Editing Apocalypse (section)

{{Short description|Concept of a prophetic unveiling, sometimes about eschatology}}
{{About |the literary genre in Judeo-Christian religious culture|the general concept of a world-ending disaster|global catastrophic risk|the related genre of religious writings about "end times"|Apocalyptic literature|contemporary fiction about cataclysm in general|Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|other uses|Apocalypse (disambiguation)}}
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[[File:Orthodox-Apocalypse-Fresco.jpg|thumb|Apocalypse depicted in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Christian Orthodox]] traditional [[fresco]] scenes in [[Osogovo Monastery]], [[North Macedonia]]]]
{{Eschatology}}
'''Apocalypse''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ἀποκάλυψις}}'' ({{grc-transl|ἀποκάλυψις}})|[[revelation]], disclosure}}) is a [[literary genre]] originating in Judaism in the centuries following the [[Babylonian exile]] (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a [[supernatural]] being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary.{{sfn|Carey|2012|p=4}} The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys,{{sfn|Najman|2014|p=37}} and they typically feature symbolic imagery drawn from the [[Jewish Bible]],{{sfn|Reynolds|2011|p=45–46}} cosmological and (pessimistic) historical surveys, the division of time into periods, esoteric numerology, and claims of ecstasy and inspiration.{{sfn|Lewis|2004|p=12}} Almost all are written under pseudonyms (false names), claiming as author a venerated hero from previous centuries,{{sfn|Linton|2006|p=35}} as with the [[Book of Daniel]], composed during the 2nd century BCE but bearing the name of the legendary [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] from the 6th century BCE.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} 

[[Eschatology]] (from Greek ''eschatos'', last) concerns expectations of the end of the present age.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420}} Thus, apocalyptic eschatology is the application of the apocalyptic world-view to the end of the world, when God will bring judgment to the world and save his followers.{{sfn|Crawford|2000|p=73}} An apocalypse will often contain much eschatological material like the [[Conversion of Paul the Apostle|epiphany of Paul the Apostle]], but need not: the [[baptism of Jesus]] in [[gospel of Matthew|Matthew's gospel]], for example, can be considered apocalyptic in that the heavens open for the presence of a divine mediator (the dove representing the spirit of God) and a voice communicates supernatural information, but there is no eschatological element.{{sfn|Foster|2020|p=81}} In popular use ''apocalypse'' often means such a catastrophic end-times event, but in scholarly use the term is restricted to the visionary or revelatory event. 

Scholars have identified examples of the genre ranging from the mid-2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE,{{sfn|Arnold|2007|p=80}} and examples are to be found in Persian and Greco-Roman literature as well as Jewish and Christian.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=106}} The sole clear case in the Jewish Bible ([[Old Testament]]) is chapters 7–12 of the [[Book of Daniel]], but there are many examples from non-canonical Jewish works;{{sfn|Najman|2014|p=40}} the [[Book of Revelation]] is the only apocalypse in the [[New Testament]], but passages reflecting the genre are to be found in the [[gospels]] and in nearly all the genuine [[Pauline epistles]].{{sfn|Lewis|2004|p=7}}