The Book of Revelation and the ‘End of Time’
The Book of Revelation has long intrigued, inspired, and often baffled Christian readers. This course will explore key factors involved in interpreting the work, its roots in Jewish apocalyptic traditions, the situation of the early Church at the end of the first century, and the book’s complex literary structure and graphic imagery. We’ll be particularly interested in the ways in which the book reshapes apocalyptic forms in the light of its convictions about the significance of Christ.
Class sessions will consist of a combination of lectures by the instructor, break-out sessions in which students will share their insights into the readings of the day, and general sessions pulling together the insights of the working groups. Readings will involve an article or two (15-25 pages) each day aimed at stimulating discussion and some scriptural passages for comparison purposes. The overall schedule will be roughly (1) Introduction to Apocalyptic and to Revelation - Rev 1-4; (2) Visions of Chaos and Peace - Rev 5-9; (3) A New World Order – Rev 10-13; (4) Dramatic Visions, the demise of the Whore of Babylon – Rev 14-18; (5) A New Beginning, Saints Reign – Rev 19-22.
The course is designed for any interested or baffled reader of Revelation. Readings will be made readily available on Canvas.
Professor Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity School from 2002 to 2012, has made scholarly contributions to New Testament exegesis and to the study of Hellenistic Judaism and the history of the early Church. His publications include Essays on John and Hebrews, Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, First-Century Cynicism in the Epistles of Heraclitus, The Interpretation of Biblical History in the Antiquitates Judaicae of Flavius Josephus, Nag Hammadi Codex I: The Jung Codex, and The Acts of Thomas, as well as numerous book chapters and articles in scholarly journals. He has edited twelve books, including, with Gabriella Gelardini, Hebrews in Context (2016), with Dale Martin and Jurgen Zangenberg, Religion, Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Galilee; and the centennial Terry Lectures, The Religion and Science Debate: Why Does It Continue? Professor Attridge served the general editor of the HarperCollins Study Bible Revised Edition (2006). He has been an editorial board member of Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Biblical Literature, Novum Testamentum, and the Hermeneia commentary series. He has been active in the Society of Biblical Literature and served as president of the society in 2001 and in the Catholic Biblical Association, of which he was president in 2011-12. He was elected to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. Professor Attridge is a fellow of Saybrook College.
