Apocalyptic Stories (Daniel & Revelation)
Basic Info
Apocalyptic literature is found in the Book of Daniel and in the Revelation to John. The premise behind these books is that something is revealed to the author (Daniel or John) by God or by an angel. The author then shares these revealed visions with the community. The original meaning of apocalypse is “revelation.” Because both Daniel and Revelation discuss the visions in terms of the end of an age, they are often taken to be about the end of time.
Many contemporary Scripture scholars instead understand these books as coded ways of criticizing the oppressive governments the Jews (in Daniel’s case) and the Christians (in John’s case) had to deal with. The idea is similar to the coded language in some of the Negro spirituals during the era of slavery in the United States. If anyone got caught with anti-government writings, they would be tortured or killed. But a piece of religious literature, art, or music about dragons and lambs offered plausible deniability that one was in possession of seditious literature. For example, chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel refers to a beast with four heads that from the political angle represent the kingdoms of Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece, all of whom had ruled the Jews before the Romans.
It is likely that the early Christians saw the stories as being about Roman oppression. Especially popular were the stories of Daniel surviving the lions’ den and the three young men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) surviving the fiery furnace. But through the Middle Ages and into the contemporary era, interpretation of these books has focused on the end of time angle.
Historical Notes
Artwork depicting Daniel hanging out safe and sound in the lions’ den and the three young men alive and well in the fiery furnace was very common in Christian art prior to the legalization of Christianity, when persecution and martyrdom were still a risk for Christians. Though there are eastern icons of the Revelation of John, it has received remarkably little attention in the art tradition. That said, Mary is often assumed to be the Woman of the Apocalypse. See that subtopic.
What to Look For
- Details of the monsters, beasts, and other creatures
- Relationships among the creatures and with places (up, down, left, right, around, within, etc.)
- The verbs that go with the scene (devouring, soaring, crushing, smashing, conquering, riding, battling, etc.)
- Evidence of faith (prayer, God, new life, etc.)
- Evidence of death or earthly powers (fiery furnace, lions, persecutors, etc.)
- Relationship between life and death, both earthly and eternal
- Depictions of the heavenly city
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Does the artwork lend itself to interpretation as a prophecy of the end times?
Does the artwork lend itself to interpretation as a coded critique of an oppressive government? How would you decipher the code?
Does the artwork offer hope or despair?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
When you look at this artwork, do you experience hope or despair about the current situation in the world or about the end of time?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
What was going on in the artist’s time and place that might have led people to think about the end of time (plagues, wars, famine, nuclear weapons, millennial dates, earthquakes, etc.)? Does the artwork seem to address any of these?
What was going on in the artist’s time and place that might have led people to need to secretly express their hope for liberation from oppression (corrupt regimes, oppression and torture, land grabs, slavery, wars, etc.)? Does the artwork seem to address any of these?
