Reading Revelation 13 at the Great Altar of Pergamon (original) (raw)
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It has been long recognized that chap 13 of the book of Revelation is a thinly veiled polemic—using language from Daniel 7—against the Roman Imperial cult 1 The two beasts presented in this chapter represent respectively the Roman Imperium and the political-cultic personnel connected with its cult us on the local level 2 A problem, however, arises with vv 13-15, a description of signs and wonders performed by the second beast in the imperial cult It (the second beast) works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men, and by the signs which it is allowed to work m the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak Is this to be taken as simply part of the mythological imagery of the chapter as a whole, which can speak of the Empire, for example, as a "beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads" (v 1), or which can speak of the local cult officials as a "beast which rose out of the earth," having horns like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon (v 13)? Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1906) 374, 358 2 The second beast arises from the land, that is, locally (v 11), the first beast is its source of authority (v 12), the second beast forces the population to make an image of the first beast (v 14) and to worship it (v 15)
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Pacifica, Vol 27 (3), 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © [U-Wen Low] This paper examines and discusses Stephen D. Moore’s suggestion that that the use of Imperial themes and motifs in Revelation create a self-perpetuating cycle that lead to one Imperial power being replaced by another. This paper presents an alternative reading of the book of Revelation: firstly acknowledging as significant the text’s status as apocalyptic literature, written as a device of inspiration and subversion against reigning powers. Such literature is shown to deliberately employ imperial themes and motifs in order to subvert imperial rule; it serves as fantasy, exposing the ‘hidden structures of false power’ and suggesting an alternative. This leads to a reading of the text using Scott’s theories of hidden transcripts. As a hidden transcript, the text serves as an anti-authoritarian device that reflects popular feelings toward an oppressor through symbolism and codes. It represents a community’s secret longing for a day of victory over their oppressors; ultimately, the inversions and mimicry of the text serve to equalise and level class structures rather than reverse. In order to facilitate a reading that truly represents this and allows the text to speak for itself, this paper suggests an understanding of the book of Revelation as a dramatic work grounded in the performance art of the Roman Empire. This paper engages as an example Revelation 5 in the manner of a recitatio of the early Empire, highlighting the discontinuity between what is seen and heard, before further exploring the ramifications of such a reading. Though in its early stages, such a reading of Revelation returns an ambiguity and depth to the text that certain postcolonial methods are lacking, whilst acknowledging its impact as a complex literary work that seeks not to provide answers, but rather a vision of hope that stands as an alternative to the forces of empire surrounding it.
THE EMPIRE AS DECEIVER REVELATION 13:11-18
SBL International Meeting, Buenos Aires, 2015
Revelation 13:11-18 is read as a politic and economic critic to the Roman Empire. Hermeneutics are done looking for Latinoamerican situation contexts. The text is an abstract of the Bible and Empire session.
A tale of two cities: Rome and Babylon in Revelation
DavarLogos
The historical-contemporary or preterist approach has consecrated the Roman empire inthe first century as the referent behind the spiritual Babylon of chapters 16 to 18 of Revelation.However, a reassessment of this theological motif from the document itself and inthe light of certain hermeneutical, exegetical and historical considerations demonstrates atranstemporal referentiality in harmony with the chronologically multivalent and historicallycontinuous character of biblical apocalyptic eschatology in general and Johannineeschatology in particular. The recurring apostasy of God’s people at key moments in historyemerges from such an analysis as the referent behind the great prostitute-city of theApocalypse.
Seeing is Feeling: Revelation's Enthroned Lamb and Ancient Visual Affects
Most scholarship of the last few decades on the book of Revelation has focused on its colonial conditions and heated, even forceful, political engagement, making conflicting conclusions about to what extent it “reproduces” or “resists” imperial ideology. Of particular focus has been the striking image of the lamb on the throne, an image that ambiguously imparts both conquest and victimhood. This essay builds on and steps to the side of this work by addressing the image of the lamb on the throne as an expressive and emotionally, rather than ideologically, ambivalent image. Placing this image alongside other affectively rich spectacles in Revelation’s context, I suggest that the enthroned lamb gives voice to conflicted feelings about imperial life: attachment and loss, extravagant dreams of sovereignty and victory, as well as the painful realities of vulnerability and subjection, all in complex inter-implication.