The EABS Workshop “Crises and Ancient Jewish and Christian
Apocalypses: What is at stake?” welcomes abstracts for possible
papers. The Workshop will take place within the EABS Annual Conference
2022 in Toulouse, France from the 4th to the 7th of July 2022.
Currently, the conference is planned as a hybrid meeting and
presentations can be given virtually or in-person on-site. Please
submit your abstract at www.eabs.net until the 20th of February 2022
(23:59 CET).

The quest for immortality and the correlated issue of a limited
existence have been one of the key concerns of human literary works
from the famous epic of Gilgamesh up to the present day. Ancient
Jewish and Christian apocalypses are no exception to this.
Classically, following John J. Collins’s definition (1979), the

apocalyptic genre is understood as reflecting
on both temporal and spatial limits. David Hellholm (1986) specifies
that apocalyptic literature aims at urging exhortation and/or
consoling groups in crisis, locating the notion of crisis at the very
heart of the apocalyptic literary genre. From this point, however, one
could ask what kinds of crises are we talking about? To what extent
were ancient apocalypses written for groups facing crises? To put it
another way, what concerns do the various socalled apocalyptic texts
respond? This also raises the question of the similarities in the
historical production settings of the different ancient Jewish and
Christian apocalypses. Specifically, can we identify historical,
political, cultural, anthropological or geographical constants? These
questions will guide the research efforts of this workshop through the
study of several texts, such as, among others: Daniel, Enoch, 4 Ezra,
the Apocalypses of Abraham, John, and Peter.

Call for Papers 2022

The workshop “Crises and Ancient Jewish and Christian Apocalypses:
What is at stake?” welcome papers exploring the historical production
setting of one or several ancient Jewish and/or Christian Apocalypses
(e.g., Daniel, I Enoch, 4 Ezra, Apocalypse of Abraham, Apocalypse of
John, Apocalypse of Peter). Contributions may deal with social,
political, cultural, geographical or anthropological issues, or with
any other issue that seems relevant to understand the functions and
purposes of apocalyptic literature. Papers may also compare a specific
theme or aspect in different Jewish and/or Christian Apocalypses as a
means to highlight constants or differences between their purposes. We
also welcome research on the notion of crisis or dealing with the link
between apocalyptic and eschatology.

Chairs: Luc Bulundwe (Dr., University of Geneva;
luc.bulundwe@unige.ch); Daniel Maier (Dr., University of Zurich;
daniel.maier2@uzh.ch); Priscille Marschall (Dr., University of
Lausanne; priscille.marschall@unil.ch).