Written in Syriac in the late seventh century, the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius shaped and influenced Christian eschatological thinking in the Middle Ages.
[1][2][3][4] Falsely attributed to Methodius of Olympus,[5] a fourth century Church Father, the work attempts to make sense of the Islamic conquest of the Near East.
[6] The Apocalypse is noted for incorporating numerous pre-existing aspects of Christian eschatology, such as the invasion of Gog and Magog, the rise of the Antichrist, and the tribulations that precede the end of the world.
[9] Scholars have argued that the work was written in the context of the Arab Conquests, in response to the hardships faced by Christians and their widespread apostasy (in order to avoid the jizya head tax).
In 1897, the scholar V. Istrin relied heavily on the Greek text; at the same time and independently, Sackur studied the oldest Latin translations.
One notable feature of the work is the presence of sexuality with regards to Christian behavior in the end days—specifically discussing swinging, homosexuality, and cross-dressing as indicators of a sinful society.
[14] It is only then that the text says the "sons of Ishmael", that is Muslims, will emerge from the desert of Ethribus to inflict God's punishment upon the Christians who "slipped into depravity".
[15] In invoking figures in other Christian eschatological literature, such as Gog and Magog, Pseudo-Methodius attempts to legitimize his place as a fourth century Church Father.
[16] The manuscript also notes the rise of an Emperor-Saviour figure, echoing the fourth century AD prophecy attributed to the legendary Tiburtine Sibyl.
Descriptions of drinking the blood of cattle,[19] stabbing pregnant women, and feeding babies to animals[20] permeate throughout the author's work.
Ballard notes, however, that Pseudo-Methodius deviates from previous eschatological literature, such as Revelation, in that the Apocalypse utilizes Roman emperors as agents of change.
Part of the Apocalypse's influence is attributed to its ability to reflect the beliefs of contemporary Eastern Roman citizens; they are merely acting out foretold events, and mankind is bound with the fate of the empire and the capital.
"[6] A campaign by the new Muslim rulers was set in place in order to remove any public display of Christian symbolism, through the construction of Islamic-styled buildings and the issuance of coins declaring an Islamic triumph.
"[6] This, as Ballard and Griffith both note, was because Muslims considered Christians' belief in the trinity, as well as their supposed worship of the Virgin Mary and the Saints, to be polytheistic.
The hardships Christians faced in a Muslim territory caused a "literary awakening", and the earliest of these texts were written in Syriac, Greek, and Arabic.
[3] The spread and influence of the Apocalypse was so far reaching that, during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, Russian Christians invoked the work of Pseudo-Methodius in order to explain the onslaught by using the historical and geographical explanations found within the text.