Sárospataki Füzetek 15. (2011)

2011 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK

The book of Revelation: full of expectation

angel whose task is to lead the seer by the hand, as it were, through the whole succession of visions.

The notion of a ‘chain of revelation’, therefore, does not seem to be especially helpful as a means to understanding the tide of the book of Revelation. Instead, it might be better to envisage God as the great Initiator, and that in two ways: first with regard to the source and the destination of this revelation; then also in regard to its mediation and proclamation. The first aspect is that of ‘why’, the second that of ‘how’.

The schematic summary below may help to illustrate this. The overarching thought is that God takes the initiative to unfold the near future. The left-hand column shows that God gave his revelation to Jesus Christ, with the intention of showing God’s servants what must soon take place. The right-hand column shows that this was realised by sending an interpreting angel to John, one of God’s servants, to show him what must soon take place.

The revelation, which God

gave

by sending

him (Jesus Christ)

his angel

to show

made known

his servants

to his servant John

what must soon take place

1.2 ‘Soon’: four possibilities

The term ‘soon’ (év tocysi: 1: 1) carries in it the urgency of the book of Revelation. A decisive moment has arrived. Everyone must give ear, without delay, to what this book says, for the time is near (Ó yäg xoctgOg éyyúg: 1: 3; 22: 10)! This word ‘soon’ raises the question how the book of Revelation ought to be interpreted. In broad terms, there have been four different approaches:6

1. The preterist (belonging to the past) view: Revelation relates exclusively to John’s own time; the book describes, in a prophetic manner, the situation of the Christian Church in the first century AD. This view insists that the visions of John describe events, rulers and forces of evil from the writers’ lifetime.

2. The historical view: Revelation relates to the entire Christian era; the book describes the situation of the Christian Church between Christ’s ascension and his return. This view was popular with the Reformers in the 16th century, enabling them to identify the visionary beasts with the papacy, but is still found among orthodox Christians, who look for other contemporary identifications.

6 I follow the classic division given by Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerd- mans, 1957; reprinted 1980). A brief summary of the history of interpretation of the book of Revelation can be found in Gerhard Maier, Die Offenbarung des Johannes. Kapitel 1-11 (Historisch- Theologische Auslegung; Brunnen: Brockhaus, 2009), 59-76. Although David A. de Silva presents his interesting rhetorical reading as a ‘fifth interpretative key’, this way of reading can only be one of the instruments for approaching the book of Revelation (Seeing Things John’s Way. The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).

2011/1 SÁROSPATAKI FÜZETEK 13