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diff --git a/chapter2.md b/chapter2.md index 1b07627..ec31e33 100644 --- a/chapter2.md +++ b/chapter2.md @@ -443,6 +443,52 @@ 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 himself, 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. + 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 |