Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - Zsolt K. Virágos: The American Brand of the Myth of Apocalypse

unquestioned Christian authority. And since the progression of events toward a given end, in the logic of the myth, is predetermined but men's actions are not, apocalypse provides a blueprint for action through a pattern of reward or vengeance: a glorious consummation of God's plan for those who have persisted in the faith and maintained their eschatological conviction, whereas the end of time will be catastrophic for the wicked, those who fail to act for the achievement of the kingdom of God. Thus people are given a choice and a program for action: apocalypse urges loyalty, tenacity, struggle, will, even martyrdom for the cause of God's kingdom. The pragmatic drift (which here takes the form of both the therapeutic and the didactic — almost to the point of the disciplinary; not to forget about the politically expedient)

—as well as the conative drive (wish fulfilment + volition) inherent in this mythmaking transaction is more than obvious. And so is the operation of two major functional elements (justification + projection

), with all of these identified as staple components of a ubiquitous and predictable mythmaking process. The mythic formula was both present-oriented and future-tending in that it offered justification for present suffering (by offering promise at an unpromising present time) through delayed gratification. Thus in the myth of apocalypse a curious overlap between Ml and M2 can be detected. Indeed, as I said earlier, the two can be one and the same thing. All depends on the point of time we choose to consider and analyse them. If we look at the time-honored Biblical texts today, we are dealing with Ml; if we consider their functional, epistemological, and functional aspects at the time of their genesis, we have M2. We are also witnessing here two crucial modes of how the human mind is capable of shielding itself from the unknown and from the intrusion of the apparently irrational: through claiming, on the one hand, that the future, which is usually unknown, is known and, on the other hand, by forcing the volatile —i.e., man's private wishes, deeds, and decisions — into the more easily manageable formula of reward and punishment. The fact remains that at the time of their inception what came to be known as testamental apocalyptic texts and visions clearly satisfied the 121