Apocalypse as Praxis

This paper engages apocalypse not as genre, ideology, or eschatology, but as praxis. Drawing the three-fold way of perfection from the Christian spiritual tradition, it proposes an account of the apocalyptic as a renunciation of the world as it is, an imaginative vision of the world as it might be, and a practice of creaturely care in the meantime. In the practices of purgation (lament, renunciation, conversion), illumination (vision, imagination, thanksgiving), and unity (care, indifference, discernment, praise), apocalyptic praxis allows Christian to engage the endings of the world with hope. Under such a description, the apocalyptic is less a predictive tool and more a spiritual practice. And in this way, apocalyptic praxis becomes a guide and challenge for Christian spirituality as the world seems to be ending.