REVIEW - Book Report/Review Example

His emphasis is on the “comparison of sociological settings of the historical apocalypses.”(p.1) His approach is firmly rooted to the ground realities and he is not much fascinated about the otherworldly consequences, as per beliefs prevalent in the society within the second century BCE. Stephen Breck has chosen “three distinct methods to do this comparison which are; form criticism, social theory, and anthropological analysis.”(p1—3) His presentation of the monograph is clear and precise.

He has chosen topics whose meaning he explains with clarity to enable the lay reader to get its import without any confusion. According to him all theology is contextual and his arguments and stand have been well-accepted in the theological circles. “The organization of the book, apart from Preface, Introduction and Conclusion, is divided in to three chapters. Chapter 2 deals of History of Research and Its Proper Utilization. Chapter 3 is about The Enoch Apocalypses and Chapter 4 relates to The Daniel Apocalypses.”(p. vii) The author deals within the scope of the subjects mentioned by him and does not stray from his defined goal.

It is difficult elucidate in a single sentence thesis relating to the contents of a book of this nature. It is explained thus: The book compares different examples of the genre, the “historical apocalypse with no otherworldly journey,” to explain the sociological setting of three documents “the Ten Weeks Apocalypse (10Wapoc), 1 Enoch 91:12-17; 93; the Book of Dream Visions, 1 Enoch 83-90; and the Vision of Daniel, Daniel 7-8, 10-12.”(p.1) It provides a different perspective of the previous data by the application of an adapted form-critical method.

“The monograph indicates in specific terms, in different sections of the book, the sociological study of Historical Apocalypses.” (Introduction, p.1) The approach of the author is