This is a 1-volume, select edition of the 3-volume "Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism" first published in 1998. The main historical surveys that provided the spine of the Encyclopedia have been retained, while essays of a thematic nature, and a few whose subject matter is not central to the historical development, have been omitted. The work begins with 8 articles on "The Origins of Apocalypticism in the Ancient World," extending from ancient Near Eastern myth through the Old Testament to the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus, Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Next are 7 articles on "Apocalyptic Traditions from Late Antiquity to ca. 1800 C.E.," including early Christian theology, radical movements in the Middle Ages, and both Jewish and Islamic apocalypticism in the classic period. The final section, "Apocalypticism in the Modern Age," includes 10 articles on apocalypticism in the Americas, in Western and Eastern Europe, and, finally, in modern Judaism and modern Islam.

Author Biography

Bernard McGinn is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelly Professor Historical Theology and the History of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School. John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University Divinity School. Stephen J. Stein teaches Religious Studis at Indiana University.