Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
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Written in Syriac in the late seventh century, the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius shaped and influenced Christian eschatological thinking in the Middle Ages.[1][2][3][4] Falsely attributed to Methodius of Olympus,[5] a fourth century Church Father, the work attempts to make sense of the Islamic conquest of the Near East.[6]
The Apocalypse is noted for incorporating numerous pre-existing aspects of Christian eschatology, such as the invasion of
The book was early translated into Greek, Latin, Coptic, Armenian, and later into Slavonic.
Authorship, date, location
The Apocalypse is attributed to Methodius of Olympus in the Syriac text,
The text was originally written in Syriac, in Northern Syria.
Content
The Apocalypse is indebted to earlier Syriac works, including the Cave of Treasures, the Julian Romance and the Syriac Alexander Romance.[13]
The Apocalypse begins with a history of the world, starting with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, through to the Muslim conquests, and into the end-times. One notable feature of the work is the presence of sexuality with regards to Christian behavior in the end days—specifically discussing swinging, homosexuality, and cross-dressing as indicators of a sinful society.[14] It is only then that the text says the "sons of Ishmael", that is Muslims, will emerge from the desert of Ethribus to inflict God's punishment upon the Christians who "slipped into depravity". The Apocalypse also recounts the events that took place at the hands of Muslims in the previous decades.[15] In invoking figures in other Christian eschatological literature, such as Gog and Magog, Pseudo-Methodius attempts to legitimize his place as a fourth century Church Father.[16] The manuscript also notes the rise of an Emperor-Saviour figure, echoing the fourth century AD prophecy attributed to the legendary Tiburtine Sibyl.[17] This Roman emperor will save the Christian lands from "the sons of Ishmael", place his crown upon the cross "for the sake of the common salvation of all", thereby saving Christendom as a whole.[18] The work is notable for its vivid descriptions and its brutality. Descriptions of drinking the blood of cattle,[19] stabbing pregnant women, and feeding babies to animals[20] permeate throughout the author's work.
Ballard notes, however, that Pseudo-Methodius deviates from previous eschatological literature, such as Revelation, in that the Apocalypse utilizes Roman emperors as agents of change.[15] Guenther notes that Pseudo-Methodius was influenced by the books Revelation and Daniel, maintaining the lineage of Christian literature.[12] This is an important feature, as it shows that the author was most likely a Christian cleric, and was familiar with past Christian writings. By introducing new features into Christian literature while keeping core Christian beliefs and teachings intact, the author helped to make the Apocalypse accessible to the laity as well. Part of the Apocalypse's influence is attributed to its ability to reflect the beliefs of contemporary Eastern Roman citizens; they are merely acting out foretold events, and mankind is bound with the fate of the empire and the capital.[21]
Historical context
Rome and
A campaign by the new Muslim rulers was set in place in order to remove any public display of Christian symbolism, through the construction of Islamic-styled buildings and the issuance of coins declaring an Islamic triumph. The most dramatic of such constructions was the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.[24] The inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock are taken from the Quran and "proclaim the arrival of a powerful empire that was founded on pure monotheist belief."[6] This, as Ballard and Griffith both note, was because Muslims considered Christians' belief in the trinity, as well as their supposed worship of the Virgin Mary and the Saints, to be polytheistic.[6][7][24]
To defend themselves and without any real power or authority, Christians turned to writing. The hardships Christians faced in a Muslim territory caused a "literary awakening", and the earliest of these texts were written in Syriac, Greek, and Arabic.[11] Syriac writers in particular reacted to their world in apocalyptic terms – the fall of their Christian empire was continuing with each Muslim conquest, and Syriac writers saw these conquests as a punishment from God. The most well-known of these texts was the Apocalypse.[11]
Translations
By the early 8th century, the Apocalypse was translated into Greek, and subsequently, from Greek into Latin. The earliest Latin witness is a codex dated to 727 AD. There are three other Latin manuscripts from the 8th century.[25] The Latin translation was made by a certain Petrus Monachus in Francia.[26] There was also seemingly a Coptic translation available by the 8th century, known only from a fragment on papyrus.[27] All the available Greek and Syriac manuscripts, however, are late. There are over 100 Greek copies, but most of them post-date 1453. There are few Syriac manuscripts, and many are fragmentary. The best text is from 1586, although there are earlier references found in the 13th-century Book of the Bee.[25] An Armenian translation from the Greek, attributed to Step'anos of Siwnik', is known from various quotation in Armenian works, but no copy survives.[28]
The Greek text of the Apocalypse is traditionally divided into four recensions: G1, G2, G3 and G4, with G1 subdivided into G1a, G1b and G1c.[29] The Latin and Slavonic translations are both based on G1.[25][29] The Slavonic versions are divided between three recensions, a Serbian (S1), a Bulgarian (S2) and a Russian (S3). The earliest Slavonic manuscript is from the 12th century.[29] There are four Latin recensions found across about 220 manuscripts. The first and second recensions account for about 50 and 150 manuscripts, respectively.[30] The second and third Latin recensions are heavily abridged.[29][30]
Spread and influence
The Apocalypse marks the end of antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The document was frequently copied and readapted, in order to fit the cataclysmic events that occurred in a particular area and at a particular time.[3]
The spread and influence of the Apocalypse was so far reaching that, during the
Modern use
Griffith notes, because of questions surrounding the historicity of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, it is easy to dismiss the piece outright. However, for the historian, the Apocalypse sheds light on the environment of the age, and therefore the literature is still relevant. Furthermore, the literature is important because of the anonymity of its author. In a sense, this anonymity makes the work akin to "
References
- ^ a b c Griffith (2008), p. 34.
- ^ Debié (2005) p. 228.
- ^ a b Alexander (1985) p. 13.
- ^ a b Jackson (2001) p. 348.
- ^ a b Alexander (1985) p. 15.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ballard (2011) p. 51.
- ^ a b Griffith (2008) p. 33.
- ^ Louth (2010) p. 247.
- ^ a b Penn (2015) p. 108
- ^ Griffith (2008) p. 32.
- ^ a b c Griffith (2010) p. 201.
- ^ a b Guenther (2007) p. 371.
- ^ Brock (1997), p. 48.
- ^ Garstad (2012), p. 39 et seq.
- ^ a b Ballard (2011) p. 52.
- ^ a b Jackson (2001) p. 353.
- ^ Alexander (1985) p. 152.
- ^ Debié (2005) p. 65.
- ^ Garstad (2012) p. 15.
- ^ Garstad (2012) p. 47.
- ^ Shepard (2010) p. 7.
- ^ Griffith (2008) p. 23.
- ^ Griffith (2008) p. 24.
- ^ a b Griffith (2010) p. 200.
- ^ a b c Bonura (2016) pp. 263–264
- ^ Pollard (2010) p. 27.
- ^ Bonura (2016) p. 266
- ^ Bonura (2016) p. 267
- ^ a b c d Cross (1929) pp. 331–332
- ^ a b Grifoni and Gantner (2020) p. 198
- ^ Pelle (2009) p. 325.
- ^ a b Griffith (2008) p. 39.
Sources
- Alexander, P. J. (1985). Byzantine Apocalyptic Traditions. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Ballard, Martin (2011). End-timers: Three-thousand Years of Waiting for Judgment Day. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
- Bonura, Christopher (2016). "A Forgotten Translation of Pseudo-Methodius in Eighth-Century Constantinople: New Evidence for the Dispersal of the Greek Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius during the Dark Age Crisis". In Nicholas S.M. Matheou; Theofili Kampianaki; Lorenzo M. Bondioli (eds.). From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities. Brill. pp. 260–276. ISBN 9789004307742.
- Brock, Sebastian (1997). A Brief Outline of Syriac Literature. Kottyam: St Ephrem's Ecumenical Research Institute.
- Cross, Samuel H. (1929). "The Earliest Allusion in Slavic Literature to the Revelations of Pseudo-Methodius". Speculum. 4 (3): 329–339. S2CID 162384162.
- Debié, Muriel (2005). "Muslim-Christian Controversy in an Unedited Syriac Text: Revelations and Testimonies about Our Lord's Dispensation". History of Christian-Muslim Relations. 5: 225–236. ISBN 9789047408826.
- Garstad, Benjamin ed. and trans. (2012). Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius. An Alexandrian World Chronicle. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674053076.
- Griffith, Sidney Harrison (2008). The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691130156.
- Griffith, Sidney Harrison (2010). "Christians Under Muslim Rule" in The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Grifoni, Cinzia; Gantner, Clemens (2020). "The Third Latin Recension of the Revelationes of Pseudo-Methodius". In Veronika Wieser; Vincent Eltschinger; Johann Heiss (eds.). Cultures of Eschatology. Vol. 1: Empires and Scriptural Authorities in Medieval Christian, Islamic and Buddhist Communities. DeGruyter. pp. 194–232.
- Guenther, Alan M. (May 2007). "The Christian experience and interpretation of the early Muslim conquest and rule". Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.
- Jackson, Peter (November 2001). "Medieval Christendom's Encounter with the Alien". Historical Research. 74 (186): 347–369. S2CID 159860524.
- Louth, Andrew (2010). "Byzantium Transforming (600-700)" in The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Pelle, Stephen (September 2009). "The Revelationes of Pseudo-Methodius and 'Concerning the Coming of Antichrist' in British Library MS Cotton Vespasian D.XIV". Notes and Queries. 56 (3): 324–330. .
- Penn, Michael Philip (2015). When Christians First Met Muslims: A Sourcebook of the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam. University of California Press.
- Pollard, Richard M. (2010). "One Other on Another" in Difference and Identity in Francia and Medieval France. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing.
- Shepard, Jonathan (2010). "Introduction to 'Approaching Byzantium'". The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.