Il paradigma apocalittico ebraico e cristiano

The word apokálypsis (“revelation”) refers to the disclosure of divine secrets and of the events that will lead history to its end and its ultimate purpose. The concept of “apocalyptic” took shape in biblical studies between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through the comparison of the Book of Revelation with other Jewish texts of similar period or theme (1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch). Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature of late antiquity arose as a source of consolation and hope for communities in crisis. It is characterised by a number of recurring features: a dualistic worldview (dividing reality into earthly and transcendent spheres), the conflict between forces of good and evil, the perception of evil as a cosmic reality, the revelation of divine secrets and of the meaning of history through celestial mediators, and the interpretation of history as a sequence leading to the end of time and to eschatological deliverance (the doctrine of the two aeons). Several textual examples of this Jewish and Christian apocalyptic complex – such as the explanation of present suffering, the prediction of the end of evil, the promise of immortality for the righteous, and the use of pseudepigraphy – are here drawn from 4 Ezra. Apocalyptic literature thus emerges as a “theology for difficult times,” reworking the cognitive dissonance generated by historical crises (the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt for Jews, the delay of the Parousia for Christians) and redefining the overall meaning of history. It is not only a literary genre but also a category of human thought, one that resurfaces in other moments of crisis up to the twentieth century: even modern Italian writers such as Pasolini and Eco have drawn on the symbols and language of the apocalyptic tradition to interpret the tensions and expectations of their own present.