Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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APOCALYPSE
The Book of Revelation, commonly attributed to St. John the Apostle. It was written to encourage the persecuted Christians be foretelling the fall of Rome and the final victory of Christ and his church. It is also a prophetical work, describing in anticipation the many trials of the followers of Christ and their eventual triumph over Satan and the forces of Antichrist. It is also eschatological, in predicting the glories of the Heavenly Jerusalem in the City on High. The Apocalypse is the most image-laden book of the New Testament, rich in allegory, and subject to numerous, legitimate interpretations. (Etym. Latin apocalypsis, a disclosing, revelation; Greek apokalypsis, a revelation.)
