Sense of an Ending
“For behold, the LORD will come in fire
And His chariots like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.”
-Isaiah 66:15–16
To every beginning, there is an end.
Humankind is rising to the pinnacle of evolution at a rate faster than ever before. And with us we carry, a certain tendency to fantasize and sometimes even romanticize our own destruction.
It has been centuries in the making, an inevitable doom. In the various forms of artisan and scientific expression that exist, everything from deep-seated ancient literature, to modern history and infamous fables, Apocalypse features as a heavily discussed, if not mainstream topic.
The term “Apocalypse” is derived from the Greek word “apokalypsis” ironically standing for “revelation”; but which also means “an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known.” It is perhaps apt in every sense of its meaning, as we often use it to describe the catastrophic events that will wipe all species off the face of the Earth(or Universe for that matter).
Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-exile Jewish culture and was popular among early Christians. Usually written in symbolism, poetry, and imagery; the old testament is filled with works, woven like a tapestry to describe events in cataclysmic terms, such as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.
Such literature often included extreme and vivid imagery, with elements derived from Zoroastrian dualism, later inherited by the Jews of Babylon: Demons and dragons or other fictional beasts, and the corruption and despair of the visible world contrasted with the pure light of the world to come, to be born from the chaos that followed very much like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
Alternatively, the Hindu doctrine teaches that the human cycle called Manvantara is divided into four periods or ages. It is believed that we are now in the fourth age, the Kali-Yuga or Dark Age. In this Dark Age, cyclic development proceeds in a downward direction, from higher to lower, a course which is perceived to be the complete antithesis of the idea of progress as understood by the moderns. Some called it Progressive Materialization but that is just a fancy term for something starkly clear: the planet is dying and we are killing it.
The interesting thing here is, in the transition from testaments and manuscripts, there is still an unmistakable continuation of the idea of apocalyptic prophecy. Christianity, in specific, even cultivated this as a form of literature that was made a vehicle of its own ideas. They saw themselves as the true spiritual representative of what was real in the prophecy of the apocalyptic. With each generation still being brought up with the idea, that the end is somewhere around the corner, these gory fantasies have taken many different shapes over time.
The real starting point of the modern crisis dates from that point. Apocalyptic writers grew under the presumptuous image that hidden information can only be disclosed by supernatural means, through dreams or visions from God or angelic intermediaries. They found a mode of expression in their stories either through utopia or dystopia, even though both originated from the same point, one ending in hope and the other in pessimistic despair.
Apocalyptic literature, for the most part, provides little to no direct information about the individuals or groups that produced or gave birth to this genre. Thought it would not be a cause of massive social relief to know more about where these writings came from, such information would perhaps give us insight into why writers wrote as they did. However, most of the uncovered olden texts were anonymous, providing no clue at all as to the identity of their author.
The German scholar Otto Plöger concluded that apocalyptic literature could have potentially developed out of groups that saw themselves as marginalized and on the fringes of the then social system. According to him, such groups were usually disenfranchised, relatively powerless, and absent from strategic positions of leadership as far as the religious establishment was concerned. (in reference with the Varna system among Hindus; the Royal societies of Europe) To some extent it was out of their frustrations with organized and suppressive religion that they wrote apocalyptic literature.
The conclusion to the start of the end of our world still, however, remains uncertain. Maybe we will only know when the moment (read: God/s) arrives.
