section for notes related to the revelation of john, of which Dr. Jensen wrote a commentary applying it to modern developments in the Baha'i religion from his perspective.
Overview of the Book of Revelation of St. John:
For readers unfamiliar with the Revelation to John, the contents may be summarized as follows: In chapter 1, John addresses himself to his readers and reports a vision of the glorified Jesus who com- missions John to declare the visions he is about to be shown. John then addresses the seven churches each in turn in chapters 2 and 3 in the voice of the glorified Jesus. These are rather formulaic oracles, consisting of address, commendation, rebuke, warning, and promise, though not all seven oracles contain all these elements. In chapters 4 and 5, John sees the throne of God and the Lamb coming forward to take the scroll of the final plagues, which are revealed as the scroll is opened in chapter 6. Plagues and judgments, in cycles of seven, occupy chapters 6, 8, 9, 15, and 16. Inserted into this progression are visions of the "sealed of God" in chapter 7; the career of the "two witnesses" who serve as a sort of paradigm for the faithful believer in chapter 11; the war between Satan, the angels of God, and the followers of Jesus in chapter 12; the two beasts from land and sea in chapter 13; the judgment of Rome (the "Great Whore") in chapters 17 and 18; the final judgment of Satan, his forces, and followers, in chapters 19 and 20; and finally the vision of the City of God, "New Jerusalem," in chapters 21 and 22. For those interested in mnillenarian sects and apocalyptic groups, knowledge of this and related works (Daniel, 2 Esdras) is essential. (de Silva, 1992)
"charismatic legitimation":
The term charisma will be applied to a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is considered extraordinary and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a "leader." (Weber, 1978:1112) [Paul, argued against basing religious authority on "charisma", Corinthians]
Reconstructions of the groups or circles in which apocalypses were produced and preserved usually involves depictions of the group as an oppressed or disenfranchised sector of society (Hanson, 1976:30; Wilson, 1981:84-87; Berger, 1967:6869). Apocalypses are regarded largely as serving the needs of theodicy for such groups, providing consolation in the face of present evils with the hope of future reversal and restora- tion - even the illusory experience of future bliss (Gager, 1975:49-57, 64-65). (in de Silva, 1992)
John rejects the thesis that imperial rule reflects the order of God. Quite to the contrary, the worship of the emperor in its cultic form stems from worship of the dragon, Satan, the primeval enemy of the divine order. While the non-Christian inhabitant of the empire may believe participation in the imperial cult to be a participation in the divine ordering of the cosmos, John posits the claim that such participation actually contributes to the disruption of the enacting of divine order on earth, contributing instead to the mounting tension of social and cosmic chaos. Revelation 14:9-11, as well as the other references to refusing worship of the image or overcoming the image and the beast, rejects the thesis that accepting one's role within the "social organization of the Roman Empire" fulfills the will of God or one's duty to God.
In the vision of Revelation 13, John takes up the imagery of the four beasts of Daniel 7 and combines them into a "fifth" beast, a fifth successor to world power that combines the strengths and evils of all its predecessors. This is the Roman Empire, the source of mounting tension for the churches and pressures to conform to Greco-Roman society and religious practices at the time of John's writing. Hints such as are given in Rev. 17:9 - the seven hills of Rome - cement the identification. Rome has achieved and claims for itself a universal reign - the orbis terrarum, save only for the hostile "kings of the east," the Parthian kingdom, which appear as a menacing presence in Rev. 16:12. (de Silva, 1992, p.389)
The essential diairesis appears in 13:8. All will worship the emperors, save those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The contents of the book are only negatively disclosed - those who worship the beast are not contained therein. Worship of the emperor stands out prominently as a mark of the one who shall be cut off from the company of the redeemed, as the mark of eschatological exclusion.
The remarkable inclusiveness of 13:16 suggests that the mark of the beast is meant to unify a diversity of people. Unity of empire was in fact an important aspect of the universal obser- vance of imperial cult, perhaps supplying the one consistent feature throughout the empire. John immediately offers an alternative source of unity, one that calls to mind Paul's claim in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ all are one. Rejecting the call to conform and be "one" under the aegis of the divinized emperor, John calls his churches to remain "one" under the aegis of the "seal of the living God."(de Silva, 1992, p. 390-391)
In addition, John calls the communities to cease striving for political enfranchise- ment and a piece of the Roman pie - for him a sip from the Whore of Babylon's cup of abominations - risking instead ultimate political, economic, and social disen- franchisement for the sake of not participation in the "sins" of Rome, namely its ravaging of foreign nations, demands for religious legitimation through worship of its rulers, and its economic system of vast inequality. (de Silva, 1992, p. 393)
Page Citations:
The Revelation to John: A Case Study in Apocalyptic Propaganda and the Maintenance of Sectarian Identity Author(s): David A. deSilvaSource: Sociological Analysis, Vol. 53, No. 4, The Unique and the Shared in Religion andSociety (Winter, 1992), pp. 375-395Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3711434 .Accessed: 10/06/2011 18:08Your