Carey presents an introduction to the elements of apocalyptic discourse in the Hebrew Bible, the intertestamental texts of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts. He seeks to help modern readers perplexed by the rampant and somewhat outrageous depiction and interpretation of apocalyptic literature to see apocalyptic discourse as a flexible set of resources that early Jews and Christians could employ for a variety of persuasive tasks. Examining each of the literary works that exhibit apocalyptic discourse, Carey briefly introduces the date and language of each text and shows its basic contents. He examines the particular topics and purposes of the work and concludes by showing a way to read particular examples of apocalyptic discourse as a whole in its own setting with its own purposes.
