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PreviewAdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text== Interpretations == Revelation has a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the simple historical interpretation, to a prophetic view on what will happen in the future by way of [[Will of God|God's will]] and the [[Woman of the Apocalypse|Woman's]] (traditionally believed to be the [[Queen of Heaven|Virgin Mary]]) victory over Satan ("[[Allegory|symbolic]] interpretation"), to different end time scenarios ("futurist interpretation"),<ref>Robert J. Karris (ed.) The Collegeville Bible Commentary Liturgical Press, 1992 p. 1296.</ref><ref>Ken Bowers, Hiding in plain sight, Cedar Fort, 2000 p. 175.</ref> to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all,<ref>[[Carl Gustav Jung]] in his autobiography ''Memories Dream Reflections'' said "I will not discuss the transparent prophecies of the Book of Revelation because no one believes in them and the whole subject is felt to be an embarrassing one."</ref> ascribing it to a human-inherited [[Jungian archetypes|archetype]]. === Liturgical === ==== Paschal liturgical ==== This interpretation, which has found expression among both Catholic and Protestant theologians, considers the [[liturgical]] worship, particularly the [[Easter]] rites, of early Christianity as background and context for understanding the Book of Revelation's structure and significance. This perspective is explained in ''The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse'' (new edition, 2004) by [[Massey H. Shepherd]], an Episcopal scholar, and in [[Scott Hahn]]'s ''The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth'' (1999), in which he states that Revelation in form is structured after creation, fall, judgment and redemption. Those who hold this view say that the Temple's destruction (AD 70) had a profound effect on the Jewish people, not only in Jerusalem but among the Greek-speaking Jews of the Mediterranean.<ref>Scott Hahn, ''The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth'', {{ISBN|0-385-49659-1}}. New York: Doubleday, 1999.</ref> They believe the Book of Revelation provides insight into the early Eucharist, saying that it is the new Temple worship in the New Heaven and Earth. The idea of the Eucharist as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet is also explored by British Methodist Geoffrey Wainwright in his book ''Eucharist and Eschatology'' (Oxford University Press, 1980). According to [[Pope Benedict XVI]] some of the images of Revelation should be understood in the context of the dramatic suffering and persecution of the churches of Asia in the 1st century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict XVI |first1=Pope |title=John, the Seer of Patmos |url=http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060823.html |website=Vatican.va |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref> Accordingly, they argue, the Book of Revelation should not be read as an enigmatic warning, but as an encouraging vision of Christ's definitive victory over evil.<ref>{{cite web |author=Catholic Online |url=http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=20995 |title=Pope Benedict: Read Book of Revelation as Christ's victory over evil – International – Catholic Online |publisher=Catholic.org |date=23 August 2006 |access-date=25 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005010122/http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=20995 |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> ==== Oriental Orthodox ==== [[File:Mural from Apa Apollo in Bawit - Detail.jpg|thumb|"Christ in Glory (Pankrator)," ca. 6th-8th Century CE, wall painting from the Monastery of Bawit. The Coptic iconography represents many elements from the Book of Revelation.]] In the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Orthodox Church]] the whole Book of Revelation is read during Apocalypse Night after [[Good Friday]].<ref>[http://suscopts.org/resources/literature/222/night-of-the-apocalypse/ "Night of the Apocalypse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031172800/http://www.suscopts.org/404/ |date=31 October 2022 }}, published by [[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States]], accessed 23 May 2018</ref> Biblically Ugo Vanni and other biblical scholars have argued that the Book of Revelation was written with the intention to be read entirely in one liturgical setting with dialogue-elements between the reader (singular) and the hearers (plural) based on Rev 1:3 and Rev 1:10.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vanni |first=Ugo |date=1991 |title=Liturgical Dialogue as a Literary Form in the Book of Revelation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/abs/liturgical-dialogue-as-a-literary-form-in-the-book-of-revelation/50544029342CC67BF81545C1F7CE1780 |journal=New Testament Studies |language=en |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=348–372 |doi=10.1017/S0028688500015927 |s2cid=170638316 |issn=1469-8145}}</ref> Beniamin Zakhary has recently shown that the structure of the reading the Book of Revelation within the Coptic rite of Apocalypse Night (this is the only biblical reading in the Coptic church with a dialogue in it, where the reader stops many times and the people respond; additionally the entire book is read in a liturgical setting that culminates with the Eucharist) shows great support for this biblical hypothesis, albeit with some notable difference.<ref name=":0">Beniamin Zakhary. (2022). Support For The Biblical Liturgy of Revelation in the Coptic Tradition. ''Doxology'', 33(4), 6–23. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/19wAuFTlwo2ODA8f4RNH870GZbE_VNO7C/view?pli=1][https://oslpublications.org/periodicalsarchive.html] https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8060812</ref> Additionally, the Book of Revelation permeates many liturgical prayers and iconography within the Coptic Church.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Morkos Fakhry, ''The Book of Revelation and the Church of Alexandria,'' (Coptic Orthodox Church) (Fairfax, VA: Eastern Christian Publications, 2019).</ref> === Eschatological === Most Christian interpretations fall into one or more of the following categories: * [[Historicism (Christianity)|Historicism]], which sees in Revelation a broad view of history; * [[Preterism]], in which Revelation mostly refers to the events of the [[apostolic era]] (1st century) or, at the latest, the fall of Jerusalem<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=James |title=The Parousia |publisher=Bierton Strict and Particular Baptists |year=1887 |isbn=978-1-519610-94-2 |location=United Kingdom |pages=258–259 |language=English}}</ref> or the [[Roman Empire]]; * [[Futurism (Christianity)|Futurism]], which believes that Revelation describes future events (modern believers in this interpretation are often called "[[Millennialism|millennialists]]"); and * [[Idealism (Christian eschatology)|Idealism/Allegoricalism]], which holds that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an [[allegory]] of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between [[good and evil]]. Additionally, there are significant differences in interpretation of the thousand years (the "millennium") mentioned in Revelation 20:2. * [[Premillennialism]], which holds a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers literal interpretations of the content of the book; * [[Amillennialism]], which rejects a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers allegorical interpretations of the content of the book; and * [[Postmillennialism]], which includes both literal and allegorical interpretations of the "millennium" but views the [[Second Coming]] as following the conversion to Christianity of a gradually improving world.<ref>{{Cite book | last =Johnson | first =Dennis E. | year =2008 | chapter =Introduction to Revelation | title =ESV Study Bible | place =Wheaton, Illinois | publisher =Crossway | isbn =978-1433502415 }} </ref> ==== Eastern Orthodox ==== [[File:Apokalipsis XVI.jpg|thumb|An Orthodox [[icon]] of the Apocalypse of St. John, 16th century]] Eastern Orthodoxy treats the text as simultaneously describing contemporaneous events (events occurring at the same time) and as prophecy of events to come, for which the contemporaneous events were a form of foreshadow. It rejects attempts to determine, before the fact, if the events of Revelation are occurring by mapping them onto present-day events, taking to heart the Scriptural warning against those who proclaim "He is here!" prematurely. Instead, the book is seen as a warning to be spiritually and morally ready for the end times, whenever they may come ("as a thief in the night"), but they will come at the time of God's choosing, not something that can be precipitated nor trivially deduced by mortals.<ref>{{Cite book | last =Averky (Taushev) | first =Archbishop | year =1996 | title =The Apocalypse: In the Teachings of Ancient Christianity | editor-last =Eng. tr. Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]] | place =Platina, California | publisher =St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood | isbn =978-0-938635-67-3 | url =https://archive.org/details/apocalypseintea00aver | url-access =registration }} </ref> Book of Revelation is the only book of the New Testament that is not read during services by the Byzantine Rite Churches, although it is read in the [[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Western Rite Orthodox Parishes]], which are under the same bishops as the Byzantine Rite. ==== Protestant ==== {{main|Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation}} ==== Seventh-day Adventist ==== {{main|Historicism (Christianity)#Seventh-day Adventists}} Similar to the early Protestants, Adventists maintain a historicist interpretation of the Bible's predictions of the apocalypse.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Holbrook|first1=Frank|title=What prophecy means to this church|journal=Ministry, International Journal for Pastors|volume=56|issue=7|page=21|date=July 1983|url=https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1983/07/what-prophecy-means-to-this-church|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> Seventh-day Adventists believe the Book of Revelation is especially relevant to believers in the days preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."<ref>{{cite web|title=Seventh-day Adventist 28 Fundamental Beliefs|url=https://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church|publisher=General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."<ref>{{cite web|title=Revelation 14:12|url=https://biblia.com/books/nkjv/Re14.12|website=Biblia.com|publisher=Logos Research Systems|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> As participatory agents in the work of salvation for all humankind, "This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Remnant and its Mission|url=https://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/church/the-remnant-and-its-mission/|website=The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church|publisher=General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=26 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626114505/http://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/church/the-remnant-and-its-mission/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Councils to the Church |page=58|url=https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/19.422|website=Ellen G. White Writings|publisher=White Estate|access-date=5 October 2018}}</ref> ==== Bahá'í Faith ==== By reasoning analogous with [[Millerism|Millerite]] historicism, [[Bahá'u'lláh]]'s doctrine of [[Progressive revelation (Bahá'í)|progressive revelation]], a modified historicist method of interpreting prophecy, is identified in the teachings of the [[Bahá'í Faith]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Final Consummation: American Bahá'ís, Millerites and Biblical Time Prophecy|url=http://www.mille.org/scholarship/papers/collinswip.html|access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref> [[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]], the son and chosen successor of Bahá'u'lláh, has given some interpretations about the 11th and 12th chapters of Revelation in ''[[Some Answered Questions]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/469123567|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/617897051|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> The 1,260 days spoken of in the forms: one thousand two hundred and sixty days,<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12:6&version=NKJV|website=biblegateway.com|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> forty-two months,<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+11:2&version=NKJV|website=biblegateway.com|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> refers to the 1,260 years in the [[Islamic Calendar]] (AH 1260 or AD 1844). The "[[two witnesses]]" spoken of are [[Muhammad]] and [[Ali]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-11.html.utf8|title=Bahá'í Reference Library - Some Answered Questions, Pages 45-61|website=reference.bahai.org}}</ref> The red Dragon spoken of in Revelation 12:3 – "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads"<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|12:3|NKJV}}</ref> – are interpreted as symbolic of the seven provinces dominated by the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]]: Damascus, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, Andalusia, and Transoxania. The ten horns represent the ten names of the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty: Abu Sufyan, Muawiya, Yazid, Marwan, Abd al-Malik, Walid, Sulayman, Umar, Hisham, and Ibrahim. Some names were re-used, as in the case of Yazid II and Yazid III and the like, which were not counted for this interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/177218635|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> ==== The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ==== The [[Book of Mormon]] states that [[John the Apostle]] is the author of Revelation and that he was [[Foreordination|foreordained]] by God to write it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/14|title=1 Nephi 14|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2018}} [[Doctrine and Covenants]], section 77, postulates answers to specific questions regarding the symbolism contained in the Book of Revelation.<ref name="lds.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/20|title=Doctrine and Covenants 20|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2018}} Topics include: the sea of glass, the four beasts and their appearance, the 24 elders, the book with seven seals, certain angels, the sealing of the 144,000, the little book eaten by John, and the two witnesses in Chapter 11. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the warning contained in Revelation 22:18–19<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/nt/rev/22|title=Revelation 22|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2022}} does not refer to the biblical canon as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hunter |first=Howard W. |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1981/04/no-man-shall-add-to-or-take-away?lang=eng&query=book+of+revelation|title=No Man Shall Add to or Take Away}}</ref> Rather, an open and ongoing dialogue between God and the modern-day Prophet and Apostles of the LDS faith constitute an open canon of scripture.<ref name="lds.org"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1|title=Articles of Faith 1|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref> ==== Esoteric ==== Christian Gnostics are unlikely to be attracted to the teaching of Revelation because the doctrine of salvation through the sacrificed Lamb, which is central to Revelation, is repugnant to Gnostics. Christian Gnostics "believed in the Forgiveness of Sins, but in no vicarious sacrifice for sin ... they accepted Christ in the full realisation of the word; his life, not his death, was the keynote of their doctrine and their practice."<ref>R. [[Frances Swiney]] (Rosa Frances Emily Biggs) ''The Esoteric Teaching of the Gnostics'' London: Yellon, Williams & Co (1909) pp. 3, 4</ref> [[James Morgan Pryse]] was an esoteric gnostic who saw Revelation as a western version of the Hindu theory of the [[Chakra]]. He began his work, "The purpose of this book is to show that the Apocalypse is a manual of spiritual development and not, as conventionally interpreted, a cryptic history or prophecy."<ref>James M. Pryse ''Apocalypse Unsealed'' London: Watkins (1910). The theory behind the book is given in [[Arthur Avalon]] (Sir John Woodroffe) ''The Serpent Power'' Madras (Chennai): Ganesh & Co (1913). One version of how these beliefs might have travelled from India to the Middle East, Greece and Rome is given in the opening chapters of [[Rudolf Otto]] ''The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man'' London: Lutterworth (1938)</ref> Such diverse theories have failed to command widespread acceptance. However, Christopher Rowland argues: "there are always going to be loose threads which refuse to be woven into the fabric as a whole. The presence of the threads which stubbornly refuse to be incorporated into the neat tapestry of our world-view does not usually totally undermine that view."<ref>Christopher Rowland ''Revelation'' London: Epworth (1993) p. 5</ref> ==== Radical discipleship ==== The radical discipleship interpretation asserts that the Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i.e. how to remain faithful to the spirit and teachings of Jesus and avoid simply assimilating to surrounding society. In this interpretation the primary agenda of the book is to expose as impostors the worldly powers that seek to oppose the ways of God and God's Kingdom.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The chief temptation for Christians in the 1st century, and today, is to fail to hold fast to the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus and instead be lured into unquestioning adoption and assimilation of worldly, national or cultural values – [[imperialism]], [[nationalism]], and [[civil religion]] being the most dangerous and insidious.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}} This perspective (closely related to [[liberation theology]]) draws on the approach of Bible scholars such as [[Ched Myers]], [[William Stringfellow]], [[Richard Horsley]], [[Daniel Berrigan]], Wes Howard-Brook,<ref>{{cite book|title=Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now|last= Howard-Brook|first=Wes|author2=Gwyther, Anthony|publisher=[[Orbis Books]]|year=1999|isbn=978-1-57075-287-2}}</ref> and [[Joerg Rieger]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Christ & Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times |last=Rieger| first=Joerg |publisher=[[Fortress Press]]| year=2007| isbn=978-0-8006-2038-7}}</ref> Various [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchists]], such as [[Jacques Ellul]], have identified the [[State (polity)|State]] and [[political power]] as [[The Beast (Bible)|the Beast]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel |last=Christoyannopoulos |first=Alexandre |author-link=Alexandre Christoyannopoulos |year=2010 |publisher=Imprint Academic |location=Exeter |pages=123–126 |quote=Revelation}}</ref> and the events described, being their doings and results, the aforementioned 'wrath'. === Aesthetic and literary === [[File:Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch — Folio 185 crop.jpg|thumb|This artwork from {{lang|de|[[Augsburg Book of Miracles|Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch]]}} illustrates Revelation 11:5-8: "And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed... And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city." ({{c.|1550}})]] Literary writers and theorists have contributed to a wide range of theories about the origins and purpose of the Book of Revelation. Some of these writers have no connection with established Christian faiths but, nevertheless, found in Revelation a source of inspiration. Revelation has been approached from Hindu philosophy and Jewish [[Midrash]]. Others have pointed to aspects of composition which have been ignored such as the similarities of prophetic inspiration to modern poetic inspiration, or the parallels with [[Theatre of ancient Greece|Greek drama]]. In recent years, theories have arisen which concentrate upon how readers and texts interact to create meaning and which are less interested in what the original author intended.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breu |first1=Clarissa |title=Biblical Exegesis without Authorial Intention?: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Authorship and Meaning |date=2019 |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-39581-7}}</ref> [[Charles Cutler Torrey]] taught [[Semitic languages]] at [[Yale University]]. His lasting contribution has been to show how prophets, such as the scribe of Revelation, are much more meaningful when treated as poets first and foremost. He thought this was a point often lost sight of because most English bibles render everything in prose.<ref>Charles C. Torrey ''The Apocalypse of John'' New Haven: Yale University Press (1958). Christopher R. North in his ''The Second Isaiah'' London: OUP (1964) p. 23 says of Torrey's earlier Isaiah theory, "Few scholars of any standing have accepted his theory." This is the general view of Torrey's theories. However, Christopher North goes on to cite Torrey on 20 major occasions and many more minor ones in the course of his book. So, Torrey must have had some influence and poetry is the key.</ref> Poetry was also the reason John never directly quoted the older prophets. Had he done so, he would have had to use their (Hebrew) poetry whereas he wanted to write his own. Torrey insisted Revelation had originally been written in [[Aramaic]].<ref>''Apocalypse of John'' p. 7</ref> According to Torrey, "The Fourth Gospel was brought to Ephesus by a Christian fugitive from Palestine soon after the middle of the first century. It was written in Aramaic." Later, the Ephesians claimed this fugitive had actually been the beloved disciple himself. Subsequently, this John was banished by Nero and died on Patmos after writing Revelation. Torrey argued that until AD 80, when Christians were expelled from the synagogues,<ref>''Apocalypse of John'' p. 37</ref> the Christian message was always first heard in the synagogue and, for cultural reasons, the evangelist would have spoken in Aramaic, else "he would have had no hearing."<ref>''Apocalypse of John'' p. 8</ref> Torrey showed how the three major songs in Revelation (the new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb and the chorus at 19: 6–8) each fall naturally into four regular metrical lines plus a coda.<ref>''Apocalypse of John'' p. 137</ref> Other dramatic moments in Revelation, such as 6:16 where the terrified people cry out to be hidden, behave in a similar way.<ref>''Apocalypse of John'' p. 140</ref> The surviving Greek translation was a literal translation that aimed to comply with the warning at Revelation 22:18 that the text must not be "corrupted" in any way. [[Christina Rossetti]] was a Victorian poet who believed the sensual excitement of the natural world found its meaningful purpose in death and in God.<ref>"Flowers preach to us if we will hear", begins her poem 'Consider the lilies of the field' ''Goblin Market'' London: Oxford University Press (1913) p. 87</ref> Her ''The Face of the Deep'' is a meditation upon the Apocalypse. In her view, what Revelation has to teach is patience.{{efn|Rossetti remarks that patience is a word which does not occur in the Bible until the New Testament, as if the usage first came from Christ's own lips.<ref>Christina Rossetti ''The Face of the Deep'' London: SPCK (1892) p. 115</ref>}} Patience is the closest to perfection the human condition allows.<ref>"Christians should resemble fire-flies, not glow-worms; their brightness drawing eyes upward, not downward." ''The Face of the Deep'' p. 26</ref> Her book, which is largely written in prose, frequently breaks into poetry or jubilation, much like Revelation itself. The relevance of John's visions{{efn|'Vision' lends the wrong emphasis as Rossetti sought to minimise the distinction between John's experience and that of others. She quoted 1 John 3:24, "He abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us" to show that when John says, "I was in the Spirit" it is not exceptional.}} belongs to Christians of all times as a continuous present meditation. Such matters are eternal and outside of normal human reckoning. "That winter which will be the death of Time has no promise of termination. Winter that returns not to spring ... – who can bear it?"<ref>''The Face of the Deep'' p. 301</ref> She dealt deftly with the vengeful aspects of John's message. "A few are charged to do judgment; everyone without exception is charged to show mercy."<ref>''The Face of the Deep'' p. 292</ref> Her conclusion is that Christians should see John as "representative of all his brethren" so they should "hope as he hoped, love as he loved."<ref>''The Face of the Deep'' p. 495</ref> Recently, aesthetic and literary modes of interpretation have developed, which focus on Revelation as a work of art and imagination, viewing the imagery as symbolic depictions of timeless truths and the victory of good over evil. [[Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza]] wrote ''Revelation: Vision of a Just World'' from the viewpoint of rhetoric.<ref>Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza ''Revelation: Vision of a Just World'' Edinburgh: T&T Clark (1993). The book seems to have started life as ''Invitation to the Book of Revelation'' Garden City: Doubleday (1981)</ref> Accordingly, Revelation's meaning is partially determined by the way John goes about saying things, partially by the context in which readers receive the message and partially by its appeal to something beyond logic.<ref name="Tina Pippin 1993 p. 105">Tina Pippin ''Death & Desire: The rhetoric of gender in the Apocalypse of John'' Louisville: Westminster-John Knox (1993) p. 105</ref> Professor Schüssler Fiorenza believes that Revelation has particular relevance today as a liberating message to disadvantaged groups. John's book is a vision of a just world, not a vengeful threat of world-destruction. Her view that Revelation's message is not gender-based has caused dissent. She says humanity is to look behind the symbols rather than make a fetish out of them. In contrast, Tina Pippin states that John writes "[[Horror fiction|horror literature]]" and "the [[misogyny]] which underlies the narrative is extreme."<ref name="Tina Pippin 1993 p. 105"/> [[D. H. Lawrence]] took an opposing, pessimistic view of Revelation in the final book he wrote, ''Apocalypse''.<ref>D H Lawrence ''Apocalypse'' London: Martin Secker (1932) published posthumously with an introduction (pp. v–xli) by Richard Aldington which is an integral part of the text.</ref> He saw the language which Revelation used as being bleak and destructive; a 'death-product'. Instead, he wanted to champion a public-spirited individualism (which he identified with the historical Jesus supplemented by an ill-defined cosmic consciousness) against its two natural enemies. One of these he called "the sovereignty of the intellect"<ref>''Apocalypse'' p. xxiii</ref> which he saw in a technology-based totalitarian society. The other enemy he styled "vulgarity"<ref>''Apocalypse'' p. 6</ref> and that was what he found in Revelation. "It is very nice if you are poor and not humble ... to bring your enemies down to utter destruction, while you yourself rise up to grandeur. And nowhere does this happen so splendiferously than in Revelation."<ref>''Apocalypse'' p. 11</ref> Lawrence did not consider how these two types of Christianity (good and bad in his view) might be related other than as opposites. He noted the difference meant that the John who wrote a gospel could not be the same John who wrote Revelation. His specific aesthetic objections to Revelation were that its imagery was unnatural and that phrases like "the wrath of the Lamb" were "ridiculous." He saw Revelation as comprising two discordant halves. In the first, there was a scheme of cosmic renewal in "great Chaldean sky-spaces", which he quite liked. After that, Lawrence thought, the book became preoccupied with the birth of the baby messiah and "flamboyant hate and simple lust ... for the end of the world." Lawrence coined the term "Patmossers" to describe those Christians who could only be happy in paradise if they knew their enemies were suffering in hell.<ref name="Lawrence1995">{{cite book|author=D. H. Lawrence|title=Apocalypse and the Writings on Revelation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=umOIicD8H9oC&pg=PA112|year=1995|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-018781-6|page=112}}</ref> === Academic === {{Further|higher criticism|apocalyptic literature}} Modern biblical scholarship attempts to understand Revelation in its 1st-century historical context within the genre of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature.<ref name="Martin 2009"/> This approach considers the text as an address to seven historical communities in Asia Minor. Under this interpretation, assertions that "the time is near" are to be taken literally by those communities. Consequently, the work is viewed as a warning not to conform to contemporary Greco-Roman society which John "unveils" as beastly, demonic, and subject to divine judgment.<ref name="Martin 2009">[[Dale Martin (scholar)|Dale Martin]] 2009 (lecture). {{YouTube|XJ9Gt_R5a-k|"24. Apocalyptic and Accommodation"}}. [[Yale University]]. Accessed 22 July 2013. [http://www.cosmolearning.com/video-lectures/apocalyptic-and-accommodation-6817/ Lecture 24 (transcript)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906132019/http://www.cosmolearning.com/video-lectures/apocalyptic-and-accommodation-6817/ |date=6 September 2014 }}</ref> New Testament narrative criticism also places Revelation in its first century historical context but approaches the book from a literary perspective.<ref>David L. Barr, Tales of the End: A Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 1998); Barr, "Narrative Technique in the Book of Revelation". In Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative, ed. Danna Nolan Fewell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 376–88</ref> For example, narrative critics examine characters and characterization, literary devices, settings, plot, themes, point of view, implied reader, implied author, and other constitutive features of narratives in their analysis of the book. Although the acceptance of Revelation into the [[Biblical canon|canon]] has, from the beginning, been controversial, it has been essentially similar to the career of other texts.<ref name="Martin 2009b">{{cite web|url=https://cosmolearning.org/video-lectures/from-stories-to-canon-6796/|title=Lecture 2: From Stories to Canon |publisher= CosmoLearning Religious Studies}}</ref> The eventual exclusion of other contemporary apocalyptic literature from the canon may throw light on the unfolding historical processes of what was officially considered orthodox, what was [[heterodox]], and what was even heretical.<ref name="Martin 2009b"/> Interpretation of meanings and imagery are anchored in what the historical author intended and what his contemporary audience inferred; a message to Christians not to assimilate into the Roman imperial culture was John's central message.<ref name="Martin 2009"/> Thus, the letter (written in the apocalyptic genre) is pastoral in nature (its purpose is offering hope to the downtrodden),<ref name="Ehrman Apoc"/> and the symbolism of Revelation is to be understood entirely within its historical, literary, and social context.<ref name="Ehrman Apoc"/> Critics study the conventions of apocalyptic literature and events of the 1st century to make sense of what the author may have intended.<ref name="Ehrman Apoc">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2oaGa2fJU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/sE2oaGa2fJU| archive-date=2021-10-28|title=Bart Ehrman Discusses the Apocalypticist|last=Bart D. Ehrman|date=9 June 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Scholar [[Barbara Whitlock]] pointed out a similarity between the consistent destruction of thirds depicted in the Book of Revelation (a third of mankind by plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone, a third of the trees and green grass, a third of the sea creatures and a third of the ships at sea, etc.) and the [[Persian mythology|Iranian mythology]] evil character [[Zahhak]] or Dahāg, depicted in the [[Avesta]], the earliest religious texts of [[Zoroastrianism]]. Dahāg is mentioned as wreaking much evil in the world until at last chained up and imprisoned on the mythical Mt. Damāvand. The Middle Persian sources prophesy that at the end of the world, Dahāg will at last burst his bonds and ravage the world, consuming one in three humans and livestock, until the ancient hero [[Garshasp|Kirsāsp]] returns to life to kill Dahāg. Whitlock wrote: "Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the Roman Empire's main rival, was part of the intellectual environment in which Christianity came into being, just as were Judaism, the Greek-Roman religion, and the worship of Isis and Mithras. A Zoroastrian influence is completely plausible".<ref>Barbara Whitlock, "Tracing out the convoluted sources of Christianity" in George D. Barnes (ed.), "Collected New Essays in Comparative Religion"</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page