Apocalyptic Fervor
Visions of the End Times
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
The late Second Temple period in Judaism and the early Christian era witnessed the rise of apocalyptic literature, its zenith being the New Testament book of Revelation. Among its prominent features are the disparity between this world and the next, a vision of God as coming judge at history's culmination, and the call to perseverance during times of adversity. Bazyn's poems are introduced by an elaborate fantasy of what heaven might be like, citing a number of Christian writers throughout the centuries as well as sources from other world religions. Then you'll encounter verse on the macabre dance of death; Orwellian tremors of totalitarianism; premonitions of madness; visits from an alien world; a house of the Lord utterly destroyed; lingering ambivalence regarding a loving, but holy, God; a triumphant baaing lamb; the cavortings of a holy fool; a final gaze at earthly life from eternity's shore; believers undergoing continuous divinization. Bright 35mm color slides deepen the surreal atmosphere, enabling you to feel the thin boundary between the ephemeral and eternal. Qualms of conscience and mortality take center stage as the entire book turns into a searching exercise for the reader's spiritual formation.
Endorsements (2)
“Ken Bazyn takes his signature style—imagistic in its thick use of overlapping symbols, metaphysical in its yoking together of unexpected metaphors from multiple disciplines—and applies it to the end times. Coupled with photographs that mingle the ordinary with the mystical and the surreal, the poems explore, intellectually and viscerally, what the end times mean. Veils are lifted; judgment, death, and power reveal their terrifying visage; believers are called to trust and persevere.”
“A fascinating read. Mainline Protestantism has sorely neglected biblical apocalyptic. But it has a surprising relevancy in the present moment. Ken Bazyn does a great job of poetically, evocatively recovering it. Well done!”
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