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@@ -231,334 +231,3 @@ language in green rhetoric:
    relationships.
 4. Apocalyptic language is millenarian and thus promotes destruction.
 5. Apocalyptic language is violent and vindictive.
-
-In the rest of this chapter, I will aim to show that these criticisms would, if
-they were applied to the Apocalypse of St John as it was addressed to its
-original audience, fail to reflect the radical possibilities of that work. Then,
-in chapter 3, I will aim to show that green rhetors even now must make use of
-those radical possibilities of apocalyptic language in order to be politically
-effective, and suggest some ways how they might do that.
-
-The first thing to notice is that, while the first three criticisms enumerated
-above all assume that apocalyptic language is catastrophic, the Apocalypse
-itself is not catastrophic. For St John, there is no impending catastrophe. The
-tribulations have already begun, and are largely in the hands of cosmic forces
-far bigger than his audience. The exhortation is not to avert the bad thing, but
-to endure it.
-
-Rev 2-3 opens John's vision with Jesus' address to seven churches in Asia.
-He exhorts them all to be faithful. For example, to the church in Ephesus, he
-implores:
-
-> I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not
-> bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are
-> apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast
-> patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
-> Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first
-> love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the
-> first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
-> candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Rev 2:2-5)
-
-What are those trials which the churches might be patiently enduring? John
-doesn't give us the full picture, but there are windows, such as this complaint
-against the church in Pergamum:
-
-> But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold
-> the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the
-> children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit
-> fornication. (Rev 2:14)
-
-In contemporary Greek society, temple sacrifices were important civic events,
-and upstanding citizens were expected to show face and take the meat which had
-been sacrificed. \[CITE SCHOLAR]\ Jews were exempted from eating the meat, but
-as early Christian communities sometimes had difficult relationships with local
-Jewish leaders, they may have struggled to benefit from the Jewish exemption,
-and therefore had to face a serious dilemma in whether or not to eat the meat.
-\[CITE SCHOLAR\] John is not the only New Testament author to grapple with this
-issue. Paul seems to have taken an irenic approach in 1 Cor 8 and Rom 14, while the
-author of the Epistle to the Hebrews suggests a stricter approach in Heb
-13:8-16. The reference to 'fornication' in Rev 2:14 may be a literal reference
-to fornication, but it may also be symbolic, echoing prophets such as Ezekiel
-who used fornication as an image for idol worship. \[CITE SCHOLAR\]
-
-So it seems that John is taking a hardline stance on the issue of eating food
-sacrificed to idols. As Schüssler Fiorenza points out \[CITE\], failing to fully
-participate in the imperial cult could be costly, particularly for rich
-Christians who had the most to benefit from fitting in to mainstream Greek
-society. In this context, it makes sense that John's Jesus has the most praise
-for the poorest churches, such as Smyrna and Philadelphia, and the harshest
-condemnation for the richest, such as Pergamum and Thyatira \[CITE\].
-
-John's stance on food sacrificed to idols also makes sense of the vision of two
-beasts in Rev 13. The second beast instructs people to worship an image of the
-first, and to receive a mark of the beast on their right hand or forehead. If
-they refuse to take the mark, they aren't able to buy or sell. The number of the
-beast is 666. The number 666 is most likely a reference to the emperor Nero
-\[CITE\], and the references to buying and selling suggest the difficulties a
-rich Christian might have had doing business unless they participated fully in
-the imperial cult \[CITE\].
-
-From this, it seems that the visions John relates are not, or at least not
-merely, about an impending catastrophe, but about events which are already
-unfolding. John's mythological language, among other things, may have functioned
-to situate the local, present contexts of John's audiences within a larger
-cosmic context, covering the whole of both space and time. Thus, as Ben
-Witherington III puts it:
-
-> This material is not _just_ about the future, nor should we have expected it
-> to be since it is narrative forensic rhetoric meant to prepare and exhort
-> John's audience. \[…\] It is hard to escape the impression that John believed
-> he was living in the midst of the inauguration of these judgments or put
-> another way in the age when the seals were being unsealed. [@ncbc-rev, p. 131]
-
-What then, of the criticisms of apocalyptic language which followed on the basis
-of its supposed catastrophism, that it is fatalistic, neutralises radicalism,
-and flattens out power relationships?
-
-It is true that most of the events of John's vision unfold without much input
-from the saints. The saints aren't able to stop the seven seals from being
-unsealed, or the seven trumpets from being blown, or the seven goldens bowls of
-God's wrath from being poured out. The saints have no part in the fall of
-Babylon, and when Satan besieges them, they do not fight him in battle, but
-Satan and his army is overthrown by fire from heaven.
-
-However, it would be wrong to accuse St John of fatalism, and worse still to
-accuse him of neutralising radicalism and flattening out power relationships. At
-the core of his message is an exhortation to endure. John's promise is that
-those who endure will participate in God's final fulfilment of the creation. But
-what must be endured is a result of human powers distorting God's creation. This
-evil requires a radical subversion of actual power relationships, and John
-conceives of just such a subversion, and calls his audience to participate in
-that event.
-
-Andrew Chester [@chaos-new-creation] has explored this idea in detail, noting,
-for example, that in Rev 6:12-17, God's life-sustaining creative acts of Gen 1
-are threatened with total annihilation:
-
-> And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
-> earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
-> as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree
-> casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven
-> departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island
-> were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
-> and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
-> bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of
-> the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
-> from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
-> Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
-
-The sun and moon blocked out, the stars plucked from their place, the heavens
-erased, the land disfigured: the key symbols of God's creation in Gen 1 are
-being robbed of their ability to support life. Chester also notes that in
-ancient cultures, all these events would have been interpreted as portentous
-omens, explaining why the people of the earth all hide, knowing that the day of
-the Lamb's wrath is come.
-
-But, as Chester shows, this disfigurement of the creation is not random. Rev 6
-(and a similar vision in Rev 8) shows that the astral powers which were
-worshipped by mainstream Greek society are 'under divine control, and not at the
-service of emperors.' Rev 9:1-11 suggests that the supposedly great god of
-healing, Apollo, is a master only of tormenting locusts, and is anyway a mere
-servant of God's angel. The woman in Rev 12 is presented as having dominion over
-the sun, moon, and stars, and thus being superior to Artemis and Isis. Jesus
-himself appears with the brightness of the sun and the stars in his hand in Rev
-1, suggesting that he is in control of all the gods worshipped by Greeks.
-[@chaos-new-creation, p. 344] The big idea: Jesus, the Son of Yahweh, the
-creator-God, is Lord, and when people reject him and his life-giving creative
-power, they tragically bring death and destruction on themselves and the world.
-
-> The whole earth, and the seas, already corrupted, polluted, and distorted by
-> human wickedness and exploitation, now have divine destruction, desolation
-> and despoliation brought on them in a dreadful manner. The scenario thus
-> created, repeatedly, is one of utter chaos, with the earth torn apart and made
-> into a twisted and terrible mess. It is a dystopian vision of the world as it
-> might become – as indeed it inevitably will be if the consequences of human
-> wickedness simply take their course. Hence if life is to continue, and be
-> sustainable, there has to be radical newness. So also the heavens, corrupted
-> in order to serve the ruthless and idolatrous ambitions of the great and
-> powerful, now hover on the edge of losing completely what distinguishes
-> them – the great lights and source of all life. [@chaos-new-creation, p. 346]
-
-Fatalistic? Conservative? Far from it. The destructive events of John's vision
-are the result of human powers distorting God's creation for their own ends. We
-can be complicit and accept the mark of the beast, or we can resist. Those who
-resist will conquer, but not in the way of God's enemies, who raise up armies to
-fight battles: the saints will conquer through the blood of the Lamb, and win
-pride of place in God's new creation, while the nations of the earth flood in to
-worship and to receive life and healing. 'It is an ethic for martyrdom,' as John
-J. Collins, a leading scholar on biblical apocalyptic, puts it
-[@apocalyptic-imagination, chp. 9].
-
-What about the accusations that apocalyptic language is destructive, violent,
-and vindictive? From the above discussion, it should hopefully be clear that
-although John's visions are certainly extremely violent, it is not the case that
-John encourages wanton destruction and violence. It is the evil, idolatrous
-powers of the world which have disfigured God's good creation, and so long as
-they refuse to repent of their destruction and violence, they justly bring
-destruction and violence upon themselves.
-
-Many critics insist that it is impossible to apologise for the violence of
-John's Apocalypse. Lorenzo DiTommaso argues that 'apocalypticism is an unhealthy
-worldview, particularly in its biblical form. It is inimical to a mature vision
-of human destiny, or any social order founded on humanistic ideals. It is
-hostile to life on Earth, especially in light of the nature and needs of
-contemporary society' [@apocalyptic-other, p. 236; quoted in
-@apocalyptic-imagination, Epilogue]. David Frankfurter dismisses attempts to
-apologise for the violence of John's Apocalypse as 'canonical special pleading
-for a very problematic text' [@sectarian-rage; quoted in
-@apocalyptic-imagination, Epilogue]. In his review of scholarship on violence in
-the Apocalypse, David Barr admits that 'the Apocalypse shows little concern
-about employing images that are both violent and ethically offensive,' which is
-'especially problematic in a time when many Christians and Muslims regard each
-other as wholly evil, and violent apocalyptic groups have emerged in both
-traditions' [@violence-in-apocalypse].
-
-On the other hand, it is important to read the violence of John's vision in
-the context of the author's social location. As Alan Breck puts it in _Kidnapped_:
-
-> 'Opinion here or opinion there,' said I, 'it's a kennt thing that Christianity
-> forbids revenge.'
->
-> 'Ay,' said he, 'it's well seen it was a Campbell taught ye! It would be a
-> convenient world for them and their sort, if there was no such a thing as a
-> lad and a gun behind a heather bush!' [@kidnapped, chp. 12]
-
-John wrote from the perspective of the poor and oppressed \[QUOTE FIORENZA\],
-exhorting them not to vindictive violence but to resist violent powers and trust
-God to deliver justice. So, while apocalypticism can be used to inspire
-violence, it can also be used, as John uses it, to inspire resistance to
-oppressive regimes.
-
-\[EXAMPLES OF APOCALYPTICISM IN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS\]
-
-So if John's Apocalypse is not catastrophic, and cannot be reduced to the
-violence and destruction which it features, how does John use apocalyptic
-language to achieve his rhetorical goals? I will focus on three key features:
-revealed knowledge, tribulations, and the end times, as well as the use of
-mythological language throughout each of these.
-
-One is the use of revealed knowledge. For biblical scholars, this, along with a
-concern with the end times, is a key feature of ancient apocalyptic literature
-[@semeia-14-intro]. The book is framed as an epistle – likely a traditional form
-for Christians by the time John was writing, following the Pauline models – and
-is also presented as prophecy, which was a common feature of early Christian
-life [see e.g. @apocalyptic-imagination, chp. 9]. But within those framings,
-John recounts a vision. At first, he sees Jesus, who dictates an address to the
-seven churches in Asia, and after this, an angel shows him a series of visions
-of 'things which must be hereafter' (Rev 4:1). Visions are not a necessary
-component of early Christian prophecy, but they do follow the model of works
-such as 1 Enoch, Daniel, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and numerous other ancient Jewish and
-Christian works, which likewise contain fantastic visions related via a heavenly
-intermediary, and is thus regarded by scholars as a marker of the genre,
-'apocalypse.' [@apocalyptic-imagination, chp. 1].
-
-Why might John have used this genre? While it is perfectly plausible that John
-had a genuine visionary experience [@visions-in-apocalyptic-handbook, pp.
-115-116], this would still not explain why he chose to publish an account of his
-experience using the apocalyptic genre. One reason may be that John inhabited,
-as Leonard Thompson described it, a 'cognitive minority' [@thompson-revelation].
-
-Early Christian communities led distinctive lives on the basis of exclusive
-sources of knowledge: apostolic authority, prophecy, eyewitness testimony,
-interpretation of tongues, innovative interpretations of ancient Hebrew
-Scriptures. Meanwhile, mainstream Greek society had its own authorities. When
-the two came into conflict, Christians would have found themselves wedged
-between the pull of their community and the overwhelming weight of majority
-epistemic norms. As a result, early Christians would have needed to develop
-defensive strategies if their minority cognition were to survive.
-
-By adopting the form of an apocalyptic prophecy, and, no less, an apocalypse of
-Jesus Christ, John claims authority beyond any mainstream Greek
-authority. In the course of his apocalypse, he also subtly undermines majority
-epistemology. As already explored, he mocks top Greek gods such as Apollo and
-Artemis. He also highlights the material benefits on offer for the rich to
-collude with Babylon (Rev 18), and highlights the power of Satan to 'deceive'
-the nations (Rev 20:7). The cognitive majority might want to dismiss John as a
-crackpot. But John can defend himself: they have an interest in lies, their gods
-are lies, and they listen to the Devil's lies.
-
-Thus, the apocalyptic motif of revealed knowledge helps John's rhetoric to
-convince his audience.
-
-A second apocalyptic motif in John's Apocalypse is the theme of tribulations.
-Humans, and in particular the saints, experience suffering in John's visions,
-but this suffering is not meaningless: it is a test of endurance. Those who
-endure, triumph. A crucial part of how this works is what Thompson calls
-'nesting contexts,' whereby John 'nests' his audiences' local contexts in Asian
-churches inside a bigger, cosmic context \[CITE\]. Their suffering at the hands
-of local elites is part of a wider resistance against an idolatrous imperial
-cult, and that in turn is just the human face of an eschatological battle
-between Jesus and Satan. John's call for his audience to persevere is made more
-compelling if he can convince his audience that their struggles are part of a
-much bigger fight, and one that, because they're on God's side, they cannot
-lose, even if they suffer death.
-
-Thirdly, like most ancient apocalypses, John's vision explores the end times,
-and this feature also works to strengthen his rhetoric. If the tribulations are
-to be worth enduring, his audience need to know what it's all for. Thus John
-concludes his account of his vision with a utopia in Rev 21-22.
-
-The New Jerusalem descends from heaven (21:2). It has twelve gates, one for each
-tribe of Israel (21:12), signifying that it is a place for all God's people. The
-sun and moon, those gods so cherished by the Greeks, are redundant, as are all
-temples, and the gates will never be shut, because the city is filled with the
-light of God's direct presence, and there is no more night and day (21:23-25).
-The nations and their kings, instead of usurping God's place and distorting
-God's world, bring their glory to God's city (21:24-26). The tree of life, from
-which Adam and Eve were cut off, is open for all to receive healing (22:2).
-Instead of the mark of the beast, God's servants will bear the name of God on
-their foreheads (22:4). Standing in unresolved tension with this total
-redemption, John warns that evildoers will remain outside the city (20:15,
-21:7-8,27, 22:14-15).
-
-Although John's vision is surely mythological, it is not merely fanciful. Given
-John's case, made throughout the book, that God is sovereign but the world is
-currently distorted by evil, it is natural to conclude that eventually, things
-will be transformed, to remove evil and reveal God's perfect plan for his
-creation, as he has promised. John's utopian vision, then, although it may not
-be an accurate prediction of the future, does function as a way of
-mythologically 'naming' the eschaton which God will surely bring about. Rather
-than being left with an abstract theological definition, we have a
-representative picture. Hope in this, John says, and your hope will not be
-disappointed, even if things don't turn out exactly in this way.
-
-Thus, the way John treats the end times gives his audience hope, a sure grasp of
-what it is they are suffering for, and thus encourages them to endure their
-tribulations.
-
-In summary, the apocalyptic form is crucial to the rhetorical force of John's
-Apocalypse. By adopting the form of an apocalyptic prophecy, he defends his
-cognitive minority community from the overwhelming weight of the cognitive
-majority which surrounds them. Through exploring the symbol of tribulations,
-John steels his audience for suffering, and reassures those who are already
-suffering that their troubles are part of a cosmic context. And with his
-treatment of the end times, John inspires his audience with hope that their
-sufferings will not be wasted.
-
-\[TODO: see if next three paras are relevant.\]
-
-John's apocalyptic imagination uses mythological language to reveal the world of
-appearances for what it really is. The ideology of Empire is a pretender God,
-and the suffering of the martyrs is in fact God's way of conquering evil. John
-may have created a crisis for a people that didn't see one, a people that needed
-'waking up'. So, while catastrophism imagines that all humanity approaches the
-catastrophe more or less from the same perspective, and thus works to kill
-politics, John's apocalyptic imagination imagines precisely the opposite: he
-enlivens political criticism and active resistance to dominant structures by
-identifying how people relate unequally to them.
-
-So people today, when they equate apocalypticism with catastrophism, are cutting
-out most of the apocalyptic imagination and distorting its message. This is now
-new. This is a very traditional move which functions to shut down radical
-dissent against dominant structures.
-
-Meanwhile, those who have read the Apocalypse 'from below' tend to emphasise how
-it has a visionary interpretation of the tribulations of this world, and a
-visionary expectation of this world being transformed, and use this vision to
-motivate movements for transformational social change.
-
-The apocalyptic form is therefore not the reason that green rhetoric is failing.
-As explored in chapter 1, green rhetoric is failing because it is failing to
-diagnose the root causes of the problem, present a credible route to a credible
-solution, and address an audience that could be persuaded to make a difference.
-Were rhetors to solve these problems, they could use apocalyptic effectively.