This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2013. A Critical Approach to the Apocalypse offers the reader an in-depth view of the portrayal of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios in literature, film and television, art, digital art, history, anthropology, religion and climate change studies.

This narrative commentary systematically examines John's Apocalypse from a narrative critical perspective. After an introduction to narrative criticism, the volume focuses on point of view, setting, rhetoric, character, and plot in the Book of Revelation. The rhetorical and symbolic significance of numerals are discussed at length as are the multifaceted characters in the book such as demonic animals (locust, beasts, dragon, birds) and apocalyptic animals (lamb, four living creatures). The symbolic significance of topographical, architectural, agricultural, and other settings is emphasized. The final chapter of the book is a summary of some of the major theological themes of Revelation. The volume provides a useful methodology for the study of a much disputed book of the Bible.

The Book of Revelation is a work of profound theology. But its literary form makes it impenetrable to many modern readers and open to all kinds of misinterpretations. Richard Bauckham explains how the book's imagery conveyed meaning in its original context and how the book's theology is inseparable from its literary structure and composition. Revelation is seen to offer not an esoteric and encoded forecast of historical events but rather a theocentric vision of the coming of God's universal kingdom, contextualised in the late first-century world dominated by Roman power and ideology. It calls on Christians to confront the political idolatries of the time and to participate in God's purpose of gathering all the nations into his kingdom. Once Revelation is properly grounded in its original context it is seen to transcend that context and speak to the contemporary church. This study concludes by highlighting Revelation's continuing relevance for today.

Apocalypse, Revisited: A Critical Study on End Times explores why and how Apocalypse has been revisited in myriad contexts from literature to history, religion to social life and media to popular culture.

Apocalyptic expectations of Armageddon and a New Age have been a fixture of the American cultural landscape for centuries. With the approach of the year 2000, such millennial visions seem once again to be increasing in popularity. Stephen O'Leary sheds new light on the age-old phenomenon of the End of the Age by proposing a rhetorical explanation for the appeal of millennialism. Using examples of apocalyptic argument from ancient to modern times, O'Leary identifies the recurring patterns in apocalyptic texts and movements and shows how and why the Christian Apocalypse has been used to support a variety of political stances and programs. The book concludes with a critical review of the recent appearances of doomsday scenarios in our politics and culture, and a meditation on the significance of the Apocalypse in the nuclear age. Arguing the Apocalypse is the most thorough examination of its subject to date: a study of a neglected chapter of our religious and cultural history, a guide to the politics of Armageddon, and a map of millennial consciousness.