APOCALYPSE (Then and Now)

The program of terror culminated with an edict issued in 167 B.C.E. The edict revoked Judean civic freedom, banned ancestral religion, and mandated in its place new religious practices and civic rituals that reordered space, time, and human life. [...] it aimed to persuade Jerusalem's leaders, particularly those affiliated with Jerusalem's temple, to stop collaborating with the empire. According to the visions, these martyrs would participate in atoning for the people's sins and would lead the many to wisdom and righteousness. [...] we represent ourselves, and our interlocutors do the same.

Duke Scholars

Author Anathea Portier-Young Divinity School