Apocalypse of the Pseudo-Methodius
The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius is a Christian work that was written in the Syrian language in the late 7th century and is also known as Revelationes ("Revelations"). Its anonymous author is referred to as pseudo-Methodius because the work was previously wrongly assumed to have been written around 300 by Bishop Methodius . According to the prevailing view, the Apocalypse originated shortly after 685. In 694 the work was first mentioned by other Syrian authors.
The text is an outline of world history, the content of which differs greatly from historical facts and ultimately ends in prophecies about the Apocalypse : the establishment of the Christian world empire by the peace emperor and the coming of the Antichrist , which is followed by the world judgment . The prophecies of the Revelation of John are joined by elements from the Sibylline oracle collections .
Modern research assumes that the text represents an early Christian reaction to Islamic expansion , with the anonymous author processing contemporary fears about the end of the old world. According to this, the rule of the Arabs is only a short phase, after which the (Eastern) Roman Empire will continue to exist until the end of time, which is soon to come , according to the doctrine of the four kingdoms . The author's hopes were presumably directed towards Emperor Justinian II , who would defeat the caliphate and usher in a final heyday before the apocalypse .
Translated into Greek, Latin (for the first time as early as the 8th century), Slavic and other vernacular languages, the Revelationes found many readers in the Middle Ages. The popular text also had a not insignificant influence on apocalyptic literature (e.g. Adso von Montier-en-Der ) as well as on the general eschatological worldview of the time. The text is considered to be the earliest known testimony to the idea of a ruler of peace at the end of times, which is still widespread today, especially among American evangelicals .
Editions and translations
- Revelationes divinae . Michael Furter, Basel 14. II. 1500 ( digitized version )
- Benjamin Garstad (Ed.): Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius / An Alexandrian World Chronicle . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2012 (edition with English translation).
- Gerrit Jan Reinink (Ed.): The Syrian Apocalypse of the Pseudo-Methodius . Louvain 1993 (German translation).
literature
- Elisabeth Heyse: Methodius . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 581.
- Robert G. Hoyland : Seeing Islam as Others Saw It. A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam . Darwin Press, Princeton 1997, pp. 263-267.