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The term syncretism classically refers to some sort of mixture in the domain of religion (its origins in ancient Greek culture are immaterial to the vicissitudes of its modern usage). The term has, however, been largely rejected as a meaningful descriptive category through the realization that all religions have been in a perpetual state of mixing. Yet there are reasons to restore syncretism as an important element in the acculturation and modernization of religions and as a useful framew…

[German Version] I. Form and Genre – II. Literature (in Antiquity) I. Form and Genre 1. Genre. Apocalypse as a literary genre represents a genre of revelatory literature found predominantly in early Jewish and early Christian literature, although it is also attested in Middle Persian, Greco-Roman, and Gnostic literature. Apocalypses can appear as independent texts or compilations as par…

[German Version] I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. Jewish Apocalypticism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Islam – VIII. Art History I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions As a phenomenon in the history of religions, apocalypticism represents a form of revealed communication distinct from other types such as prophecy (Prophets and prophecy: I), oracle, mantic…