Description:
What did the ancient Jewish and Christian seers imagine when they considered the end of the world? What do ancient apocalyptic texts really tell us about the nature of good and evil? The End of the World examines the social, historical, and theological nature of ancient apocalypses-such as 1 Enoch, the Apocalypse of John, and Daniel-and compares their vision of the apocalyptic end to that found in modern film and television. How does the cinema imagine the end? What do these films tell us about our view of the end of the world and the nature of good and evil? By examining films ranging from The Exorcist to Mad Max, from Bladerunner to End of Days, this book proposes that while apocalyptic films rely on these ancient apocalyptic texts, they alter them to give us a sense of our own fears and anxieties at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Brief description:
John W. Martens studied early Christianity and Judaism at McMaster University, receiving his PhD in 1991. He studied in Israel and Germany and taught at the University of Winnipeg. Currently he is assistant professor in the Department of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he teaches courses in early Christianity and Judaism, including Apocalyptic literature. He is married and has two sons.