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diff --git a/chapter2.md b/chapter2.md index c5ebbfb..92639b0 100644 --- a/chapter2.md +++ b/chapter2.md @@ -489,9 +489,54 @@ 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. -\[TODO: tribulations\] - -\[TODO: end times\] +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 |