The Roman Empire in the Book of Revelation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Hidalgo
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Gender And Power ◽  
Apocalypse Of John

This article surveys the study of the Roman Empire in the Apocalypse of John, particularly as illuminated by postcolonial and decolonial biblical scholarship. The discussion summarizes scholarship that describes how fantastic imagery in the Book of Revelation plays with and responds to Roman imperial histories, rituals, propaganda, and images, especially as found in the imperial cult. The article also charts contemporary scholarly debates over the meaning of Rome in Revelation, particularly as scholars have examined rhetorics of gender and power. Scholars turn to the Roman Empire as a way to decode Revelation’s imagery, like the figure of Babylon, but also to grapple with their own views on empire (ancient and modern), resistance, and the ethics of interpretation. Ultimately, this article argues that the ethics of interpreting empire should be the focus of future scholarship.

The Roman Imperial Cult and Revelation

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Naylor
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Classical Studies ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Emperor Worship

The question of the relationship of the Roman Imperial Cult and Revelation has occupied the attention of scholars throughout the past one hundred years. During this time, major shifts have taken place both in the assessment of the Roman Imperial Cult in the context of the Roman Empire and in the interpretation of its role with respect to the book of Revelation. This article surveys and assesses these trends. It begins with a discussion of studies on the Roman Imperial Cult from the standpoint of classical studies. Next, texts within Revelation typically cited as indicating a response to emperor worship are introduced. The third and final section focuses upon studies on Revelation, with particular focus given to interpretive approaches, Christology, and the question of persecution under Domitian.

Imagery in the Book of Revelation

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Konrad Huber
Keyword(s):  
Reception History ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
Emotional Effect ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Figurative Speech ◽  
Theological Message ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Way

The chapter first surveys different types of figurative speech in Revelation, including simile, metaphor, symbol, and narrative image. Second, it considers the way images are interrelated in the narrative world of the book. Third, it notes how the images draw associations from various backgrounds, including biblical and later Jewish sources, Greco-Roman myths, and the imperial cult, and how this enriches the understanding of the text. Fourth, the chapter looks at the rhetorical impact of the imagery on readers and stresses in particular its evocative, persuasive, and parenetic function together with its emotional effect. And fifth, it looks briefly at the way reception history shows how the imagery has engaged readers over time. Thus, illustrated by numerous examples, it becomes clear how essentially the imagery of the book of Revelation constitutes and determines its theological message.

Greek Strategies of Adaptation to the Roman World: The Case of the Contests

Mnemosyne ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Aneziri
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Past ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Imperial Power

This article examines strategies that made it possible for Greek contests and the professionals who were engaged in them to retain their identity in the Roman Empire while they adapted to the circumstances of the new era. In their efforts to preserve and to enhance existing prestige and privilege, the organizers and others who were involved in the contests attempted both to exploit the past and to establish links to the new Roman power. The consequent linking of the Imperial cult with festivals, artists, athletes, and their associations provided tools that assisted the promotion of Imperial power and ideology.

The “Apocalyptic” Gospel and the Apocalypse of John

2020 ◽  
pp. 167-200
Author(s):  
Benjamin E. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Reception History ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Apocalypse Of John

Understanding the Fourth Gospel as “apocalyptic” Gospel raises questions about its relationship with the book of Revelation. Even though many ancient and modern interpreters do not think John and Revelation share the same author, they do share numerous similarities in vocabulary, syntax, and theological themes and are considered to be related in some way. The reception history of Johannine authorship indicates that Revelation has often been understood to have been written before the Gospel. The Gospel has also been described as being received through divine revelation. Within Byzantine iconography, these two traditions come together in the depiction of John dictating the Gospel in the cave of revelation on the island of Patmos as he receives it directly from heaven. The priority of Revelation and the divine reception of the Gospel are possible explanations for the Gospel’s apocalyptic mode.

Anti-Imperial Rhetoric in the New Testament

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Diehl
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
New Testament ◽  
First Century ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Interpretive Methods ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Common ◽  
Book Of Acts ◽  
Common Era

The first of a series of three articles, this essay introduces current scholarship concerned with the use of anti-imperial rhetoric in the New Testament Gospels and the book of Acts. In the first century of the Common Era, if the powerful Roman Emperor was considered a god, what did that mean for the earliest Christians who committed loyalty to ‘another’ God? Was it necessary for the NT authors to employ subversive language, words and symbols, to conceal their true meanings from the imperial authorities in their communications to the first Christian communities? The answers to such key questions can give us a clearer picture of the culture, society and setting in which the NT was written. The purpose of this complex study is to observe how current biblical scholarship views anti-imperial rhetoric and anti-emperor implications found in the NT, assuming such rhetoric exists at all. This initial article reviews recent scholarship with respect to the background of the Roman Empire, current interpretive methods and research concerning anti-imperial rhetoric found in the NT Gospels and Acts.

scholarly journals Schipperen tussen twee rijken: Q en het Romeinse gezag

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R.C. Grundeken
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
The Third ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Heaven And Earth

Compromising between two powers: Q and the Roman Empire. The study underlying this article investigated the attitude of Sayings Source Q towards the Roman authorities and their representatives. It primarily aimed at contributing to scholarly discussions on the relationships between early Christianity and the Roman Empire, but it also attempted to put the research in a broader context of present-day discussions on the issue of ‘church and state’. The first part of the study dealt with Q’s views on the government. The second part studied Q’s views on the emperor cult. The third and final part aimed at putting Q’s views on the authorities and on the veneration of the emperor in the right context. It concluded that Q compromises between idealism and realism. Its attitude towards the government is quite hostile. It portrays worldly power as demonic (Q 4:5–6; 11:18, 20), it regards God as the only true Lord of heaven and earth (Q 10:21) and rejects the legitimacy of the imperial cult (Q 4:5–8). It fully focuses on the completion of the kingdom of God (Q 6:20; 7:28; 10:9; 11:2b). Yet, as a relatively small community (Q 10:2), the Q people seem to have realised that there was no point in standing up against the Roman authorities and their representatives. Q’s propagated views on Roman power are not characterised by active resistance, but by passive dissidence (Q 6:22–23, 27–32; 12:4–5). Within the context of the Roman Empire, it was better to be a realist than a revolutionist.

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