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SUNY Series in Theology and Continental Thought
Satan and Apocalypse: And Other Essays in Political Theology
Finalist for the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Religion category
In this series of essays, Thomas J. J. Altizer explores the Christian epic as the site of modern revolutionary apocalyptic reenactments and renewals of the original apocalypse enacted by Jesus Christ and primitive Christianity. Beginning with the pivotal seventeenth-century figures Milton and Spinoza, Altizer analyzes the apocalyptic visions of key figures of modernity, including Blake, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Joyce, often juxtaposing them to surprising and illuminating effect. These revolutionary moments stand in opposition to what Altizer calls the pathological modern counterrevolution that dominates the world today, which is an effect of a new postmodernity and of a progressive dissolution of historical consciousness. Through his analysis of modern apocalyptic moments and thinkers, this book becomes an elegant and accessible guide to Altizer's own apocalyptic vision and his ultimate project of the total and comprehensive reconstruction of theology.
In this series of essays, Thomas J. J. Altizer explores the Christian epic as the site of modern revolutionary apocalyptic reenactments and renewals of the original apocalypse enacted by Jesus Christ and primitive Christianity. Beginning with the pivotal seventeenth-century figures Milton and Spinoza, Altizer analyzes the apocalyptic visions of key figures of modernity, including Blake, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Joyce, often juxtaposing them to surprising and illuminating effect. These revolutionary moments stand in opposition to what Altizer calls the pathological modern counterrevolution that dominates the world today, which is an effect of a new postmodernity and of a progressive dissolution of historical consciousness. Through his analysis of modern apocalyptic moments and thinkers, this book becomes an elegant and accessible guide to Altizer's own apocalyptic vision and his ultimate project of the total and comprehensive reconstruction of theology.
132 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 2017
About the author
Thomas J.J. Altizer
36 books21 followersThomas Jonathan Jackson Altizer was a radical theologian who is known for incorporating Friedrich Nietzsche's conception of the "death of God" and G. W. F. Hegel's dialectical philosophy into his systematic theology.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 14, 2019
This is an incredible book. Without apocalyptic belief (religious or secular), we are effectively silenced. It makes me think of John Pilger's words in his defense of Julian Assange:
'In the 1970s, I met Leni Reifenstahl, close friend of Adolf Hitler, whose films helped cast the Nazi spell over Germany.
She told me that the message in her films, the propaganda, was dependent not on “orders from above” but on what she called the “submissive void” of the public.
“Did this submissive void include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie?” I asked her.
“Of course,” she said, “especially the intelligentsia .... When people no longer ask serious questions, they are submissive and malleable. Anything can happen.”'
This submissive void is what Altizer points to when he says "And we are silent today, perhaps more silent than ever before, which is truly remarkable given the cacophony of our technology."
Altizer doesn't mention Zizek, but I wonder whether his ideas are compatible with Zizeks's The Fragile Absolute, or Why is the Christian Legacy Worth Fighting For?
'In the 1970s, I met Leni Reifenstahl, close friend of Adolf Hitler, whose films helped cast the Nazi spell over Germany.
She told me that the message in her films, the propaganda, was dependent not on “orders from above” but on what she called the “submissive void” of the public.
“Did this submissive void include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie?” I asked her.
“Of course,” she said, “especially the intelligentsia .... When people no longer ask serious questions, they are submissive and malleable. Anything can happen.”'
This submissive void is what Altizer points to when he says "And we are silent today, perhaps more silent than ever before, which is truly remarkable given the cacophony of our technology."
Altizer doesn't mention Zizek, but I wonder whether his ideas are compatible with Zizeks's The Fragile Absolute, or Why is the Christian Legacy Worth Fighting For?
May 19, 2022
I am fascinated by the concept of "death of God theology" or _theothanatology_. I am trying to understand it.
I have read and listened to some of Thomas Altizer. I don't understand any of what he is saying. He is as cryptic and opaque as William Blake (one of his influences), even though Altizer is presumably trying to write nonfiction rather than poetry. Altizer is a decent poet but a poor communicator IMO.
His writing is _tantalising_. It hints at some profound meaning, but he never gets any closer to explaining that meaning. He just rambles on.
One thing that particularly annoys me about Altizer is that he claims to draw upon sources - Hegel, Milton, Blake et al - but he virtually never quotes his sources to back up his claims.
I have read and listened to some of Thomas Altizer. I don't understand any of what he is saying. He is as cryptic and opaque as William Blake (one of his influences), even though Altizer is presumably trying to write nonfiction rather than poetry. Altizer is a decent poet but a poor communicator IMO.
His writing is _tantalising_. It hints at some profound meaning, but he never gets any closer to explaining that meaning. He just rambles on.
One thing that particularly annoys me about Altizer is that he claims to draw upon sources - Hegel, Milton, Blake et al - but he virtually never quotes his sources to back up his claims.
May 6, 2026
Interesting ideas abound but too repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews