The Encyclopedia of World Religions

388 S Revelation, book of

Many examples of apocalyptic literature are “pseudonymous.” That means that although they were written more recently, they were attributed to a famous person of the past: A DAM , Enoch, A BRA HAM , M OSES . Even the biblical book of D ANIEL is pseudonymous. The book of Revelation is unusual in that it reveals the name of its actual author: John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos. It is not clear how this John relates to John the APOSTLE of J ESUS , to the G OSPEL of John, or to the letters of John in the New Testament. In the first three chapters, John addresses seven churches in what is now Turkey. He encourages them to be faithful in the practice of Christianity. The other 19 chapters contain visions of heaven and heavenly events. These visions are equal to any science fiction fantasy. They use many images from the Hebrew B IBLE . For example, the “four liv ing creatures” with different faces (4.6–8) closely resemble creatures described in I SAIAH (6.1–3) and E ZEKIEL (1.5–11). The visions are organized accord ing to series of sevens: seven seals (6.1), seven trumpets (8.6), seven plagues (15.1). Mixed in with these “sevens” are visions of a woman and beasts. At the climax of the book, the armies of C HRIST defeat the forces of S ATAN . When that hap pens, a new heaven, new Earth, and new J ERUSA LEM replace the world that now is. Christians have discussed the meaning of these visions for centuries. Many images clearly allude to the city of Rome and its empire (for example, 17.9 and 18). Modern scholars see the book as comfort ing early Christians at a time of severe persecution by Roman authorities. Many think that the book was written during the persecution by Emperor Domitian (ruled, 81–96 C . E .). Some favor an ear lier persecution under Nero (ruled, 54–68 C . E .). The letters of Nero’s name add up to the famous sum 666, associated with the idea of Satan or evil (13.18). (In ancient Greek the same symbols were used for letters and for numbers.) Some suggest a practical reason for the elabo rate symbolism of the book: It helped the author and readers avoid being detected by the empire. The visions are also appropriate to the author’s goal of encouraging the persecuted. They tell in wondrously

to the physical, mortal bodies that they had in life. The Q UR ’ AN teaches that those who are found righ teous at the final judgment will enter the gardens of paradise, whereas those who are not righteous will suffer torment. Muslims believe that Jesus did not die. There fore, he was not raised from the dead; he was taken up into HEAVEN without dying, as Enoch and E LIJAH were. But Christians believe that the final resurrection of the dead has been foreshadowed in the resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal event on which all of Chris tianity rests. Among other things, it provides the concept that even in this world religious life means dying to SIN and rising to new life. It is impossible to establish Jesus’ resurrection as an historical event. As a matter of principle, aca demic history knows no way to establish the occur rence of MIRACLES . The earliest Christians appealed to two types of evidence in proclaiming the resur rection of Jesus. The first comprises reports of find ing Jesus’ tomb empty. The second comprises the testimony of those who claimed to have seen the risen Jesus, for example, P ETER , James, and Paul ( see 1 Corinthians 15.5–8). After dating the writ ings of the New Testament and carefully assessing what was proclaimed at different periods, some scholars have come to the conclusion that the earli est Christians testified to Jesus’ resurrection on the basis of encounters with the risen Jesus alone. Revelation, book of Also called the Apoca lypse; the last book of the N EW T ESTAMENT . The book of Revelation belongs to a kind of writing known as APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE . This kind of writ ing was especially common in late Second Temple J UDAISM (roughly 200 B . C . E .–70 C . E .), early C HRIS TIANITY , and ancient G NOSTICISM . Apocalyptic lit erature communicates hidden knowledge. Writers receive this knowledge in one of two ways. Either they have VISIONS or they make a journey to the HEAVENS . Apocalyptic literature generally sees the world as a battle between warring forces, good and EVIL . It provides hope that the forces of evil will be defeated in the near future.