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The ethos of the Book of Revelation

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Abstract

The ethos of the Book of Revelation Recently, scholars consensus concerning the biblical hermeneutics seems to have become a holistic and integrated perception. There-fore, for the sake of probing the well-balanced and controlled ethos of Revelation, the argument here is that several pertinent methods should be used in an interactive fashion and with a view to achieving the desired result. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the ethos of the Book of Revelation based on integrated interpre-tation of the literary, the historical, and the theological. The ethos of Revelation distinguished through this study is that of the eschatolo-gical coming of the Kingdom of God which can be accomplished by identifying Christians identity (as kings, prophets and priests) with Christ. The Christ event is the ground of the eschatological hope for John's audiences who live in the New Covenant.
The ethos of the Book of Revelation
J A du Rand & Y M Song
(Rand Afrikaans University)
ABSTRACT
The ethos of the Book of Revelation
Recently, scholars consensus concerning the biblical hermeneutics
seems to have become a holistic and integrated perception. There-
fore, for the sake of probing the well-balanced and controlled ethos
of Revelation, the argument here is that several pertinent methods
should be used in an interactive fashion and with a view to achieving
the desired result. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to investigate
the ethos of the Book of Revelation based on integrated interpre-
tation of the literary, the historical, and the theological. The ethos of
Revelation distinguished through this study is that of the eschatolo-
gical coming of the Kingdom of God which can be accomplished by
identifying Christians identity (as kings, prophets and priests) with
Christ. The Christ event is the ground of the eschatological hope for
John’s audiences who live in the New Covenant.
1 INTRODUCTION
The scope of this paper does not permit an exhaustive probe of a
holistic interpretation of the ethos of Revelation. Instead, this paper
will serve to paint several, colourful, broad brush strokes upon the
canvas of pertinent methods in the hopes of investigating the balan-
ced ethos of Revelation.
2 THE ETHOS THROUGH LITERARY, HISTORICAL,
AND THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
2.1 An ethos through a literary interpretation
Revelation is an apocalyptic-prophetic letter with a strong eschatolo-
gical alignment. That means that Revelation does not merely supply
the calculation of the ultimate occurrences, but that it is the prophe-
tic communication of God’s words and the witness of Christ to the
audiences.
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2.1.1 Apocalyptic rhetorical approach
Rhetorical appeals to ‘ethos’ seek to persuade the audiences by
demonstrating the credibility and authority of the speaker (cf.
Kennedy 1984:15). Ethos, then, is an attempt to grasp power (the
authority) to represent oneself and the world in a given rhetorical
situation. Greek and Latin rhetorical theorists recognized that ethos
was an essential element of persuasive speech (Carey 1998:732). In
order to acquire his authority of speech in Revelation, John evidently
manifests the original source of his message in the very first verse of
Rev. 1 (God and Christ), instead of using pseudonimity, which is a
common rhetorical tactic in the apocalypse. Thus, because John’s
ethos is based on the divine authority (cf. Rev. 14:13), his rhetorical
impact on his audiences is a kind of divine persuasion (Kennedy
1984:158).
By advocating the use of rhetorical criticism of Revelation,
Schüssler-Fiorenza (1991:26) warns against identifying any one of
the three modes of rhetoric - deliberative, forensic (judicial), and
ceremonial (epideictic) - as central at the expense of the rest. Reve-
lation’s epistolary framework and its calls to deliberation and deci-
sion function as ‘deliberative rhetoric’ in the assembly of the com-
munity. Its indictments, warnings, testimony for Christ, and narra-
tive symbolisation of divine judgments, as well as its promises and
depictions of the heavenly liturgy and its hymnal praises identify it
as ‘forensic’ and ‘ceremonial rhetoric’ (cf. Du Preez 1979:221;
DeSilva 1998b:799, 803). In connection with rhetorical criticism, as
Du Rand (1993:254) notes, in order to achieve effective communi-
cation, the symbolic, apocalyptic, and poetic language of Revelation
has to be analyzed. Because rhetoric is always enacted as a recipro-
cal interaction between readers and author, an apocalyptic rhetoric
can refer to the ways in which speakers and writers not only use
apocalyptic themes, forms, arguments, and style but also share their
common symbolic world in order to address and persuade people in
their everyday situation (Brummett 1991:10). The author of Revela-
tion constructed a symbolic universe that made intelligible both the
audiences’ faith that Christ is Lord and their daily experience of
injustice and suffering at the hands of Caesar (Verhey 1997:348; cf.
Schüssler-Fiorenza 1991:124).
The rhetorical force of the Apocalypse is to teach the audiences
to see the world from a certain perspective, to see the plot of the
world as a contest between the powers of beasts and saints. Revela-
375
tion intends to reveal not the future but the present; or more precise-
ly, it intends to reveal the true nature of Roman culture to those who
may be blinded by its gaudy dress. Its rhetorical purpose is to re-
make the lives of its audience (Barr 2000a:4). At this point, it is clear
that one of the main purposes of John’s ethos is to correct the
distorted ethos of his audiences.
As Van de Kamp (2000:40, 43) observes, due to his education
or his naturally gifted talent, John is accustomed to his contemporary
rhetorical techniques and capitalises on various kinds of rhetorical
devices including symbolical numbers, repetition, metaphor, simile,
setting, character, and plot in order to shape and correct the ethos of
his spiritually young audience (mainly epideictic and deliberative
rhetoric; cf. Kennedy 1984:74). The following rhetorical techniques
make John’s audience remember the message efficiently and drama-
tically during the liturgy, i.e. the oral performance:
(1) Symbolical numbers: e.g. 2= witness; 7=totality or completion;
3= trinity; 3½or 42 months= the (short) period of persecution and
that of God’s protection (11:3; 12:6).
(2) Setting: the throne as the central symbol on which God as a
round character sits and expands his rule outwardly. The throne
visions (21 times= 7 x 3) as the encompassing frame of the all events
in Revelation appear whenever the awful crisis-events occur in order
to manifest God’s sovereignty.
(3) John uses off-stage narration to describe Babylon’s fate. By
contrast, he uses first person narration to describe the New Jerusa-
lem. The form of narration - on-stage - encourages the reader to
identify with the New Jerusalem.
(4) Tense: the destruction of Babylon, for instance, is shown by three
tenses (18:9, 11, 15, and 19) in which the eschatological aspects of
the destruction of evil are stressed.
(5) Many parodies or antitheses emphasise the importance of
keeping the power of discernment.
(6) Inclusio: Rev. 1:8 and 21:5-8 manifest the eternal God who
begins and completes history and creation. The image of God sitting
on the throne is not so much inactive as faithful and everlasting.
Three other inclusios are ejkklhsiva (1:4, 11 and 22:16), John’s
urgent expectancy of the fulfillment of his prophecy (1:1, 3 and 22:6,
7, 12, 20; see Gentry 1999:124-125), and the Exodus motif (1:6 and
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20:6; Ford 1993:245, 249). In addition, it seems to be a broad inclu-
sio in Rev. 1 and 22 (cf. Barr 1998:12). For example, the first (1:3)
and the sixth (22:7) makarisms of the prologue and epilogue frame
Revelation with an invocation and penultimate benediction; the for-
mer calls the gathering community into worship while the latter
exhorts the dispersing community to fellowship.
(7) The sexual image: it mainly enables the audience to recognize
the seductive powers of evil (concerning a typical feministic
response to this imagery (see Garrett 1998:474).
(8) The use of passiva divina: it stresses the sovereignty of God even
over the Satan (13:5; Peerbolte 1999:9).
(9) Pseudonymity as the most universal means of achieving apoca-
lyptic ethos is abandoned (cf. Carey 1998:750).
(10) The repetition of words reinforces the incompatibility of piety
and idolatry by subtly moving the audience to see bipolar opposi-
tions (4:8-14:11; 14:11-14:13; 14:7-14:9-14:11; 14:11-19:3; DeSil-
va 1998b:800-802).
(11) ‘Naming’ in Revelation as epideictic is one of the more effec-
tive ways in which the author blames and praises (Johns 1998:764-
765). By his mane, jAntipa'" (2:13) implies the quality of a martyr:
‘against all (kinds of evils)’.
(12) John takes what he wants from the OT, makes various changes
and weaves in order to enrich the rhetorical effect of the allusion
(Moyise 1999:112).
The dualistic viewpoint and the conflict between (faithful, sovereign,
eternal, and salvific) God and (seductive, destructive and tentative)
Satan come to the fore in these rhetorical devices. John’s intention is
to communicate with his audiences and persuade them through the
symbolic world (i.e. through the heavenly perspective), in which the
above-mentioned rhetorical devices stress the risen Christ’s rule of
the cosmos. From the apocalyptic rhetorical viewpoint, the belea-
guered audiences are encouraged and corrected not only by the
recognition of the false aspect of the Roman and the false Judaism
but also by participating in Christ’s rule depicted in the symbolic
world of Revelation, while their real situation is unchanged.
To summarise: as Reid (1983:242) lucidly remarks, on the
negative side, the rhetorical function of the apocalyptic in the Book
of Revelation enhances hatred and fear of a clearly defined enemy
377
(i.e. the Romans and the false Judaism). On the positive side, it turns
one’s cause into a holy crusade, thereby making its adherents a
Chosen People who are duty-bound to work in God’s service and
who will eventually triumph despite temporary afflictions. The ethos
of Revelation (cf. the normative viewpoint) in the apocalyptic
rhetoric is that the audiences should identify themselves with the
triumphant Christ and equip themselves with the heavenly stand-
point depicted in the symbolic world John suggests through the
evocative and apocalyptic language. This ethos is in accord with De
Wit’s (1995:189) remarks on the function of the apocalyptic vision:
the apocalyptic texts provide the audiences not only with the hope
for the future, but also with orientation to a praxis with their own
‘identity’, which they should sustain, against a different, alienated
praxis. As Johns (1998:784) clearly observes, the most significant
battle in the Apocalypse is thus a battle for perception fought on the
rhetorical battlefield. At stake are the hearts, perceptions, and alle-
giances of the Asian believers, who should find the survival strategy
(cf. De Wit 1995:190).
2.1.2 Narratological approach
The Book of Revelation can be regarded as a functional narrative (cf.
Barr 1998:175). Not only the visions that form the content of the
Apocalypse are narrative in nature; ‘apocalypse’ as a genre of reve-
latory literature also has a narrative framework. Through its narra-
tion Revelation offers its audiences encouragement and perspective
based on Christ’s two comings and its significance in an oppressive
situation (cf. Boring 1992:703; Du Rand 1993:261). Actually, there
are almost as many plots as there are commentators doing the orga-
nising. How he/she arranges the material depend on what he/she is
looking for (Barr 2000b:1). Nonetheless, Revelation can be divided
into three phases in the construction of narrative:
(1) Through his ascension, Christ became the ruler of the universe
(Ch. 1) - the narration of the past.
(2) Jesus sends messages to the churches (Chs. 2-3) and inaugurates
both the New Covenant and the universal salvation by judging the
apostate Jerusalem and the Roman (Chs. 4-19) - the description of
the time of John.
(3) Christ will consummate his covenant by inaugurating the New
Jerusalem (Chs. 20-22) - the story of the future.
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Each phase is grounded in the person and the redemptive work of
Christ. The narrative plot can be shown by the expending scope of
God’s people, i.e. the kingdom of God (cf. Du Preez 1979:216-218):
Christ (Rev. 1) xThe 7 churches (Rev. 2-3) x The twenty-four
elders (Rev. 4:4) x The 144,000 of sealed (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1-5) x
The woman and the rest of her offspring (Rev. 12:1-17) x The
twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:12-14)
In terms of the plot analysis, at the heart of the notion of plot is the
idea of a causal connection between events in a sequence. The plot
analysis of Revelation demonstrates that the progression is primarily
a literary one and not chronological sequence, although the broad
contours of chronological series may be embedded in the literary
format. The plot of Revelation is a W-shaped structure that begins
with a steady condition (Ch. 1), moves downward into the unstable
condition of the Early Church (Chs. 2-3), moves upward (Chs. 4-5)
into the stable condition of heaven, moves downward due to a series
of threatening conditions and instability (Chs. 6-19), and at the end
moves upward to a new stable condition (Chs. 20-22) (cf. Resseguie,
1998:166). This W-shaped structure shows the dynamic and sus-
penseful development of Revelation’s plot in which the (Messianic)
Holy War motive plays a vital role.
Though a narrative ethos should be constructed throughout the
narrative, its ethos can be usually identified especially through the
beginning and end of the narrative (cf. Carey 1998:741). Conse-
quently, the stable conditions and clear perspectives as revealed in
Rev. 1 and (20)-22 are important to establishing its ethos. In conse-
quence, while the ethos of the seven churches is unsteady, that of
John (derived from Christ) is reliable in the plot of Revelation.
In connection to the narrative ethos of Revelation, the following
four-narratological viewpoints are the crucial ground for the norma-
tive (ideological) point of view (cf. Resseguie 1998:7, 33, 39, 44-
47):
(1) From the spatial viewpoint, the throne, the Lamb, and the two
witnesses, for instance, as central characters transform their peri-
meters.
(2) The phraseological viewpoint, John narrates Revelation in the
first person-not-omnipotent perspective. And he must have accus-
tomed both to LXX and to the Hebrew Bible.
379
(3) From the psychological viewpoint, the reaction of characters to
events in Revelation is twofold: they either respond with amaze-
ment, praise, and terrified fear that results in their glorifying God or
they react to God’s judgment by cursing God’s name and remaining
obdurate. The audience is forced to choose between them. Further-
more, a psychological domain is brought about, in which the boun-
daries of time and space have faded away and God’s salvation is
manifested, because the events in heaven reflect those on the earth
(Peerbolte 1999:11).
(4) The temporal viewpoint of Revelation is compatible with the NT
eschatology demonstrating that the past Christ event determines the
present and the future course of events. Thus, it is the Christ-centric
eschatology, not the time-lapse eschatology that determines the
temporal point of view in the Book of Revelation (cf. the covenantal
eschatology).
The normative (
ideological) concept, as emphasised by John - the
narrator - on the basis of the above four viewpoints, has to do with
its narrative ethos. It stresses that the world history is under the
control of God and that readers have to choose between the below/
earthly viewpoint and the above/heavenly viewpoint. By using the
sociological analysis, DeSilva’s (1992:380) observation on the
ideology of Revelation is similar with the above normative view-
point. He lays stress on the fact that John develops a different ideo-
logical landscape in which the emperor (and the apostate Judaism) is
no longer in the central position, but rather off-centre and antagonis-
tic towards the centre, which is now represented as God, or the
Lamb and their cult.
The distance between narrator and audience is a critical factor
in the apocalyptic narrative. By identifying himself with his au-
dience (Rev. 1:9), John enlists himself in a partnership of interest
(cf. Carey 1998:744). As a first-person narrator, John participates
and identifies with his readers. In fact, a central aspect of John’s
narrative technique is a sort of deflecting of the audience’s identi-
fication with the various narratees - from the extradiegetic narratee
of the whole vision (i.e. real reader), to the specific church recipients
of the messages (i.e. narratee), to the character John, who hears of
the fate of the saints and martyrs (Barr 2000a:4). As Gnatkowdki
(1988:98) elucidates, to read the narrative of Revelation successful-
ly, the real reader must identify with the implied reader (esp. ‘the
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conqueror’ as an ideal model of both the historical and modern
reader).
In the narrative ethos of John, a distinctive characteristic is the
identification of identities among John, his readers, and Christ from
the above (heavenly) standpoint, in which the stable condition (i.e.
the eschatological coming of kingdom of God through Christ’s
reign) is established after the conquering of the unstable (the Satan,
the Romans, and the false Judaism). In sum: John tries to bring about
the performative response of his readers/hearers through his functio-
nal narrative and rhetorical devices on the basis of the conviction
that they are under Christ’s rule. Those who adopt the apocalyptic
rhetoric and the narratology of Revelation perhaps downplay the
historical, ‘real-world’ connections of the Book and highlight its
construction of a story in which the conflict between good and evil
comes to the fore (e.g. see the strong emphasis of the alternative
symbolic universe by Schüssler-Fiorenza and Barr; regarding the
idealistic character, see Clarke 1995:209). For that reason, the
historical interpretation of Revelation is essential.
2.2 An ethos through a historical interpretation
The Book of Revelation originated in a historical way, not in a
vacuum, and therefore, can be understood in the light of history. It is
impossible to understand an author and to interpret his words
correctly unless he is seen against the proper historical context.
Nevertheless, it is true that Revelation has suffered from anachro-
nism or ethnocentrism (Malina 2000:5). The Johannine church is
located in Asia Minor. And much in the Johannine writings shows
how stimulating influences - images and ideas - not only from the
Hellenistic world but also from the Palestinian sphere as well as
from Jesus Himself are unmistakably present and play a decisive
role (cf. Gerhardsson 1979:94).
2.2.1 The socio-scientific approach
Indisputably, the socio-historical context of John’s young communi-
ty (esp. during 66-70 AD) is that it suffered not only from external
pressures but also from inner compulsions. The former derives from
the State, the Greco-Roman society, and the Jewish synagogue (Rev.
2:9; 3:9; 13:16-17; 17:4; cf. the gruesomely widespread Neronic
persecution of Christianity as a religio illicita, see Gentry 1989:222,
286-299). The latter comes from the false prophets within the Asia
381
Minor churches (Rev. 2:2). The argument of the latter seems that the
way for the community to survive would be through compromise in
form while preserving the essential meaning unharmed, or else the
community could no longer survive. By recognising the strong con-
nection between formal and essential compromise, John also advo-
cates formal accommodation in order to intensify the identity of his
young readers (DeSilva 1992:384).
In his significant socio-rhetorical argument, DeSilva (1998a:87-
88) states that words denoting honour and honouring appear rather
frequently in Revelation (timh;: 6 times; dovxa: 17 times; doxavzw:
twice). He goes on to claim that beyond the bare occurrence of
lexical entries, however, John indicates honour and shame through
terms indicating approval (or blessedness) and disapproval (e.g.
punishment or judging), through physical replications of status (e.g.
crowning, bowing, imprisoning, leaving corpses unburied), through
identifying an action with a virtue or vice (chief components of
honour and dishonour), and through discussion of status through
birth or other ascribed means. Revelation’s engagement with honour
language, therefore, goes well beyond its use of the word group.
In reality, John is intensely interested in the question of whom
to honour, and at what cost that honour is to be safeguarded. John
attempts to catch his audience up in the sense of gratitude and the
immensity of the honour of God and the Lamb, who by his death
people from every nation have been ransomed from a servile status.
What is more, they have been ascribed the honourable standing of
priests serving God, enjoying the honour of face-to-face access to
the Divine Patron. At this stage, two conspicuous elements, the
honour-shame and the client-patron, are interacted (cf. DeSilva
1998b:791-792).
In addition, the following six phrases are remarkable (Malina &
Pilch 1993:12; DeSilva 1998a:93, 105, 108, 109):
(1) John preserves a set of seven (perfect) makarisms, strung
throughout his visions (makavrio" or makavrioi- 1:3; 14:13; 16:15;
19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14-15). These seven makarisms frame the whole
of the book, pointing to the call to remain exclusively loyal to the
Lamb and separated from the idolatry and luxury of the dominant
culture as the way to stand honoured in God’s sight and to remain
within God’s favour. John’s readers can gain honour through victory
and lost through defeat, where it is replaced by shame (regarding the
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three functions [ecclesiological, ethical, and eschatological] of the
sevenfold makarisms, see Hatfield 1987:169).
(2) Φobhvqhte to;n qeo;n (Rev. 14:7) means the nurturing respect for
God’s honour and a caution concerning affronting God and failing in
one’s obligations to one’s divine benefactor.
(3) In Revelation God’s wrath can be regarded as a culturally con-
textualised expression of God’s honour against all kinds of chal-
lenges to it. John is forcing his readers to choose the eternal honour
or the temporal honour, which becomes dishonour sub specie aeter-
nitatis.
(4) In Revelation as a covenantal prophecy in epistolary form, the
reciprocal covenantal honour is accentuated. To repay honour is the
apposite response to one who bestows honour to God - the Suzerain
par excellence in New Israel grants John’s readers honour through
his Embassy (or the Broker of God’s royal patronage i.e. Christ).
John’s readers should repay honour to God through worship, victory
and covenantal loyalty. God as the Suzerain is able to honour one
vassal more than another, creating a hierarchy of honour (Rev.
22:12). Thus, this reciprocal honour is not static but dynamic and
hierarchy (Oakman 1993:203; Olyan 1996:204-205).
(5) As Malina & Pilch (1993:12) observe, any perusal of the Bible,
including Revelation, will readily reveal how the God of Israel
requires total submissiveness. It would seem that the whole of the
ancient Mediterranean world was authoritarian: total submissive-
ness to ‘authority’ and high regard for a person’s ability to endure
pain were regarded as an honour. In fact, God is essentially a power-
ful and mighty God who expels all other deities, e.g. the deceiving
authority/power of the Roman Empire in John’s time. In Revelation,
by showing a dichotomy between his authority and that of other
deities, God commands his people to choose the right one related
with the Christian identity.
(6) The social utility of name-calling (or vilification) is an exercise
in boundary maintenance in that it declares who is in and who is out
and - even more important - it strengthens the self-identity of the in-
group (cf. Balaam, Jezebel, the whore of Babylon, the beast; Barr
1986:410).
The ethos of Revelation from the socio-scientific study is that only
the authoritative God (as the divine Patron) exclusively deserves the
383
honour and is forcing the faithful to choose true and eternal honour
instead of temporal honour viz., eternal dishonour (cf. Heb. 10:32-
34; 13:13-14:2; 2 Co. 4:16-18). As Oakman (1993:209) tellingly
summarises, John’s overriding theme throughout Revelation is that
God alone is honourable, that God’s patronage alone is reliable and
worthy of trust, and that God’s vengeance upon the whole dis-
honourable system is sure. Actually, most of the seven cities were
dominated by their patron gods and goddesses and their temples and
shrines (Ford 1993:246). The tribute, which God alone is worthy of
receiving, will be reliably redistributed to clients (2:7; 7:15-17; 21:4-
7). Moreover, John consistently emphasises the honour and glory of
the faithful by describing it in terms of the metaphors/images of a
banquet, wedding, victory, and name-calling. John advocates the
eternal honourable identity of the faithful in Revelation by their sub-
mission to God, and accentuates the dynamic reciprocal honour
between God (as the covenantal Patron) and John’s readers (as trust-
worthy clients) through Jesus (as the Broker of God’s patronage; see
Kümmel 1972:322). For that reason, the aroused conflict in Revela-
tion serves the purpose of promoting group solidarity and cohesive
identity.
2.3 An ethos through a theological interpretation
Unlike other Jewish apocalyptic books, the Book of Revelation
claims to be inspired by God as a prophecy. Moreover, the concep-
tion of salvation history, in whose centre Jesus stands, lies at the
basis of Revelation’s philosophy of history, gives to it the tone
which comes from the certainty of salvation (Kümmel 1972:323). So
a probe into the revelation history of God in the Book of Revelation
is absolutely indispensable.
2.3.1 The canonical approach
Those seeking to understand the canonical approach have often
encountered a considerable amount of confusion, not only because
the discipline offers differing methodologies, but also because these
methodologies are not completely explained (Clarke 1995:196).
Regardless of this methodological puzzlement, this section, in prin-
ciple, will attempt to explicate the principles and tenets of the cano-
nical approach as defined by Childs with his emphasis upon the final
form of the text.
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Although all hypothetical theories of source and redaction need
not impede the current use of the Book of Revelation, the fact that
the entire book as we have it is canonically accepted is of the utmost
importance (cf. Childs 1985:41). In regard to the canonical ap-
proach of Revelation, Clarke’s process is appropriate (1995:204-
215): (1) canonisation of Revelation (canonical process); (2) canoni-
cal position of Revelation (i.e. broader context or macro-canonical
analysis); and (3) canonical shape of Revelation (i.e. immediate
context or micro-canonical analysis) (cf. Wall 1992:274-275):
In connection with (1), until the time of Constantine, who used
the Book’s imperial imagery for self-promotion, Revelation was not
recognised as canonical in some important regions of the early
Catholic Church. But the canonising church, in recognising Revela-
tion’s inspiration, included it as part of the Christian biblical canon
(AD 397 - the Synod of Carthage) because of its normative character
for subsequent generations of believers. As Wall (1992:278) con-
cludes: throughout history, certain groups of believers have elevated
the importance of Revelation as their ‘canon within a canon’. For
other believers, the presence of Revelation in the NT is a mere tech-
nicality.
Regarding (2), the NT canon in its final form is the product of
an intentional process. The Book of Revelation is the Bible’s ‘con-
clusion’ and should be interpreted as such (Wall 1992:279). Reve-
lation effects a canonical inclusio with the first chapter of Genesis in
which a canon-logic comes to the fore in that a faithful Creator God
has kept the promise to restore all things for his Kingdom (Groene-
wald 1986:15). The interpretation of Revelation is not only assisted
by reading it in its fixed canonical position and relationship to
Genesis, but also in its general canonical relationship to a number of
other biblical writings or collections of writings (Clarke 1995:210-
214): (a) Revelation echoes something of the Exodus motif (Rev. 15-
16); (b) going further, Revelation has a number of close affinities
with the OT prophets (esp. the similar vocabulary, symbolism, and
prophetic nature in Dan and Ezk); (c) the final concern is the consi-
deration of Revelation’s canonical setting within the NT (esp. the
Olivet Discourse, the other Johannine writings; Acts, Heb., 1-2 Pe.,
Jude).
The canonical shaping (3) attempts to discover traces within the
text itself as to how the biblical author intended the material to be
understood: (a) although the issues of Revelation’s unity and struc-
385
ture will continue to be a matter of debate, the canonical critic must
focus primarily upon the final form of the Book rather than upon its
underlying sources. (b) Childs (1985:517) draws attention to the fact
that APOKALUYIS IWANNOU as the title of Revelation has the
canonical significance that the Book is to be read in conjunction with
the larger Johannine corpus. The point is not to harmonise Revela-
tion with the other Johannine writings, but rather to affirm that there
is a larger canonical unity to the church’s scriptures. The readers of
Revelation might have read and understood the Book from other
Johannine writings. The title of Revelation reflects the ancient tradi-
tion of the canonising agents and the Early Church who ascribed
authorship to the Apostle John. (c) In the prescript of Revelation,
the eternal message of God is emphasised, for example, the number
7 symbolising the universal churches in every period (Childs 1985:
517). (d) For the last Book of the Bible such canonical control (Rev.
22:18-19) is especially needful in the epilogue of Revelation. The
conclusion of Revelation repeats many of the themes presented in
the introduction. In this way, Revelation’s prescript and epilogue
function again as an immediate canonical inclusio (cf. Barr 1998:
12). In short: by playing the role of the conclusion (climax) of the
Bible, the Book of Revelation is the evident manifesto of Christian
eschatological hope, of God’s victory over the Satan, of the church
over the false church and all its signs.
2.3.2 The partial preterism
Even though the partial preterism has strong historical characteris-
tics, because of the adjective ‘partial’, this approach is so compatible
with the NT eschatology that it can be categorised in theological
interpretation. As Mounce (1983:44) and Martin (1990:377-378)
note, there are four long-established ways of making sense of Reve-
lation’s message: preterist, idealist, continuous historical, and futu-
rist. There is a measure of truth in each of the above captions. An
interaction of them is feasible. History is the arena of the fulfilment
of God’s purpose throughout its long haul, and yet there is reason to
believe that at the end there will be a critical summing up of the fea-
tures distinguishing the present age of conflict between the church
and anti-God forces in the world. Such an interacted interpretation
focuses rightly on the first-century situation in the churches of Asia
Minor as providing the Sitz im Leben for most, if not all, of the allu-
sions in the entire treatise. It also allows room for the possibility that
an immediate first-century fulfilment does not eliminate the chance
ISSN 1609-99982 = VERBUM ET ECCLESIA Jrg 24(2) 2003 386
of further fulfilments in the subsequent history of the world and the
church (cf. Van de Kamp [1990:331] misreads the partial preterism
as the other extreme of futurism). Furthermore, it respects the bibli-
cal assertion that the conflict between God and evil is not an everlas-
tingly unresolved metaphysical dualism, but will be settled in the
end with the triumph of God and the establishment of his rule in his
world.
The audiences of John might have recognised the content of
Acts, therefore the gist of the partial preterism is more suitable to
them than the other three traditional approaches: the futuristic,
idealistic, and (church and world) historical interpretation. As a
justifiable part of the grammatical-historical method, the partial
preterism in which the content of Revelation is almost consistent
with that of Acts, refers to the historical context of the first century
(esp. 64-70 AD) and links up with the NT eschatology (cf. Gentry
1999:122-123):
(1) The church’s confrontation with the synagogue.
(2) The central position of the Jerusalem city in the last chapter
(Acts 28; Rev. 21-22). As a symbolic centre, a spiritual alternative to
Rome, Jerusalem was of great importance to Diaspora Jews, even
after AD 70 (Bauckham 1993:129).
(3) The same central position of the temple.
(4) The antipathy of the Jews and the Romans against the Christians
(Acts 4:27; 21:11).
(5) Throughout the Book of Acts the deliverance of the righteous
and the judgment of the wicked come in response to prayer. Corres-
pondingly, one of the most crucial weapons of Christian warfare (a
prayer army) is prayer in Revelation (Rev. 5:8; 6:9-10; 8:3; Du Preez
1979:223; Jordan 1997:14).
(6) Strong emphasis on the suffering for witness (Acts 1:8; 22:20;
Lohse 21).
(7) God’s judgment on the pseudo-religious reverence for the Jerusa-
lem temple (cf. Van der Waal 1981:13).
(8) According to the sequence of the NT books in the Canon of
Mommsen (AD 360), Acts is immediately followed by the Book of
Revelation (Du Toit 1989:255; and see the canonical approach).
387
These relevancies between Revelation and Acts put the accent on the
visible extension of God’s kingdom, i.e. the coming worldwide
dominion of the Gospel through the destruction of Jerusalem temple
(as a Parousia) and the witness of the faithful (cf. Chilton 1985:
172). To put it in another way, the fall of Jerusalem, the persecution
to the faithful and the Diaspora in the first century can be regarded
as birth pangs (wjdivn: Mt. 24:8; Mk. 13:8; Rev. 12:2) for the realisa-
tion of the eschatological kingdom of God.
For the partial preterism, the relation of the Olivet Discourse to
Revelation is crucial in that both show the situation of the Jerusalem
fall as well as that of a/the Parousia of Christ. Jesus’ leaving the
temple (Mt. 24:1; Mk. 13:1; Ezk. 10:18-19) symbolises the end of its
relevance in the purpose of God. Like the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the destruction of the Jerusalem
temple is a great turning point in the revelation of God in that the
New Covenant with its eschatological, universalistic, and salvific
implication starts from that time. There is a close theological con-
nection between ‘the Jerusalem fall’ and ‘the end of the age’ (Mt.
24:1): (1) both are aspects of the consummation of Jesus’ ministry.
(2) Both involve a judgment that will vindicate Him as the Messiah.
The former is the end (consummation) of the old age (cf. Lightfoot
1997:320; Jordan 1999:8). Thus, the significance of the devastation
of Jerusalem as an eschatological exaltation of the exalted Christ has
its relevance until the time of the Parousia.
There are two lines of thought in the circle of partial preterism:
one line (David Chilton, Milton Terry, J. Stuart Russell, Philip Car-
rington; cf. Boring 1995:574-577) believes that the whole content of
Revelation is the story of the fall of Jerusalem and its universal im-
pact. The argument of the other line (Moses Stuart, Jay Adams,
David S. Clark, Greg L. Bahnsen) is that Rev. 1-11 describes the
destruction of Jerusalem, but from Rev. 13 the judgment of Rome
starts (Gregg 1997:254; cf. Kümmel [1972:329] & Barr [1998:24]
one-sidedly put emphasis on the persecution by the Roman Empire).
In spite of their difference, they agree that the judgment of Judaism
depicted as Jerusalem has inaugurated the time of the New Covenant
in which the universal redemption has dawned. In short, from the
standpoint of the partial preterism, the ethos of the Book of Revela-
tion, like that of Acts, is that John’s readers/hearers as the people of
the New Covenant have to carry out the appointed task with regard
ISSN 1609-99982 = VERBUM ET ECCLESIA Jrg 24(2) 2003 388
to the universally visible realisation of God’s kingdom until the
Parousia.
2.3.3 The revelation history based on the (Christological) cove-
nant eschatology
The Book of Revelation as a covenantal epistle graphically portrays
through its various visions and hortatory expressions the inestimable
honour and worth of the church’s covenant relationship with her
Suzerain, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the whole concept of vassal
obligation within the covenant relationship is built upon the prior
(and continuing) goodness of the Suzerain. In fact, for the vassal it is
the highest honour to perform the stipulations in spite of ensuing
suffering or even death (Du Preez 1979:221; cf. Poythress 2000: 20).
As Strand (1983:251-254, 264) aptly elucidates, the (unilateral)
vassal-suzerainty covenant evidently appears both in Revelation 2-3
and in the whole Book (cf. Chilton 1990:17; Oakman 1993:203):
Revelation 2-3 The Book of Revelation
The Preamble Identifying the suzerain, Christ
under appropriate symbolism
Who Christ, the Suzerain, is:
1:5a
The Historical Prologue Indicative of past relationships
(presupposed in the ‘I know your
works’ statement)
What Christ has done for his
vassals: 1:5b-6a
The Stipulations The prescribed course of action
for each congregation in view of
its circumstances
Call to loyalty and faithfulness:
Chs. 2-22
The Call upon Witnesses The repeated imperative to ‘hear
what the Spirit says to the
churches’
22:16a, 17a, 20a
The Blessing and Curse The promise to the overcomers
and the warnings for
unfaithfulness
22:7a, 14a, 18-19
The images of Christ as the Suzerain in the Apocalypse reflect the
three tenses of God (Rev. 1:4) - past, present, and future (cf. Boring
1992:713-718; Resseguie 1998:206-207):
(1) The past activity of the Christ: the slaughtered Lamb is an image
of Christ’s past work on the cross. The references to the historical
Jesus are concentrated on the death/resurrection/exaltation. The
aorist ejnivkhsa is repeatedly used for the once-and-for-all redemptive
work of Christ (Rev. 3:21; 5:5).
(2) The present work of the Christ: despite the strong eschatological
orientation of the Apocalypse, there are even more references to the
present activity of the Christ than to the future activity. In the present
389
Christ is the exalted King of the universe. His blood shed in the past
is effective in the present (12:11); He is present in and to the
churches (1:13; 2:1; 3:19). Above all He speaks (1:1; 2:7, 2:24; 4:1;
16:15; 22:6; 22:20). It is clear that Christ works in the present as the
King, Priest, and Prophet. The present participle oJ nikw'n is used for
the faithful Christian’s response to Christ’s call to follow Him
actively in the present.
(3) The future work of Christ: most of the future activity of the
Christ is related not to the historical future between John’s writing
and the eschaton, but to the Parousia. Christ will consummate the
kingdom of God in his Parousia (cf. Beale 1999:173).
From the above-mentioned Christ’s activities, it is evident that most
of attention is focused on the activity of the historical Jesus (his
death and resurrection) and the present activity of the exalted Christ.
It is vested in the person of Jesus Christ who binds together the past,
the present and the future (Groenewald 1986:26). Therefore the
message of Revelation should be understood Christologically and
eschatologically: the kingdom of God is already present on earth in
the Christian community who has the task to make God’s purpose
with this world visible. The Christian communities have already
become God’s visible representatives through their personal confes-
sion and pious lifestyle. Everything John writes centres around the
person and work of Jesus. In a sense, the Johannine theology is
nothing but Christology, and his Christology is his soteriology
(Gerhardsson 1979:95). Put another way, the church’s ethos is
Christological in that the ontological imitatio Christi for the visible
Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven is the core of the ethos of
Revelation (cf. Wall 1992:334).
This fact is closely connected with the NT eschatology in which
‘already’ and ‘not yet’ make all generations relevant (Bandstra
1992:23; Beale 1999:134). The depiction of Jesus standing in front
of the throne proves that his consistent ministry brings about the
fulfilment of redemptive work instead of God the Father. After
finishing ‘the not yet’ event, Jesus sits on the throne (22:1). Never-
theless, the focal point of the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ of the eschato-
logical salvation is not so much the linear concept of history (i.e. a
time-lapse category) as the kingdom of God and the rule of Christ on
the throne as the main symbol (cf. Schüssler-Fiorenza 1989:419). In
Rev. 1:4, for example, the linear concept of time is broken through
in its third term (e[rcestai instead of ei\nai). This has a substantial
ISSN 1609-99982 = VERBUM ET ECCLESIA Jrg 24(2) 2003 390
significance for the understanding of God and the time in Revela-
tion. God’s future is not that He will be as He was and is, but that He
is on the move and coming towards the world. As the Coming One
(oJ e[rcomeno"), God now already sets present and past in the light of
his eschatological arrival, an arrival which means the establishment
of his eternal kingdom, and his indwelling in the creation renewed
for that indwelling (cf. Boring 1992:718).
In other words, as a prototypical victory the decisive battle on
the cross makes possible all other victories of his followers up to his
Parousia. Because the eschaton of the Kingdom of God has arrived
through the Christ-event, a ‘new moral order’ has been made pos-
sible and Christians are to live according to it. The Christian com-
mitment to non-violence is an eschatological commitment demon-
strating to the world their confidence that they do live in a new age
(cf. De Villiers 1987:138). The faithful can survive in a nonviolent
way in this distorted world by realising the fact that God controls the
beginning and the end. In John’s worldview, history is the sphere in
which God has wrought out redemption. Though John depicts evil
realistically, his book is basically not pessimistic but sanguine.
Accordingly, the main subject matter of Revelation is the victory of
Christ for his oppressed church (Rev. 1:7, 8; 17:14) (Gentry 1989:
127). Christ is going to reconfirm his universally visible reign and
rule over the world, which has been managed not so much in a
concealed way for a long time as in the similar way, in particular,
like in the Gospels and Acts.
To sum up: the ethos from the revelation history on the basis of
the (Christological) covenantal eschatology is that the dynamic
kingship of God has been fulfilled in the period of the New Cove-
nant, which Christ as the Lord of the new aeon has to consummate
by his Parousia and by the churches’ undertaking. The faithful have
to perform as kings, prophets and priests even though their suffering
in the present situation (cf. Kümmel 1972:322). The Parousia is to
consummate the visible realisation of God’s kingship as well as to
solve the identity tension ultimately (Rev. 21:3; 7; 22:4).
3 CONCLUSION
This paper tends to focus on specific passages and limited materials
in Revelation, rather than treating the Book’s development of all
kinds of elements in a progressive fashion throughout its entire
scope. The salient ethos of the Book of Revelation unfolded by this
391
limited study is that the eschatological coming of the Kingdom of
God can be accomplished by identifying Christians’ eschatologi-
cal identity with that of Christ in the New Covenant. This identi-
fycation of Christians’ honourable and dynamic identity with Christ
(as kings, prophets and priests) should and could be performed by
their prayerful witnesses up to the point of death (like Jesus and the
ethos of Acts), non-violent (unlike the Zealots; Sproul 1998:119) but
active submission to God in all their spheres of life (unlike the
retreatist pietism of Essene), and uncompromising endurance (like
the idea of the Fourth Gospel and the Epistles of John). All these
phases are derived from both the Christ event and the Jerusalem fall
that are the grounds of the eschatological hope for all Christian
generations as well as John’s audiences. The ethos of Revelation has
two aspects: (1) the absolute intolerance in terms of the identity of
John’s audiences, (2) the absolute tolerance for the visible fulfilment
of God’s Kingdom in the New Covenant in terms of the mission of
John’s readers/hearers.
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