The purpose of the Revelation
I've recently taken a look at the Star Trek world view, which is based on the observation that things tend to be better when they're under control. It is an example of an oversimplification that leads to partial blindness.
The Revelation is such a strange text, telling you what you have to endure - really, what other text does it?, Joseph prophesised seven bad years, but nothing like the Revelation! -, that its effect is easily overlooked.
The Revelation tells us of the coming of the Messiah and so has Isaiah and I've already contrasted the two prophecies, but my focus then was on their respective promise.
However, its promise is only the smallest part of the Revelation and its effect derives from just that: A promise is a direction, a direction that is, in the case of the Revelation, already given in the gospels, and the bulk of the Revelation describes the way that lies in that direction. Why? Not to motivate us, given that only bad things are described. Yes, some people say that life was hard for Christians in the beginning and so the Revelation comforted them because it affirmed that at the end of all their suffering they would win. But that is not what the Revelation actually talks about, i.e. the suffering of the Christians in the beginning, rather it states that
Then there are those who think that the Revelation means to warn us. Well, they may have something there, but usually they think that the bad things it describes are avoidable. That it intends to threaten us with them, so we won't misbehave. Again, that's pretty absurd when you actually read it.
To understand what the Revelation achieves, it must be compared with other promises. What inevitably happens when you promise something for a very long time, several centuries at least, is that the promise's function as a promise becomes more important than what was originally promised, which in turn will be updated according to the fashion of the day. Given how close we are today to what Isaiah promised, in a nutshell health, the rule of law and God's blessing, Jews must constantly ask themselves whether to declare someone the Messiah and get it over with or find ever more overbearing ideas by whose measure health, the rule of law and God's blessing are lacking. And this is precisely what the Revelation prevents by describing what lies on the way to its promise: arbitrary updates of it. The Revelation puts an expiration condition on the function of its promise as a promise. It tells us that in such times as it describes as those of the beast, we are not to trust everyday textual interpretations any more, but to return to the fountain of our belief. That is what it warns us about: that we are about to stray from the path of what it has promised us by considering that promise as nothing more than an incentive to participate in programs that are designed to serve independently defined societal needs.
The Revelation is such a strange text, telling you what you have to endure - really, what other text does it?, Joseph prophesised seven bad years, but nothing like the Revelation! -, that its effect is easily overlooked.
The Revelation tells us of the coming of the Messiah and so has Isaiah and I've already contrasted the two prophecies, but my focus then was on their respective promise.
However, its promise is only the smallest part of the Revelation and its effect derives from just that: A promise is a direction, a direction that is, in the case of the Revelation, already given in the gospels, and the bulk of the Revelation describes the way that lies in that direction. Why? Not to motivate us, given that only bad things are described. Yes, some people say that life was hard for Christians in the beginning and so the Revelation comforted them because it affirmed that at the end of all their suffering they would win. But that is not what the Revelation actually talks about, i.e. the suffering of the Christians in the beginning, rather it states that
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.In the beginning Christians didn't know when the fifth seal would be opened, but even if they saw themselves as those slain for the word of God, which, if true, means that they had to wait for 1400 years for their robes, the only consolation offered for their suffering is: There can't be justice now, because more people like you need to die. It would be easier to argue that the Revelation appealed to early Christians, because it promises eventual vengeance, but it is not the only text to do so. Actually, by the look of things, given that the Revelation was only included in the Codex Vaticanus in the 15th century, it became more popular with the passage of time and not less so as its inherent prophetic merit was beginning to be felt during the Black Death.
Then there are those who think that the Revelation means to warn us. Well, they may have something there, but usually they think that the bad things it describes are avoidable. That it intends to threaten us with them, so we won't misbehave. Again, that's pretty absurd when you actually read it.
To understand what the Revelation achieves, it must be compared with other promises. What inevitably happens when you promise something for a very long time, several centuries at least, is that the promise's function as a promise becomes more important than what was originally promised, which in turn will be updated according to the fashion of the day. Given how close we are today to what Isaiah promised, in a nutshell health, the rule of law and God's blessing, Jews must constantly ask themselves whether to declare someone the Messiah and get it over with or find ever more overbearing ideas by whose measure health, the rule of law and God's blessing are lacking. And this is precisely what the Revelation prevents by describing what lies on the way to its promise: arbitrary updates of it. The Revelation puts an expiration condition on the function of its promise as a promise. It tells us that in such times as it describes as those of the beast, we are not to trust everyday textual interpretations any more, but to return to the fountain of our belief. That is what it warns us about: that we are about to stray from the path of what it has promised us by considering that promise as nothing more than an incentive to participate in programs that are designed to serve independently defined societal needs.
Labels: 36, bibelkommentar, formalisierung, geschichte, gesellschaftsentwurf, gesetze, institutionen, kommentar, sehhilfen, wahrnehmungen, zeitgeschichte, ἰδέα, φιλοσοφία
Eingetragen Am/um
14:34
