From 311f0e43344ab7cdc016c96931aabcf44b7a7bdd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:56:41 +0100 Subject: moves flannery chp2 -> chp3 --- chapter3.md | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------ 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index 03d7720..f5ea78f 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -1,11 +1,33 @@ ## Chapter 3 -In 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 4, 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. +In the previous chapter, I explored how contemporary green rhetors use +catastrophic language, and three reasons why some commentators believe +that this is counter-productive. Given the close relationship between +catastrophe and apocalypse in the imaginations of many people in the West, this +begs the question of whether green rhetors ought also to avoid apocalyptic +language. Frances Flannery, Professor Emerita of Religion at James Madison +University, has argued just this. + +Flannery emphasises that in popular imagination, 'apocalypse' signifies nothing +more than the end of the world, ignoring the world-creating aspects of biblical +apocalypses [@flannery-2024, p. 209]. This may be a legacy of Cold-War era +nuclear rhetoric and science fiction, which re-purposed the symbol 'apocalypse' +to describe the consequences of a nuclear war, while deliberately stripping the +disaster of any redemptive afterward [@wojcik-end-of-the-world, p. 1]. Thus, she +argues, the result of raising the threat of a 'climate apocalypse' is to 'create +passivity rather than spur on quick and cooperative climate action' and to inspire +mass climate anxiety. Such a fatalist narrative can also imply that human action +is irrelevant, or encourage audiences to put their hope in 'savior figures such +as inventors, scientists, or governments who might rescue humanity in the nick +of time.' [@flannery-2024, p. 210] + +Flannery's critique would imply that green rhetors ought to avoid apocalyptic +language. This conclusion rests on two key premises: one, that apocalyptic +language is catastrophic in the same way which leads to fatalism, conservatism +and post-politics as described above; and two, that catastrophe is the dominant +effective symbol associated with apocalyptic language. In the next chapter, I +will argue against both of these premises, using the Apocalypse of St John as +a model of apocalyptic language. The first thing to notice is that, while the first three criticisms enumerated above all assume that apocalyptic language is catastrophic, the Apocalypse -- cgit v1.2.3 From d665345dcdbaf6888a4ad8778577f3fb077bd5e7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:22:27 +0100 Subject: chp3: tighten structure on Apocalypse vs anti-catastrophic criticisms --- chapter3.md | 83 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------ 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 32 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index f5ea78f..5d2f11e 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -24,21 +24,28 @@ of time.' [@flannery-2024, p. 210] Flannery's critique would imply that green rhetors ought to avoid apocalyptic language. This conclusion rests on two key premises: one, that apocalyptic language is catastrophic in the same way which leads to fatalism, conservatism -and post-politics as described above; and two, that catastrophe is the dominant -effective symbol associated with apocalyptic language. In the next chapter, I -will argue against both of these premises, using the Apocalypse of St John as -a model of apocalyptic language. - -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: +and post-politics as described in the previous chapter; and two, that +catastrophe is the dominant effective symbol associated with apocalyptic +language. In what remains of this chapter, I will argue against both of these +premises, using the Apocalypse of St John as a model of apocalyptic language. + +What of the criticisms enumerated in the previous chapter, namely, that +catastrophic language promotes fatalism, conservatism and post-politics? The +first thing to observe here is that, whereas green rhetors typically position +the catastrophe as an impending event over which the audience has some measure +of control, St John, in contrast, discusses tribulations which have already +begun, and are largely in the hands of cosmic forces far bigger than his +audience. While John's tribulation discourse surely is catastrophic in some +respects -- involving a definite period in time where cosmic-scale destruction +renders former ways of life permanently unsustainable -- his exhortation is not +to avert the catastrophe, but to endure it. As a result of this very different +dialectic, John's catastrophism can be against fatalism and promote radical +politics grounded in an analysis of power relations. + +John's alternative catastrophic dialectic is visible from the opening chapters +of the Apocalypse, which makes explicit John's exhortation to endure. 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 @@ -89,11 +96,15 @@ 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: +merely, about an impending catastrophe which he wants his audience to work to +avoid, but about a catastrophe -- perhaps, as \[SCHOLAR\] suggests, a +catastrophe only visible as a catastrophe from John's apocalyptic perspective +-- which is already unfolding, which he wants his audience to endure. Given +this rhetorical drive, 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, +helping to motivate his audience to participate in John's self-sacrificial +ethic. 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 @@ -121,9 +132,17 @@ 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: +St John's rhetoric therefore is against fatalism: he motivates and calls his +audience to political action. It is against conservatism: he asks his audience +to subvert dominant power structures and build a radical alternative society +and value system. It is ardently political: his rhetoric is rooted in a +analysis of power structures within Greek society, and particularly between the +rich and poor among Asian Christian churches. + +Andrew Chester [@chaos-new-creation] has explored John's radical subversion of +the dominant Greek value-system in detail, beginning with the observation 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 @@ -169,15 +188,15 @@ power, they tragically bring death and destruction on themselves and the world. > 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]. +Fatalistic? Conservative? Post-political? 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 -- cgit v1.2.3 From dd79fa1de46f904894461c95c44d65aedc808349 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:28:19 +0100 Subject: chp3: remove discussion of apocalyptic violence --- chapter3.md | 46 ++-------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 44 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index 5d2f11e..f2ac525 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -198,50 +198,8 @@ 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 +So if the catastrophism of John's Apocalypse works not for, but against +fatalism, conservatism, and post-politics, how else 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. -- cgit v1.2.3 From fee4cab5b993c975952bb606469c02edc07a7451 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:33:10 +0100 Subject: chp3: expand why genuine vision inadequate to explain apocalyptic genre with example --- chapter3.md | 9 ++++++--- 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index f2ac525..c5a9af6 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -221,9 +221,12 @@ intermediary, and is thus regarded by scholars as a marker of the genre, 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]. +115-116], this would still not explain why he chose to publish an account of +his experience using the apocalyptic genre. If a typical Western middle-class +person were to have a visionary experience today, they might choose to find a +more scientifically respectable framing before sharing their insights with +others. One reason that John used the apocalyptic genre 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, -- cgit v1.2.3 From a6d259d0a9c75b6d6baa0906d1587c1ffeef9602 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:45:47 +0100 Subject: chp3: improve signposting at beginning --- chapter3.md | 20 ++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index c5a9af6..82998d5 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -26,10 +26,22 @@ language. This conclusion rests on two key premises: one, that apocalyptic language is catastrophic in the same way which leads to fatalism, conservatism and post-politics as described in the previous chapter; and two, that catastrophe is the dominant effective symbol associated with apocalyptic -language. In what remains of this chapter, I will argue against both of these -premises, using the Apocalypse of St John as a model of apocalyptic language. - -What of the criticisms enumerated in the previous chapter, namely, that +language. + +In what remains of this chapter, I will argue that were these criticisms to be +levelled against the model of apocalyptic language in the West, +namely, the Apocalypse of St John, the Apocalypse would resist the force of +these criticisms. Reading from the perspective of John's original audiences, +the Apocalypse does not promote fatalism, conservatism or post-politics, but +works against these responses. Later in the chapter, I'll explore three +further key apocalyptic features of the Apocalypse which John uses towards +his rhetorical ends, demonstrating how apocalyptic rhetoric may have worked +effectively in probably the most influential representative of the genre. +Then, in chapter 4, I'll extend this argument to the case of contemporary +green rhetoric, and show how these features of John's ancient rhetoric could +be reproduced effectively in a contemporary context. + +So, what of the criticisms enumerated in the previous chapter, namely, that catastrophic language promotes fatalism, conservatism and post-politics? The first thing to observe here is that, whereas green rhetors typically position the catastrophe as an impending event over which the audience has some measure -- cgit v1.2.3 From 2b5a0cf2149f0ccb4a1992311cc68e6212f9449f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:46:58 +0100 Subject: chp3: remove irrelevant tail on role of imagination, perspective --- chapter3.md | 28 ---------------------------- 1 file changed, 28 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index 82998d5..94842d5 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -316,31 +316,3 @@ 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. -- cgit v1.2.3 From 6c0e0e21203d604d9e3cbfdd59df924894eb2bab Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:48:29 +0100 Subject: chp3: improve summary --- chapter3.md | 15 ++++++++------- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter3.md') diff --git a/chapter3.md b/chapter3.md index 94842d5..9b0891c 100644 --- a/chapter3.md +++ b/chapter3.md @@ -309,10 +309,11 @@ 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. +Apocalypse. The catastrophic aspects of his vision work against, not for, +fatalism, conservatism, and post-politics. 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. -- cgit v1.2.3