From c4b936306ac89701b7a611a7b4fac89429720cfb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joe Carstairs <me@joeac.net>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:41:49 +0100
Subject: chp2: john and violence

---
 bibliography.bib | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 chapter2.md      | 42 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 86 insertions(+)

diff --git a/bibliography.bib b/bibliography.bib
index 6539dfd..c453e29 100644
--- a/bibliography.bib
+++ b/bibliography.bib
@@ -1,3 +1,47 @@
+@inbook{kidnapped,
+    title={Kidnapped},
+    booktitle={The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson},
+    author={Stevenson, Robert Louis},
+    publisher={Spring Books},
+    address={London},
+    date={1989},
+}
+
+@inbook{violence-in-apocalypse,
+    title={Violence in the Apocalypse of John},
+    author={Barr, David L.},
+    doi={10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190655433.013.17},
+    date={2020},
+    bookeditor={Koester, Craig R.},
+    publisher={Oxford University Press},
+    address={Oxford},
+    pages={290--305},
+}
+
+@inbook{sectarian-rage,
+    title={The Legacy of Sectarian Rage},
+    subtitle={Vengeance Fantasies in the New Testament},
+    author={Frankfurter, David},
+    booktitle={Religion and Violence},
+    booksubtitle={The Biblical Heritage},
+    date={2007},
+    address={Sheffield},
+    publisher={Sheffield Phoenix},
+    pages={114--128},
+}
+
+@inbook{apocalyptic-other,
+    title={The Apocalyptic Other},
+    author={DiTommaso, Lorenzo},
+    booktitle={The 'Other' in Second Temple Judaism},
+    booksubtitle={Essays in Honor of John J. Collins},
+    bookeditor={Harlow, Daniel C. and Hogan, Karina Martin and Goff, Matthew and Kaminsky, Joel S.},
+    address={Grand Rapids},
+    publisher={William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co},
+    shortpublisher={Eerdmans},
+    date={2011},
+}
+
 @inbook{chaos-new-creation,
     title={Chaos and New Creation},
     author={Chester, Andrew},
diff --git a/chapter2.md b/chapter2.md
index 4c8d2c7..1310404 100644
--- a/chapter2.md
+++ b/chapter2.md
@@ -401,6 +401,48 @@ worship and to receive life and healing. 'It is an ethic for martyrdom,' as John
 J. Collins, the 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.
+
+\[EXAMPLES OF APOCALYPTICISM IN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS\]
+
 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
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