Loading...In the just finished thread I discussed the number of the Beast, 666, in the context of the book of Revelation and its broader symbolism. In response, several readers asked me to say some more about Revelation (which by the ways does NOT have an “s” on the end!! That’s one of my pet pieves. It’s not the book of Revelations but the book of Revelation). So I think I’ll do two or three posts on it. It is the one book my students are *most* interested in. The book is so weird, so unlike anything they’ve ever seen, that they assume that it can only have come about by divine revelation, and that it is in fact predicting something that is to happen in our near future.
I’m afraid that I end up disappointing my students by my understanding of the book. I don’t think it is a blue-print for what is to transpire in the early 21st century. It is a book written in its own day, and for its own audience, to give them a message for themselves, not for people living 2000 years later.
The way to make sense of the book is to understand that it is written in the ancient genre known as the “apocalypse.” The view I stress in my class is that if you do not know how a genre of literature “works,” you won’t know how to interpret any particular book in that genre. If you have never encountered a novel before, or a short story (these are both very modern inventions), then probably you wouldn’t be able to figure out what is going on. Is David Copperfield some kind of biography of a 19th century Englishman?
The way I explain it to my students is this. Suppose you read an account of a scientific experiment that could easily go awry: if the virus that has been invented in the test tube escaped the laboratory, it could cause massive death worldwide. If you read this in a science fiction novel, you might decide to buy another book by the same author; if you read it on the front page of the NY Times, you might call your senator. It is important to know which genre you’re reading, if you want to know the real meaning of a text.
So too with apocalypses. If you read one, you need to know how the genre works. And so this is how I begin to describe the genre in my textbook on the New Testament, in the chapter that deals with the Apocalypse of John (a.k.a. the book of Revelation).
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Apocalyptic World Views and the Apocalypse Genre
The first thing to say is that…
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With regard to the dangers of a viewer/reader not understanding the conventions of a given genre, it’s hard not to recall the scene in one of my favorite movies, “Galaxy Quest”, in which the alien Thermians –who are completely unfamiliar with the notion of “fiction”– are nearly brought to tears when reminded of the “historical documents” which record the travails of those “poor people” trapped with Gilligan on that island.
Anyway, it’s amusing to speculate what John would say if someone showed him a copy of “The Late, Great Planet Earth”.
Great!
John would say, HUH???
Bart,
Dale Martin, your friend and Yale professor, mesmerized me with his lecture about the book of Revelation. He dramatized it in such a way I’d never be able to forget his lecture or the purpose and structure of the book of Revelation even if I wanted to.,
Best of all, this lecture is free and available right here: http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-152/lecture-23.
Your suggestion and examples about the importance of knowing the “genre” of a book are quite helpful, Thanks.
Thanks Bart. the Book of Rvelation intrigued almost everyone as you said it was something that was to take place ‘shortly’ Despite that in all the years that I attended the Christian Church I could count on one hand how many times it was preached to us. I guess that was because nobody understood it. Few Christians ask if that was to take place ‘shortly’ then why didn’t it happen back then? Oh I know, Paul said a day was like a thousand years with the Lord. 2 days is not long is it? 😉
Although Paul. Jesus and John the Baptist didn’t reveal ‘details’ of the next stages after the apocalypse, they seemed pretty clear it was to happen in that generation and arguably they were the ultimate Apocalyptics that the end was near and repent etc. Its ironic though the passages concerned are rarely preached either. How can Christian Apologetics argue that when Paul said the time of Jesus second coming was nearer than when they first believed. The very fact that the three names mentioned predicted the end of days within their generation and it didn’t happen, to me anyway, makes the whole case for Christianity redundant.
That was 2 Peter (not Paul), but yes, your point holds!
You mentioned nothing written by Jesus. What is the feeling among scholars about why there was never anything attributed directly to Jesus?
There is one letter from Jesus that still survives, to the king of Edessa named Abgar. Short, but intriguing.
Wait-back up here. Are you joking about that?
Sorry — I’m not sure what you’re referring to.
It sounds as if you’re taking the Jesus and Abgar letters in Eusebius as something that Jesus really dictated, not as a Paul and Seneca type of creation. Do you take the correspondence seriously? What about the balance of serious scholarship?
No no! I wasn’t being clear. They are absolutely a later forgery, no question about it.
Do you mean one letter atrributed to Jesus but that no scholars believe to have actually have been written by Jesus or do you mean a letter that may actually have been written by Jesus?
It’s an apocryphal letter that *certainly* was not actually written by Jesus.
Do you have a reason for dating 1 Enoch “somewhat later” than Daniel? That’s arguable for some sections of it, and certain for others, but the Book of the Watchers and Astronomical book are generally dated to the third century BCE.
I suppose I meant the book as a unit published as we now have it. (Just as, for example, the Didache is often dated to around 100 CE even though portions of it were written earlier)
Fascinating and educational stuff!! Thanks again! Just started The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot last night and can’t put it down. (I never thought I would ever say that about anything remotely connected to religious writing.) Thank you again for your blog and the time you devote to it.
How do you classify these Heavenly Journey visions? As hallucinations or something mystical? Also, what would you recommend my reading from among your books to better understand the Apocalyptic genre? Specifically I want to know what tells you that a piece was written only for the time and events of the author rather than for the future? (again if I’ve missed points all ready address, I am sorry)
I think they are mystical visions. But the visions, in my opinion, are not veridical (these people did not *really* go to the heavenly realm to see God), so by definition they would be hallucinatory.
2 Apocalypses in the New Testament: Are They Both Needed?
#1 – By Jesus: Destruction of the Temple, etc.
#2 – Apocalypse as justice for the saints defeated in the Jewish Revolt, the apocalyptic lamentation over the destruction of the Temple and the loss of Jerusalem to Gentiles.
Yes, they were saints. Vespasian said Jupiter defeated the God of Israel thereby putting Jupiter before the God of Israel which is a violation of the first of 10 Commandments in the Torah
Yes, we needed the second apocalypse to honor those who suffered and died during the First Jewish Roman War. Those saints cry out: how long before we are justified?
Notice, since the spirits of the fallen speak, this genre is non-naturalistic, beyond realism, into the realm of imagination, with angels and beasts.
Hi, I am trying to explain apocalypticism to someone. Please could you tell me which scholar first coined the phrase or classified the worldview? I assume it goes way back. Searching on Google only seems to yield sites predicting the rapture!!
I’m not sure offhand who invented the phrase. For a classic statement you might see the book Apocalypse: Morphology of a Genre.
Thanks. Always appreciate the blog and how you answer queries. As it happens I ordered ‘apocalyptic Imaginations’, which looks like it was written by the same author, a few days ago and should have it waiting for me today!
If Jesus knew he wasn’t going to set up an earthly kingdom, when did the story change that the real kingdom was in heaven? Since Paul is earliest source, did he know that Jesus wasn’t setting up an earthly kingdom?
The disciples thought he was setting up an earthly kingdom right?
I discuss this at length in my book Heaven and Hell. Paul thought Jesus was returning in glory, but at the end of his life came to think that if he died before it happened, he would be taken to be in Christ’s presence during the interim. That’s the beginning of the idea that a person would go above to paradise at death.
Bart,
Off topic question: In 1 Cor 15:24-25, Paul says Jesus will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, destroying every ruler, authority, and power. Does Paul think Jesus will do this from *heaven* *before* his return to earth, or *after* he returns to earth? I used to think it was the latter, but now I’m not so sure. 1 Cor 15:26 says the “last” enemy to be destroyed is death, which is clearly referring to the resurrection of believers *immediately* when Jesus returns (cf. 1 Cor 15:23, 50-55; 1 Thess 4:16). If the *last* enemy to be destroyed is death, and this does not occur until Jesus returns from heaven, then Jesus’ reign where he destroys every ruler, authority, and power must be while Jesus is still in heaven…right?
He is referring to the time of his return. DEath is destroyed last because those who survive will live on earth forever without dying.
According to Paul, isn’t death destroyed (“Death has been swallowed up in victory” — 1 Cor 15:54) at the precise moment Jesus returns to planet earth, which is when the dead in Christ are raised in the twinkling of an eye and Christians still alive are made immortal (1 Cor 15:50-55; 1 Thess 4:16-17)?
I’m not trying to argue with you for the sake of arguing; some scholars have pointed out that the chronology in these verses means Paul thought Jesus’ reign where he destroys every ruler and every authority and power must be when Jesus is still in heaven before his return to earth, and then, just as Paul says, the *last* enemy to be destroyed is death when he returns and all his followers are resurrected and made immortal (“Death has been swallowed up in victory” — 1 Cor 15:54). How do you know Paul doesn’t intend this?
I’m not sure quite what you’re arguing. I think the dead rising shows that death is no more. Later that came to be narrativized in an intriguing way in apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Nicodemus, but there it happened when he himself rose from the dead and took everyone with him, since by that time the idea of a return of Christ for a rule on earth had been changed to the idea of his eternal rule in heaven with the saints.
Sorry, I’ll try to be more clear.
I’m arguing that Paul thought the resurrected up to heaven Jesus would, while *still* in heaven, “destroy every ruler and every authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24-25), and *then* return to earth, at which point dead Christians would be resurrected and along with live Christians be made immortal (1 Cor 15:23, 26, 54; 1 Thess 4:16-17). In other words, Paul does *not* envision Jesus returning to *earth* to destroy every ruler and every authority and power; Paul thinks Jesus will do that from *heaven* *before* returning to earth. This seems an unavoidable conclusion based on Paul saying “The LAST enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:26) and Paul envisioning an *instant* resurrection and immortalization of believers when Jesus returns to earth.
I’m just wondering if you agree with my position outlined above and, if not, why not, and if you do agree, do you have any other insights on how Paul thought events would unfold at Jesus’ return?
I don’t think I agree because when ealry Christians as a whole specify they indicate that Christ is coming “in judgment” not “after judgment.” Offhand I can’t think of an exception to that.
Ok, think I agree with you now after reading your Heaven and Hell chapter 9 on Paul’s beliefs about the end times judgment (pg. 189): “[Paul] says that the unbelievers, at the return of Jesus, will experience ‘sudden destruction’ (1 Thessalonians 5:3). That is to say…the wicked will be annihilated at the Day of Judgment that was coming soon. This coincides with what Paul later wrote in 1 Corinthians as well, in his discussion of what would occur at the resurrection of the dead. When Christ returns and the dead are transformed for eternal life, Christ will then ‘annihilate every authority and power (1 Corinthians 15:24).”
1] So just to confirm, am I correct that in your view, Paul thinks that at the moment Jesus returns, the bad guys all die in the blink of an eye and the good guys all get immortal life in the blink of an eye?
2] In your view, what does Paul think Jesus is doing in heaven before his return? Could the part of 1 Cor 15:24-25 that says “after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” indicate some kind of heavenly battle Jesus is having with evil entities in heaven before his return?
1. I don’t know if the annihilation and the award will be instantaneous. May take awhile to burn, e.g., 2. I wish I knew. Kinda like I wish i Knew what people gneerally think people up in heaven are actually doing. But yes, Jesus is “Lord” now, so he is ruling the universe for Paul.
1] Wouldn’t just the general Jewish idea that earthly forces and people are controlled by spiritual forces suggest that Paul *probably* imagined the resurrected up to heaven and universe ruling Jesus battling evil cosmic forces in the heavenly realm when he wrote, “he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25)?
2] Do you think Php 3:21; 1 Cor 6:3; Hb 2:14; and Eph 6:10-12 (even though Paul didn’t write the latter two) would count as evidence that Paul thought the resurrected up to heaven and universe ruling Jesus (1 Cor 15:25) was messianically battling evil cosmic forces in the heavenly realm?
1. He thinks Jesus is ruling now (that’s why he calls him Lord) but will bring destruction to his enemies only when he returns (e.g., 1 Thess 5)
2. Right: I don’t think Hebrews and Ephesians are giving us Paul’s words, so they can’t be used. 1 Cor 6:3 is talking about what will happen later, not what is happening now; so too Phil 3:21.
One other question related to the end times judgment: In 1 Cor 6:2, Paul says “saints will judge the world.” Does this mean Christians will in some way help Jesus judge others on earth and, if so, does Paul think this will occur before or after Christians are made immortal (after would seem the most obvious choice)?
I wish I knew what he meant.
Yet another question: When the earliest Christians (e.g., Peter) concluded Jesus was resurrected up to heaven, do you think they also, at essentially the same time, concluded Jesus was given rule of the universe, or do you think the latter idea took some time to develop?
I don’t know what most thought. Paul appears to think that the exaltaoin to heaven *involved* his being made Lord, as in Phil. 2:6-11, so that he already assumed his rule then, not at a later itme.
NRSV translates 1 Cor 2:6 as “rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish (ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων)”; however, many others translate it in the *present* tense: “rulers of this age, who are perishing (or passing away/coming to nothing/being abolished).” Do have an opinion on what the most correct translation is and, if you think it favors present tense, wouldn’t this passage suggest that Paul thought Jesus was battling evil cosmic forces in the heavenly realm (that was having a current effect in the earthly realm)?
τῶν καταργουμένων is a present participle which, by the rules of grammar, normally refers to action that is taking place at the present time. So this is an act that, at Paul’s writing, is currently happening. A big problem though is the verb itself KATARGEO is not a common word in Greek outside the New Testament. Paul uses it over 20 times in the undisputed letters, which so far as I can tell is more than in all of the Greek literature before him (I haven’t checked to be certain, but it’s a rare word). It literally means to leave someone unemployed or something of no longer any use, to render invalid or useless. Paul appears to be saying that the powers in control of this age now are being robbed of their power. The NRSV translators were probalby thinking that he didn’t mean that this was happening already but that he meant it would be their destiny when Christ returned, so they added the words, not in the Greek “are doomed to.” Translators always (ALWAYS) interpret texts as they render them into another language, and in this case the intepreters probably based their decision on their understanding of Paul’s eschatological ideas expressed elsewhere. I think that may have been a mistake.
So if 1 Cor 2:6 favors present tense — “rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing” — wouldn’t this passage suggest that Paul thought Jesus was currently battling evil cosmic forces in the heavenly realm that was currently affecting rulers in the earthly realm? Or, could it be that Paul intends something like earthy rulers are currently *headed or destined* for eventual destruction, which will occur only when Jesus returns (but nothing is actually being done to them at the present time)?
Yes, I think in some respect the struggles between evil and good are ongoing.
I recognize your view that 1 Cor 2:6 might reflect a belief that Jesus is *currently* battling evil cosmic forces in the heavenly realm that is currently affecting rulers in the earthly realm, but as far as I can tell, everything else in Paul seems to point toward Jesus’ dealing with earthly (and cosmic) rulers when he returns to earth. Given this, is it possible in your view that in 1 Cor 2:6 Paul simply intends A) earthy rulers are currently *headed or destined* for eventual destruction (which will occur only when Jesus returns) or B) that Paul means earthly rulers are currently in the *process* of being destroyed because it started with Jesus’ death and resurrection up to heaven and will be completed later at Jesus’ return (and in the same way those in Christ are currently in the *process* of gaining immortality)? Possibly one or both of these concepts are also in mind in 1 Cor 7:31: “the present form of this world is passing away”?