Apocalypse of Ezra
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- This article discusses the 'Greek Apocalypse of Ezra'. For the 'Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra', see 2 Esdras2 Esdras2 Esdras or Latin Esdras is the name of an apocalyptic book in many English versions of the Bible . Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra. It is reckoned among the Apocrypha by many Protestant churches. Although Second Esdras exists in its complete form only in Latin, it was originally written in...
.
The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, also known as The Word and Revelation of Esdras, is an pseudepigraphal work written in the name of the biblical scribe Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
. It survived in only two Greek copies and is dated between the 2nd century and the 9th century AD.
According to R. H. Charles, the text of the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra was influenced by the book of 2 Esdras
2 Esdras
2 Esdras or Latin Esdras is the name of an apocalyptic book in many English versions of the Bible . Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra. It is reckoned among the Apocrypha by many Protestant churches. Although Second Esdras exists in its complete form only in Latin, it was originally written in...
. The extant version of the Greek Apocalypse is thought to have undergone extensive reworking, if not having been totally written by, Christian editors, mentioning the Apostles Paul and John, King Herod, etc.
Like much apocalyptic literature
Apocalyptic literature
Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians....
, the Apocalypse of Ezra portrays its author as being granted visions of heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and of hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, where the punishments meted out to sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
ners are witnessed in detail. Ezra is first described as visiting heaven, where Ezra raises a question of theodicy
Theodicy
Theodicy is a theological and philosophical study which attempts to prove God's intrinsic or foundational nature of omnibenevolence , omniscience , and omnipotence . Theodicy is usually concerned with the God of the Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, due to the relevant...
- he asks God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
why humans were given the ability to sin. Unusually, although God argues that humans are to blame if they do sin, due to their having free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
, the text has Ezra respond that ultimately the fall of man must be up to God, particularly since God created both Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
and the Serpent and the forbidden tree. Ezra goes on to accuse God of having an appalling idea of justice, to which God doesn't respond, even when Ezra petitions on behalf
Intercession
Intercession is the act of interceding between two parties. In both Christian and Islamic religious usage, it is a prayer to God on behalf of others....
of sinners. After his petitions and argument with God, Ezra is shown a vision of the tortures in hell, as well as the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
. Finally, when Ezra protests that no one is without sin and hence none will escape such torture, God reveals that he endured the cross in order to save mankind, forgive those who believe, and vanquish death.