Apocalypticism, Prophecy and Magic in Early Christianity

This book contains a collection of twenty of David E. Aune's essays on the subjects of apocalypticism, the Apocalypse of John, early Christian prophecy and early Christian magic. Several essays on the Apocalypse of John explore contextual relationships of the Apocalypse to apocalyptic literature from Qumran, Palestinian Jewish apocalyptic, Roman imperial court ceremonial, Greco-Roman revelatory magic and the social setting of the book. Other essays center on aspects of the content and interpretation of the Apocalypse itself by investigating such issues as discipleship, narrative Christology, genre, the problem of God and time, an intertextual reading of the book, the form and function of the proclamations to the seven churches (Rev 2-3), and interpretations of Rev 5 and 17. Essays on early Christian prophecy deal with charismatic exegesis in early Judaism and early Christianity, the relationship between Christian prophecy and the messianic status of Jesus, and the prophetic features found in the Odes of Solomon.