Revelation: Hope or Promise?

Revelation:

Greek Origin: The title comes from the singular Koinē Greek word apokalypsis (meaning an unveiling or disclosure).

Meaning: It represents a single, cohesive revelation given by God through Jesus Christ to the Apostle John, rather than a collection of multiple revelations.

Apokalypsis is an ancient Greek word (ἀποκάλυψις) meaning "revelation," "unveiling," or "disclosing"—literally "taking the cover off" something hidden. [1, 2]

Linguistic Meaning & Biblical Context

• Root Words: Combines apó ("off, away") and kalýptein ("to cover, hide"). [1]
• New Testament Use: Appears 18 times in the Greek New Testament (such as Romans 16:25 and Revelation 1:1) to describe God making known a divine mystery or truth. [1, 2]
• Evolution of the Term: While originally meaning a spiritual or literal lifting of a veil, the word evolved into "apocalypse" in popular culture to mean a catastrophic end-of-the-world event. [1, 2, 3]

Notable Uses in Media

• Music: Apokalypsis is the critically acclaimed 2011 studio album by American singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe, featuring 10 tracks like "Mer," "Demons," and "Pale On Pale". [1, 2]

Literature & Genre: It serves as the root for revelatory and apocalyptic literature, dating from ancient Jewish and Christian texts like the Book of Revelation. 

1 Corinthians 13:12

 "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

A Straussian Need for Mythological Noble Lies 

from Google AI:

Martin Heidegger argues that Being conceals itself (kruptesthai) at the very same time that it reveals individual beings to us. [1, 2]

The Core Concept

• Simultaneous Revealing and Concealing: Heidegger rejects the idea that Being is simply hidden in the dark before being brought to light. Instead, as Being lets entities show up and be manifest, the actual event or horizon of Being itself withdraws from view. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• The Daylight Metaphor: In philosophical analyses such as those explored in Katherine Withy's Heidegger on Being Self-Concealing, Being functions like daylight: light allows you to see all the objects in a room, but in doing so, the light itself remains unnoticed. [1, 2, 3]
• Aletheia (Unconcealment): Heidegger connects this to the ancient Greek word for truth, alētheia, where the a- is a privative prefix. Truth is not a human proposition matching a fact; it is a clearing (Lichtung) wrested from concealment, meaning that concealment (lēthē) is the permanent background and condition of all revealing. [1, 2, 3]

Key Distinctions

• Entity vs. Being (Kruptein vs. Kruptesthai): Concealing an entity (kruptein) means hiding a specific thing so it cannot be seen (like putting something in a box). The self-concealing of Being (kruptesthai) is structural: Being is not another object in the world that happens to be hidden, but the ungrounded condition that lets objects appear while keeping itself un-objectifiable. [1, 2, 3]
• Lack of Contrast Cases: Scholars like Withy argue that Being conceals itself because it lacks a "contrast case". We can define and grasp a table or a tree because it is contrasted with other things; Being is the all-encompassing medium, so it cannot be pinned down as a determinate "thing".