The category “apocalyptic” is among the first in need of fine-tuning when students of biblical literature move toward academic study. First, the category does indeed overlap at times with eschatological interests. Second, “Apocalypse” has been popularized in western mythologies within global disaster and superhero narratives. Yes, nerds, Apocalypse is the name of a super villain in the Marvel world and “Apokolips” is a world in the DC universe. Why? Because the name sounds super-duper. Indeed, even when the alternative spelling renders it the Kwik-E-Mart of planets, it has a certain menacing phonetic.
Merriam-Webster illustrates the problem and points to difference between ancient and modern definitions.
Notice the difference between the “simple” definition and
the order or three “full” definitions that follow. The simple definition takes
from the third as most ambiguous of the list.
While there are both end-of-the-world and mythological
elements within apocalyptic literature, the category is not quite satisfied by
popular definitions. Add to this the fact that “apocalyptic” is both a literary
genre and a larger worldview and you’ve got yourself a recipe for confusion.
In order to fine-tune the category—and here I’m thinking of
the worldview within Second Temple Judaism—I wonder if using the game of chess
as an analogy would be helpful. Other strategic games might work just as well. I use chess
because even if my students are not chess players, most folks have (1) seen a
chessboard before and (2) know that it is a game of strategy. The only other
thing that it is helpful to know is that (3) the pawn is the least powerful
piece in the game. If these three points are in place, I think that the analogy
works well.
So here it is.
Rather than envisioning a future, catastrophic event, think
of the apocalyptic worldview as an expanded view of a chessboard during a game
that is already underway. Imagine that you and your people occupy a particular
group of squares on the chessboard. Maybe you see only six squares (i.e. you
have very limited vision) and you have just witnessed several pawn exchanges.
Now imagine that a prophetic voice reveals a wider vision and explains that a
larger strategy is unfolding. This voice claims to have transcended the very
limited view of six squares and has glimpsed the whole chessboard. It is now
revealed that the military power that seems so threatening from a limited
perspective is actually just a pawn in the larger scheme of things.
What do you think? Does the analogy work? Does it help to better situate Jesus, Paul, or John’s Apocalypse?
-anthony
I like the chess analogy, but instead of a live game, maybe the apocalypse is like replaying a match found in a collection of classic chess games. I say this because the outcome is predetermined, and maybe there's only one actor here with complete free will, playing the moves for both sides.
ReplyDeleteI think Anthony's chess metaphor is good, but I like this wrinkle even better.
DeleteOf course, it adds a level of complexity (classic chess games) which most people might not be familiar with, which makes me wonder if something like classic sports games might be an equivalent. If I were teaching about apocalyptic in, say, the south, I might tell students they are a football team in a tied game and the opposing team is about to kick a field goal to win it with one second left on the clock. I might ask students how they feel about the outcome. Then I would reveal that this is actually the 2013 Auburn-Alabama "Kick Six" game, and the field goal is going to fall short and be returned by Auburn for the winning score. (Although at this point this threatens to move beyond a metaphor and into the field of comparative religion.)
Anyway, I like the chess idea, too. Good line of thought to pursue.