In today’s episode we talk about Apocalypse: the word, the genre of literature, the spiritual event. We attempt to develop a nuanced, robust, rounded-out sense of Apocalypse, which means “revelation,” a sense that is grounded in the fact that, ultimately, the Good News of Jesus Christ is what is revealed to us in an Apocalypse.
We cut to the chase by answering the question, “If this is an apocalypse should I buy guns and crypto?” and then move on to discuss what apocalypse is in the scriptures and in the mind that has been formed by the story of God, and compare this perspective to the ideas that the broader culture have around apocalypse.
We discuss why it’s important to seek spiritual revelation in the ways that have been given by God and at the pace he dictates and why the world’s many offers of revelation outside of God’s plan are so harmful to us.
We talk about the many challenges facing us when we attempt to have a conversation around the word apocalypse:
- Why does this word stress me out?
- Why does pop culture have a whole movie genre called post-apocalyptic?
- Is there a safe way to talk about this given much of the Church’s misguided and harmful approaches to the subject?
We talk about the many senses of the word “apocalypse” in an effort to level-up our ability to think and speak about the subject.
We then look at the book of Revelation, otherwise known as the Apocalypse of Jesus given to John, and examine three key errors that often foul up our attempts to appreciate apocalyptic literature in the scriptures.
We wrap things up by asking the questions:
- What do we do in an apocalypse?
- What is the Good News for us in this time?
- How can we live free from fear?
We hope you find encouragement, comfort, and good counsel in a subject that, when mistreated, can often cause dread, anxiety, and misguided action. Apocalypse is a challenging subject–you may have a lot of baggage associated with it–but with God’s help we think we can confidently navigate this terrain toward the goal of union with Christ.
Additional Notes
- The story of Elisha, Gehazi, the Syrian army, and the flaming chariots
- McSweeneys: Your parenting choices have caused the apocalypse
- Barron’s: There will be no student loan apocalypse
- New Yorker: Should you have a baby during the global apocalypse? An FAQ
- US Sun: Apocalypse fears with millions lining up for food and water if power grid is hit
- Newsweek: Porkpocalypse
- The Book of Revelation
- Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael Gorman
- Four Views on the Book of Revelation edited by C. Marvin Pate
- Microsoft Patent WO2020060606 – Cryptocurrency system using body activity data