time, revealed by god, usually through chosen prophets- in the case of revelation, it was john of patmos. so first off, we've got to get ahold of our apocalypse. sometimes people think of apocalypse and armageddon in the same breath- not really. the apocalypse is the revealing of the secret about the end time. now this other interesting word i mentioned before- theodicy. a theodicy is a literary form or a prophetic form or whatever you, but also a myth that explains the existence of evil in a world that's supposed to be good; it explains evil and suffering. the key one, the key challenge for christianity- and we're in christianity in this class- is if god is all good, and god is all powerful, where does evil suffering or death suffering and change come from? well, an apocalyptic theodicy is what we find in revelation. a religious apocalyptic theodicy is an explanation which- you know, revelation is the book of revelation- of a great cosmic conflict. and what this does- you've got to take it in this context. it's written around the year '90 or '92 of the common era in the first century- t