Understanding Apocalyptic Literature: A Guide to the Book of Revelation

by Mark Roberts

the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) definition says apocalyptic literature discloses a reality on two levels, temporal and spatial. This is, in this writer’s estimation, the single most important characteristic of apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature radically shifts our view of world events because it proposes that what we see here on this earth is just the playing out of a much larger reality: what is happening in heaven.

Here is a working definition of apocalyptic literature: “a story, written in a time of crisis and distress, that is given by otherworldly beings explaining how God will reverse everything so the righteous will triumph.”