and of spiritual symbolism. The many systems into which Catholic exegesis of the A. has divided can be reduced to four, which still have supporters.

1) The eschatological (endgeschichtlich) is the oldest and still today the most widespread: the A. (from ch. 4 to the end) predicts the future events of the end of the world (persecutions and calamities, apostasies, Antichrist, last judgment).

The first writers "judaized" (Jerome, In Isaiam, intro. to bk. XVIII) falling into literal millenarianism (Papias, St. Irenaeus, St. Justin, St. Hippolytus, Tertullian, etc.), down to the first commentator included (the commentaries of Melito and Hippolytus are lost), Victorinus of Pettau, who moreover inaugurates the theory of recapitulation. Eschatological, but without millenarianism, are the Greek commentaries of Andrew of Caesarea, Oecumenius (text discovered at Messina in 1901 by F. Dickamp: cod. S. Salvatore 99 edited by H. C. Hoskier, Ann Arbor 1928), Arethas; among the Latins most of them, from Apringius, St. Gregory the Great, St. Bede, Alcuin, St. Beatus of Liébana, Haimo (d. 853), down to St. Albert the Great (that is, Hugh of St. Cher: J.-M. Vosté, in Angelicum, 9 [1932], pp. 328-35) and Denis the Carthusian; in the 16th and 17th cent. F. de Ribera, B. Pereyra, B. Viegas, St. R. Bellarmine, C. a Lapide, J. Mariana, G. S. Menochio, A. Escobar y Mendoza, J. de Sylveira; in our days A. Bisping, F. Kaulen, R. Cornely, J. Corluy, L. C. Fillion, M. Sales, J. Sickenberger, S. Rosadini, A. van der Heeren, among the Protestants J. C. K. Hofmann and Th. Zahn. Cf. H. Rongy, in Revue ecclés. de Liège, 23 (1931), pp. 92-95, 158-65.

2) The ancient historical (zeitgeschichtlich) is almost the opposite of the preceding one: the A. describes symbolically the struggle of Judaism and paganism against the Church, ended with the triumph of the Church and the fall of pagan Rome; the prophetic cycle of the A. would be fulfilled with the 4th and 5th cent. Proposed by J. Henten (1574), then by A. Salmeron (d. 1585), it was accentuated and brought into vogue by L. de Alcázar (v.). J. B. Bossuet, A. Calmet, De Vuilleret, M. Aberle, F. Allioli, L. Bacuez, J. Schäfer-M. Meinertz, L. Billot adhered to it.

Quite different is the modern rationalistic "zeitgeschichtlich" school (to which the Catholics P. Touilleux and A. Gelin partly adhere) which sees in the A. only allusions to contemporary history (Nero): E. Renan (L'Antéchrist, Paris 1871), O. Pfleiderer, F. Spitta, E. Vischer, D. Völter, W. Beyschlag, H. J. Holtzmann, C. Erbes, A. Loisy. On their hypotheses cf. L. Brun, Die römischen Kaiser in der Apok., in Zeitsch. für neutest. Wissenschaft, 26 (1927), pp. 128-51.

3) The universal historical (kirchengeschichtlich) holds that the A. embraces all times. Berengaudus (9th cent.), Rupert of Deutz (12th cent.) and Alexander of Bremen (13th cent.) find in it the various ages of the world from creation onward. Joachim of Fiore inaugurates the theory of the (seven) epochs of the Church with the crowning of a spiritual millenarianism (cf. W. Kamlah, Apokalypse und Geschichtstheologie: Die mittelalterliche Auslegung der Apok. vor Joachim von Fiore, Berlin 1935); many follow him, from the movement of the "Spirituals" to various recent Protestant sects.

Preceded by the Franciscans Alexander of Bremen (d. 1271) and Peter Auriol (d. 1322), Nicholas of Lyra (1329) sees in the A. the chronological exposition (in seven epochs) of the whole history of the Church. This interpretation had great vogue, having been launched by Luther (1534) among the Protestants, by B. Holzhauser (d. 1658) among the Catholics (among the most recent: Lafont de Sentenac, P. Drach, F. Tiefenthal, M. A. Gallois, F. Gutjahr). This superficial system becomes supremely arbitrary when it chops the prophecy up into news items, according to a method that still seduces many improvised exegetes (S. Sansi, Il Regno di Cristo... secondo l'Apoc., 2 vols., Rome 1899; J. Chevalier, L'Apoc. et les temps présent, Rome 1907; etc.; P. Clangor, La grande guerra, massoneria, bolscevismo e l'avvenire del mondo nelle visioni profetiche dell'A., Brescia 1937; W. Muller-Jurgens, "Apokalypse", Die Geheime Offenbarung des Johannes, Bern-Leipzig 1938; Fortunato della Valletta, Apocalypse de St Jean, Ottawa 1939; J. du Plessis, Le sens de l'histoire, II, Paris 1939; L. Moreno Mora, La Iglesia Católica a través del Apocalipsis, Quito 1939; etc.).

4) The recapitulative is hinted at or implicit in the best Latin representatives of the 1st system (e.g. Bede, Alcuin); it is the only one, together with the eschatological, that can be called traditional. The A. does not set out future events in a continuous progressive series, but describes certain supreme events of the struggle between Christ and Satan, repeating in different symbols the same realities until their maturation and conclusive outcome: it is the Kingdom of God militant and finally triumphant. Hinted at by Victorinus of Pettau, the recapitulatio is formulated and applied by the Donatist Tyconius (ca. 380), admitted and explained by St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, XX, 8) who establishes sure exegetical principles: the A. predicts the guiding lines of the spiritual history of humanity from the Incarnation to the end of the world, without lingering over particular external contingencies: the economy of the New Testament unfolds there in its salient lines of harsh conflict at last victorious between "the two cities", as the Gospel presents it (Mt. 10:16-39; Lk. 10:1-24; 17:20-37; 18:7-8; cf. Jn. 15-17). Augustine adds: « Sic eadem multis modis repetit, ut alia atque alia dicere videatur, cum aliter haec ipsa dicere vestigatur » (ibid., XX, 17).

This theory, represented still by Primasius, Cassiodorus and Ambrose Autpert, then received from Abbot Joachim an artificial application, aggravated later by the Protestants N. Collado (1581) and J. Coccius (1668). Today it is restored in its pure and traditional form by B. Allo (1921), who well demonstrates how chs. 12-20 are a parallel development of chs. 4-11, and by A. Merk, Compendium introductionis in S. Scripturae libros (of Cornely, 9th ed.), Paris 1927, pp. 794-798, and De compositione A., in Verbum Domini, 8 (1928), pp. 211-17; cf. H. Höpfl-B. Gut, Introductio specialis in Novum Testamentum, Rome 1938, pp. 521-22. Conservative Protestants adhere to it: E. Lohmeyer; H. E. Hill, Mystical studies in the A., London 1932.

This system, which better safeguards the prophetic (spiritual) and unitary character of the Apocalypse, must incorporate the nucleus of truth of the first three. The Apocalypse is eschatological, not a detailed prediction of universal history; but the "last times" must be understood in the prophetic and apostolic sense: they are the messianic age, the definitive religious era. Most of the symbols refer first of all to the persecutions of the Roman Empire, and, like every prophecy, the Apocalypse was a writing of contemporary relevance; but the struggle between pagan Rome and the Church depicts and foretells the successive phases of the perpetual the struggle between the satanic powers and Christ, who will ultimately triumph in his Church (Tychonius, Liber regularum, IV: «Dum speciem narrat in genus transit»), v. ABADDON; ALFA E OMEGA; ANTICRISTO; ARMAGEDDON; DRAGONE; NERONE; TESTIMONI, I DUE.

BIBLI: L'A. ha avuto innumeri commentatori dal sec. VIII a oggi; i più notevoli sono stati nominati sopra. B. Allo, St. Jean: L'A., Parigi 1921, passa in rassegna (pp. CCXVIII-CCXLVII) i commenti anteriori al 1920. Il miglior commento cattolico moderno è questo di Allo (3ª ed. 1933), di cui C. Laverne ha dato un compendio (Parigi 1930). Altri commenti cattolici (dopo il 1920): I. Rohr, Die geheime Offenbarung des hl. Johannes (1915), 4ª ed. Bonn 1932; C. Martindale, The A. of st. John, Londra 1922; J. Schäfer, Die Apokalypse des hl. Joh., Steyl 1926; O. Cohaus, Säberliche auf Patmos, München-Gladbach 1927, 2ª ed. Klosterneuburg 1938; R. Eaton, The A. of st. John, Londra 1930; C. Bonavia, L'A. di Giovanni, Bari 1933; J. Trepat, A. de s. Jean, Barcellona 1936; A. Van Delft, A. van den H. Joannes, Nimega 1936; D. S. Sebastiano, Die geheime Offenbarung des hl. Johannes, Città d. Vaticano 1936; A. Gelin, L'A., in L. Pirot, La Sainte Bible, XII, Parigi 1938; O. Karrer, Die geheime Offenbarung, Einsiedeln 1938; J. Stahelin, Die A., San Gallo 1939; J. Sickenberger, Erklärung der Johannesapokalypse, Bonn 1940 (2ª ed. 1942); A. Van der Heeren, L'A., Parigi 1941; K. Rösch, Die Offenbarung des hl. Johannes, Paderborn 1941; P. Ketter, Die Apokalypse, Friburgo in Br. 1942; H. M. Féret, L'Apoc. de s. Jean. Vision chrétienne de l'histoire, Parigi 1946; J. [R.] Loenertz, The Apocalypse of st. John (trad. di H. J. Carpenter, dal francese inedito), Londra 1947.

Main recent Catholic commentaries: H. B. Swete, The A. of st. John, London 1906 (3rd ed. 1917); R. H. Charles, A critical and exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of st. John, 2 vols., Edinburgh 1920; id., Lectures on the A., London 1922; A. Loisy, L'A. de Jean, Paris 1923; Th. Zahn, Die Offenbarung des Johannes, 2 vols., Leipzig 1924-26; H. L. Strack - P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum N. T. aus Talmud u. Midrasch, III, Munich 1926, pp. 788-857; E. Lohmeyer, Die Offenbarung des Joh., Tübingen 1926; id., Die Offenb. des Joh. 1920-34, in Theologische Rundschau, 6 (1934), pp. 204-314 (complete survey of the studies of the fifteen-year period); J. Behm, Die Offenb. des Joh. (Das N. T. deutsch, III, 3), Göttingen 1935 (3rd ed. 1937); C. Clemen, Visionen und Bilder in der Offenb. Joh., in Theol. Studien und Krit., 107 (1936), pp. 236-65; id., Dunkle Stellen in der Offenb. Joh. religionsschichtlich erklärt, Bonn 1937; M. Kiddle and M. K. Ross, The Revelation of st. John, London 1940.

Principali studi recenti di cattolici: L. Billot, La Parousie, Parigi 1920, pp. 267-303; E. Jacquier, Histoire des livres du N. T., IV, 3ª ed., Parigi 1921, pp. 311-420; J. Sickenberger, Die Johannesapokalypse und Rom (nega che la Bestia dal mare sia Roma), in Bibliche Zeitschrift, 18 (1926), pp. 270-82; id., Die Deutung der sieben apokalyptischen Gemeinden, in Römische Quartalschrift, 35 (1927), pp. 135-49; E. Tobac, L'A. de s. Jean, in Collationes Mechlin., 17 (1928), pp. 137-57; J. Peschek, Geheime Offenbarung und Tengeldienst, Paderborn 1929; J. Freundorfer, Die A. des Ap. Johannes und die hellenistische Kosmologie und Astrologie, Münster 1929; A. Wikenhauser, Der Sinn der A. mit einer Darstellung ihres Inhalts und literarischen Aufbaus, Münster 1931; id., Das Problem des taureuführigen Reiches in der Johannes-A., in Römische Quartalschrift, 40 (1932), pp. 13-25; A. Médebielle, Expiation (dans l'A.), in DBs, III (1934), coll. 234-42; N. Žuvić, De A. taupum prophetico libro, in Bogoslovská Smotná, 22 (1934), pp. 330-46; id., Explicatio A. s. Johannis, ibid., 23 (1935), pp. 17-46; P. Touilleux, L'A. et les cultes de Domitien et de Cybèle, Parigi 1935; D. Haugg, Die zwei Zeugen (Apoc. 11, 13), Münster 1936; J. Schmid, Der Apokalypsetext des Ch. Benty-Papyrus, in Neugriech-Byzant. Jahrbuch, 11 (1934), pp. 65-108; id., Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des griechischen Apokalypsetextes, in Biblica, 17 (1936), pp. 11-44, 167-201, 273-93, 429-60; J. Michl, Die Engelvorstellungen in der A. des hl. Johannes, I: Die Engel um Gott, Monaco 1937; E. Peterson, Zenze der Wahrheit, Lipsia 1937; A. Charue, Le message de l'A., in Collationes Namurcenes, 31 (1937), pp. 417-31; 32 (1938), 85-100, 245-65; A. Olivier, La clé de l'A., Parigi 1938; id., La strophe sacrée en s. Jean, ivi 1939; A. Škrinjar, A. de Regna Christi, in Verbum Domini, 14 (1934), pp. 289-95; id., A. de martyris, ibid., 20 (1940), pp. 210-18, 234-40, 278-86; id., Antiquitas christiana de angelis 7 ecclesiarum, ibid., 22 (1942), pp. 18-24, 51-56; id., Dignitates et officia Ecclesiae Apocalypticae, ibid., 23 (1943), pp. 22-29, 47-54, 77-88 (e altri notevoli studi dello stesso in Verbum Domini); A. Vitti, Ultimi studi sul l'A., in Biblica, 21 (1940), pp. 64-78; R. Loenertz, Plan et division de l'A., in Angelicum, 18 (1941), pp. 336-56; P. Ketter, Der römische Staat in der A., in Trierer theologische Studien, 1941, pp. 70-93; H. M. Féret, A., histoire et eschatologie chrétienne, in Dieu vivant, fasc. II (1946), pp. 115-34; J. Huby, A. et histoire, in Construire, 15 (1944), pp. 80-100.

6. THE APOCALYPSE IN ART

Per raffigurare le visioni dell'A., l'arte cristiana si è servita fin dai primi tempi of the text of the Vulgate (Apocalypsis beati Johannis Apostoli). It is necessary, however, to make a distinction at once between the elements of the apocalyptic vision that were adopted quite early into the figurative language of early Christianity and the illustrations of the sacred text, which are far rarer; it is also necessary to recall how, with the exception of Egypt and Cappadocia, an absolute aversion on the part of the Byzantine cultural world to apocalyptic figurations can be documented from the 6th century onward, whereas they were welcomed in the West. Christ between the A and the Ω, the Lamb on the mountain, the empty throne, the scroll with the seven seals appear between the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th, together with the 4 symbols of the evangelists, in catacomb paintings and in the mosaics of Roman churches. Jesus is represented between the burning lampstands and the 24 elders in the mosaic of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, a work which, together with other decorations of triumphal arches, is entirely inspired by the apocalyptic vision.

In miniature painting, illustrations of the Apocalypse underwent particular development after the 8th century, especially in Spain thanks to the commentary of Beatus of Liébana (v.); while a separate group is constituted by the codices of Trier, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Bamberg (8th-11th centuries). The third group, the Anglo-Norman, which more than any other spread among the artisti gotici oltremontani, ispirò ancora, sebbene parzialmente, l'eccezionale figurazione del Dürer, la cui enorme influenza s'estese fino ai conventi del monte Athos.

In the Middle Ages, while such illustrations at first follow the apocalyptic text even in its fanciful details, in wall decorations the great variety of scenes is reduced to the most common and widespread motifs: for example, Christ between A and Ω (Palatine Chapel at Aachen); the twelve lambs coming forth from the two holy cities (Ravenna, S. Apollinare in Classe); this also occurs in the more complex cycles, such as those of the abbey of Civate al Monte and of the crypt of the cathedral of Anagni.

From the 15th century the apocalyptic motifs are interpreted with the greatest freedom, as is shown by Signorelli's frescoes at Orvieto, the adoration of the lamb by van Eyck, the woman of the A. by Rubens, in some scenes of tapestries of Flemish manufacture, etc. For the 18th-19th centuries we may cite Scheffler's fresco in the church of S. Paolino at Trier and the cartoons for a cycle of frescoes by Cornelius, in the National Gallery of Berlin. Apocalyptic subjects nonetheless become ever rarer because of the naturalistic approach of the Renaissance vision and are generally ignored in the iconography of the Counter-Reformation. Contemporary art counts among its works the representations of the A. by Giorgio De Chirico and the great encaustic cycle by Ferruccio Ferrazzi. - See Pl. CXXIV.

Claudia Refice.