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Gregory Stevenson
Power and Place
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
In Verbindung mit
James D. G. Dunn · Richard B. Hays
Hermann Lichtenberger
herausgegeben von
Michael Wolter
Band 107
WDE
G_
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
2001
Gregory Stevenson
wDE
Stevenson, Gregory:
Power and place : temple and identity in the Book of Revelation /
Gregory Stevenson. - Berlin ; New York : de Gruyter, 2001
(Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche ; Bd. 107)
Zugl.: Diss., 1999
ISBN 3-11-017008-6
© Copyright 2001 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 10785 Berlin.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permis-
sion in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Berlin
Printing and Binding: Hubert & Co., Göttingen
To James, Beverly, and Sally Stevenson
Without their support this book could never have been written.
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations xiii
2.1 Introduction 37
8. Conclusion 303
Bibliography 307
Neot Neotestamentica
New Documents New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, ed. G.
H. R. Horsley, S. R. Llewelyn and R. A. Kearsley. 7
Vols. North Ryde, N.S.W.: The Ancient History
Documentary Research Center, Macquarie University,
1981-.
NRT Nouvelle Revue Théologique
NTS New Testament Studies
NT Novum Testamentum
NumChr The Numismatic Chronicle
OGIS Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, ed. W. Ditten-
berger. 2 vols. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1960.
OJRS Ohio Journal of Religious Studies
OTP The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H.
Charlesworth. 2 Vols. New York: Doubleday, 1983,
1985.
PECS The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, ed.
Richard Stillwell. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1976.
PEFQS Palestine Exploration Fund QuarterlyStatement
PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly
PIBA Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association
Pr Prooftexts
RA Revue Archéologique
RB Revue Biblique
RE Paulys Real-Encyclopadie
REJ Revue des Etudes Juives
RevExp Review and Expositor
RevQ Revue de Qumran
RSR Revue des Sciences Religieuses
Sardis Buckler, W. H. and David M. Robinson. Sardis:
Greek and Latin Inscriptions. Publications of the
American Society for the Excavation of Sardis. Vol.
7, 1. Leiden: Brill, 1932.
SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers
SEA Svensk Exegetisk Ârsbok
SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Leiden: A.
W. Sijthoff, 1923-.
Sem Semeia
Abbreviations xvii
Although in this study I use the term "temple" to identify the sacred building, I include
in my analysis (where appropriate) all of the architecture (such as the altar, etc.) and
cultic paraphernalia associated with the entire temple complex.
The Problem of the Temple in Revelation 3
temple from the throne" (èκ του ναοί) άπό του θρόνου) to announce "It is
done" (16:17).
In the final chapters of Revelation, a startling transformation occurs.
Although an angel who had been in the heavenly temple shows off the New
Jerusalem (21:9) and God's tabernacle (σκηνή) is announced as being with
the righteous (21:3), the final word on the temple comes in 21:22 with the
statement that there is no temple in the New Jerusalem because "God and the
Lamb are its temple" (ναός).
What are we to make of the temple language in Revelation? Is it simply
scattered and incidental or structured, purposeful and central to the message
of the text? Any attempt to understand this language faces certain difficulties
that are perhaps best construed as three questions that the interpreter must
address.
1) Why does the temple appear in Revelation? Oddly, this important
question has rarely been asked in studies on the temple in Revelation.
Considering that Christians, both Jew and Gentile, no longer worshipped at
temples, one must question why this symbol appears in a Christian text
addressing what was likely a mixed cultural audience (Jewish and Gentile
Christians) in western Asia Minor. The knowledge of what a temple meant to
individuals and communities in antiquity — be it the Jerusalem Temple for
Jews or Greek and Roman temples for Gentiles - goes a long way towards
explaining why the temple functions as such a positive symbol in Revelation.
More will be said on this issue later in this chapter; but for now, it suffices to
say that one thesis of this study is that John, in addressing a mixed cultural
audience in Asia Minor, employs the symbol of the temple and its associated
imagery because it was a symbol that communicated powerfully to both
cultural groups, making it an appropriate vehicle for his message.
2) What counts as temple symbolism in Revelation? To speak simply of
"the temple" can be misleading due to the complexity surrounding temple
language in Revelation. The term used in Revelation for the temple is vaós
(occurring sixteen times). On three occasions the term for "tabernacle"
(σκηνή) occurs (13:6; 15:5; 21:3). To say that the term vaos identifies the
presence of the temple in Revelation is valid, but does not clarify to what the
term refers. A multiplicity of Greek terms were used in antiquity to identify
what we would call a "temple" (e.g. vaos, lepóv, Τ Έ Μ Ε Ν Ο Σ , OIKOS, etc.),2
and they were not always used consistently. Some terms denote the building
itself (either the whole structure or a part such as the Most Holy Place), while
others specify the larger sanctuary area. The same term might on one occa-
sion identify the temple building proper and on another identify the whole
temple complex of building, altar, and sanctuary. Revelation offers the
benefit of restriction to only one of these terms, yet the precise nature of that
term is debatable. Does ναός in Revelation represent only the most sacred
area (what the Hebrews call the Holy of Holies), the entire temple building,
or the entire sanctuary/precinct area complete with temple, altar and
worshippers?
Time and space also figure into the identification of the ναός. Is the
temple earthly or heavenly? In many texts it is clear that the heavenly temple
is in view as, for instance, when the heavenly throne or an angel is associated
with it (7:15; 14:15-18; 16:1, 17) or when it is identified as the temple "in
heaven" (έν τψ ούρανφ — 11:19; 14:17; 15:5). In 11:1-2, however, it is less
clear whether the author envisions a temple in heaven or on earth. Even in
texts where the identification of a heavenly temple seems certain, the
temporal issue arises of whether the author speaks of a heavenly temple in the
present or of a future, eschatological temple. Rev. 3:12 and 7:15, for
instance, with their promises of being made pillars in the temple of God and
serving God day and night in his temple seem to speak of eschatological
rewards.
The range of the language also presents problems. Do we translate
σκηνή generally as "dwelling place" or more specifically as "tabernacle"
with all that entails? Does the assertion in 13:6 that the beast blasphemes
God's σκηνή refer to God's earthly dwelling (the Jerusalem Temple) or
God's heavenly dwelling (the heavenly temple)? Should God's "tabernacle"
(σκηνή) be identified with his heavenly "temple" (ναός) as is done in 15:5
and, if so, how then does one reconcile the presence of the "tabernacle"
(21:3) in the New Jerusalem with the absence of the "temple" (21:22)?
A further difficulty arises with texts that do not contain the terms for
"temple" or "tabernacle," but do contain terminology often associated with
temples. Chapters 4-5 are a prime example. Is this a temple scene or a
throne scene independent of any temple? Are the two necessarily mutually
exclusive? Must one assume, however, that the mere presence of cultic
language in a scene necessitates the presence of a temple? Must one demand
a temple every time a lampstand or an incense bowl makes an appearance?
Furthermore, how is the relationship between the temple and the throne to be
construed? Are they separate entities or is the throne assumed to be inside
the temple? Does it matter? Likewise, what is to be done with the altar? Are
there two altars — the one with souls under it (6:9) and the "golden altar"
(8:3; 9:13) -- or just one?
The Problem of the Temple in Revelation 5
The preceding questions illustrate the difficulty facing anyone who seeks
to make sense of the temple language in Revelation. I highlight the difficulty
in order to guard against a premature simplification of what is in fact a com-
plex and multi-faceted problem. Two principles, however, will be helpful for
navigating this sea of confusion. They are the principle of flexibility and the
principle of circularity.
The principle of flexibility asserts that one must be cautious of forcing a
rigid structure onto what is essentially a fluid and figurative description. The
language of Revelation is symbolic, metaphorical language that uses the
temple to communicate a spiritual message. Because the author does not
attempt a detailed and consistent portrayal of the heavenly temple, one
encounters what appear to be inconsistent assertions. Revelation 3:12, for
example, says that those who overcome will be rewarded by being made
pillars in the temple of God, a temple that is associated with the New Jerusa-
lem; yet, when the New Jerusalem arrives, there is no temple (21:22). Also,
in one text the altar has souls under it (6:9), while other references to the altar
offer no hint of any souls being present (8:3-5). The reason for this inconsis-
tency is that John uses the same language to communicate different ideas in
different texts. The message is the thing, and not the detailed coherence of
the language. Thus, to an extent, each text must be allowed to speak its own
voice without forced harmonization with other texts that may be speaking in a
different tone.
Having said that, one must not abandon the search for coherence in John's
employment of temple language. The principle of circularity asserts that cer-
tain images, terms, and themes scattered throughout the text of Revelation
have a connection with one another so that, to an extent, an image occurring
in one passage can help to interpret and explain the appearance of that same
image in another passage. Leonard Thompson offers a description of this
phenomenon in the text of Revelation.
3
Leonard L. Thompson, "Mapping an Apocalyptic World," in Sacred Places and
Profane Spaces: Essays in the Geographies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, eds.
Jamie Scott and Paul Simpson-Housley (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1991), 119.
6 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
ism" as the rubric under which to confine the temple can greatly alter the
perceived function of temple language.
Generally, imagery is pictorial language. An image of a temple on a
Roman coin is a visual representation designed to communicate a message.
The image is tailored to the message and thus may or may not conform
strictly to reality. In the context of written language, an image calls forth a
mental picture that communicates through visualization, although at times the
force of the image may seek to "overwhelm the imagination."4 A symbol is
an image, but one that penetrates through the boundaries constraining the
image.
Paul Ricoeur distinguishes symbols and signs (what is here called an
"image"). Signs point beyond themselves representationally and "say only
what they want to say."5 In contrast to signs, symbols are opaque and carry a
double intentionality, whereby the first, literal intentionality points "analogi-
cally" to a second intentionality that leads to deeper meanings.
Consequently, the "depth of the s y m b o l . . . is inexhaustible."6 According to
Ricoeur, a symbol functions to spark thought.7 One must, therefore, live
within the symbol and allow it to lead one to the deeper riches of its meaning.
Ricoeur asserts that although not every sign is a symbol, every symbol is a
sign.8
Philip Wheelwright argues that within poetic language an image empha-
sizes a "concrete element," whereas a symbol insists upon a "semantic out-
reach."9 He offers the following broad definition of "symbol": "A symbol,
in general, is a relatively stable and repeatable element of perceptual
experience, standing for some larger meaning or set of meanings which
cannot be given, or not fully given, in perceptual experience itself."10 He
then distinguishes two types of symbols relative to their referents: steno
symbols and tensive symbols.11 A steno symbol is a form of closed language
in which the symbol bears a one-to-one correspondence with its referent. A
tensive symbol, on the other hand, is characteristic of open or living language
4
G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible (Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1980), 149.
5
Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, trans. Emerson Buchanan (Boston: Beacon Press,
1967), 15.
6
Ibid., 15.
7
Ibid., 348.
8
Ibid., 14-15.
9
Philip Wheelwright, Metaphor & Reality (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1962), 66, 68.
10
Ibid., 92.
11
Ibid., 33, 37, 45, 54, 94-96.
8 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
12
Norman Perrin, "Eschatology and Hermeneutics: Reflections on Method in the
Interpretation of the New Testament" JBL 93 (1974): 10-12; Jesus and the Language of
the Kingdom (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976), 29-31.
13
Perrin, Jesus, 30.
14
André Lacocque, "Apocalyptic Symbolism: A Ricoeurian Hermeneutical Approach,"
BR 26 (1981): 6.
15
John J. Collins, "The Symbolism of Transcendence in Jewish Apocalyptic," BR 19
(1974): 5-6, 15-16; Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, The Book of Revelation: Justice and
Judgment (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985; reprint, 1989), 183-184; Lacocque, 6-7.
The Language of Apocalyptic 9
apocalypses often offer several different images of the future, or for the
evocative power of allusions to ancient myths and traditions."16
Apocalyptic symbolism is "open language," capable of multiple meanings
in different contexts and designed to generate thought.17 An apocalyptic
symbol encourages the seeking out of deeper meanings, rather than the
narrow limiting of meaning to a single definition, and, therefore, allows for
the "possible overtones of meanings" for both author and audience to become
visible.18 These qualities make apocalyptic symbolism "a more flexible tool
for the portrayal of reality than ordinary prose."19 The intermingling of
symbolism and apocalyptic thought is highly appropriate. We regularly use
symbols to order our reality. They allow us to access certain aspects of
reality that are otherwise inaccessible.20 Since a major goal of apocalyptic
thought is to offer a different perspective or different interpretation of
"reality," symbolic language was a ready-made tool for that end.
The nature of apocalyptic symbolism as open, multivalent and multi-
layered makes it a fitting vehicle for expressing language and concepts
relating to the temple, since the very existence of a temple as a widespread
phenomenon "challenges us with its complexity, diverse guises, and seem-
ingly endless range of meanings."21 Wheelwright identifies five grades of
significance of tensive symbols including "ancestral vitality" or literary life
whereby the symbol is passed on and continually given new life in different
poetic contexts, "significance for an entire cultural group," and "archetypal"
significance in which the symbol holds meaning for large portions of
humanity "independently of borrowings and historical influences."22 As a
symbol in antiquity, a temple possesses all three of these aspects. The use of
the temple as a symbol in numerous and diverse literary contexts in antiquity
testifies to its "ancestral vitality." Temples were also highly significant
symbols for individual cultural groups as Jewish temple traditions reveal. In
addition, the widespread existence of temples in divergent geographical
16
John J. Collins, "Apocalyptic Literature," in Early Judaism and its Modern Interpreters,
eds. Robert A. Kraft and George W. E. Nickelsburg (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986),
349-350. See also Lacocque, 9.
17
Fiorenza, Book of Revelation, 186, 188.
18
Fiorenza, Book of Revelation, 186.
19
Jon Paulien, "Allusions, Exegetical Method, and the Interpretation of Revelation 8:7-
12" (Ph.D. diss., Andrews University, 1987), 20-21.
20
Mircea Eliade, Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, trans. Philip
Mairet (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1969), 12.
21
David M. Knipe, "The Temple in Image and Reality," in Temple in Society, ed. Michael
V. Fox (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1988), 106.
22
Wheelwright, 98-99.
10 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
not have all of these characteristics, while most of the characteristics are also
found in works deemed non-apocalyptic.26 The Apocalypse Group of the
Society of Biblical Literature Genres Project has attempted a "comprehensive
definition of the genre" that is based upon Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, Greco-
Roman, and Persian revelatory literature. The definition reported by John
Collins is worth repeating.
The above definition analyzes the genre from the standpoint of form and
content, but does not adequately address the question of function. David
Hellholm, in reply, offered the addition "intended for a group in crisis with
the purpose of exhortation and/or consolation by means of divine
authority."28 This emphasis on apocalyptic literature as a response to some
form of crisis is helpful so long as one allows for a broad definition of
"crisis" that includes the element of perception.29
David Aune emphasizes the element of transcendence that was mentioned
in Collins' definition. Apocalyptic literature offers a transcendent perspec-
tive on human experience.30 In addition, he argues that a more precise under-
standing of the literary function of apocalypses should accompany the social
function highlighted by Hellholm. This literary function is threefold in that it
involves the legitimation of the transcendent authority of the message, the re-
presentation of the author's original revelatory experience, and the encour-
31
Ibid., 89-90.
32
For a fuller discussion of some of the questions and issues that apocalyptic addresses see
Amos N. Wilder, "The Rhetoric of Ancient and Modern Apocalyptic," Int 25 (1971):
440-49.
The Language of Apocalyptic 13
the emotions and by making a point.33 The creation of this narrative is done
in large part through symbols, and it is often on the level of the symbols that
the message is communicated.
It is generally recognized that the author of Revelation creates a symbolic
world or universe that is set in juxtaposition with the social-political world of
the Roman Empire.34 What needs to be determined is the literary and social
function of this symbolic world. The majority of approaches to the interpre-
tation of John's symbolic world may be categorized according to the follow-
ing four functions: the explanatory/legitimating function, the therapeutic
function, the imaginative function, and the transformative function.35
According to the explanatory/legitimating function, the book of
Revelation creates a symbolic world in order to explain why the world looks
as it does and/or to legitimate a particular aspect of that world. Stephen D.
O'Leary provides an example of this approach with his argument that
apocalyptic literature functions as a "symbolic theodicy" that both explains
and legitimates the presence of evil in the world by the way that it constructs
time.36
The therapeutic approach offers a psychoanalytic interpretation of Revela-
tion that views the book as a form of therapy. John Gager reads Revelation
as mythic therapy designed to help the readers conquer their despair over
their present situation by offering the hope of a mythical future.37 Adela
Yarbro Collins argues that Revelation functions to control aggressive
feelings. The author encourages the audience to recognize and experience
their feelings of fear and resentment by heightening the sense of conflict
between what is (their perception of the world as it is) and what ought to be
(their perception of how a world ruled by God ought to look). Then,
33
Awareness of the narrative structure of Revelation has led to comparisons with Greek
drama. See, for example, John Wick Bowman, "The Revelation to John: Its Dramatic
Structure and Message," Int 9 (1955): 436-453; James L. Blevins, "The Genre of
Revelation," RevExp 77 (1980): 393-408.
34
Fiorenza, Book of Revelation, 187; Hanson, 30; Leonard Thompson, "A Sociological
Analysis of Tribulation in the Apocalypse of John," Sem 36 (1986): 165. Some use the
term "theopoetic" to describe this symbolic world; see Richard B. Hays, The Moral
Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation (San Francisco:
HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 173.
35
These categories are my own and are intended to be representational rather than
exhaustive. Also, one must allow for overlap and interaction between them.
36
Stephen D. O'Leary, Arguing the Apocalypse: A Theory of Millennial Rhetoric (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 14, 34, 63.
37
John G. Gager, Kingdom and Community: The Social World of Early Christianity
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975), 51-55.
14 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
38
Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis & Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1984), 141, 152-154.
39
E. S. Fiorenza, "The Phenomenon of Early Christian Apocalyptic. Some Reflections on
Method," in Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East, ed. David
Hellholm (Tübingen: J. C. B. Möhr, 1983), 305.
40
Fiorenza, Book of Revelation, 187.
41
Collins, Crisis & Catharsis, 141, 144; see also "Persecution and Vengeance," 729, TAI.
42
Collins, Crisis & Catharsis, 142.
43
She states: "The solution of the Apocalypse is an act of creative imagination which, like
that of the schizophrenic, withdraws from empirical reality, from real experience in the
everyday world," Collins, Crisis & Catharsis, 155.
The Language of Apocalyptic 15
another world."44 D. S. Russell similarly asserts that those who enter this
apocalyptic world become "new people."45
Although all four of the above approaches are capable of shedding light
on the text of Revelation, it is the transformative approach that offers the best
insight into the function of John's symbolic world. John views Satan as a
grand illusionist who has deceived humanity into believing that Rome rules
the world, that God's justice is no longer operating, that faithfulness will not
be rewarded, and that Christians have been overcome. Consequently, John
seeks to identify for his readers the illusory nature of this "reality" and, in so
doing, alter their perception ofthat "reality." Apocalyptic symbolism offers a
transcendent perspective on the world and the human situation.46 By allow-
ing his audience to glimpse the spiritual realm and by allowing that realm to
critique his readers' perception of reality, John asserts that the only true real-
ity is that which is seen through a transcendent lens. He seeks to transform at
a fundamental level the way his readers experience and understand the world
they live in and their place in it. For John, it is his symbolic world that
pierces Satan's illusions and offers access to true reality — that God, not
Rome, rules the universe, that God's justice is working itself out in the world,
that faithfulness does achieve a reward, and that the believers are the victors.
Indeed, for those convinced by John's symbolic construct, the world has
become a different place.
In his critique of crisis theories, Leonard Thompson shows some affinities
with the transformative approach. He attacks crisis theories, which assert that
the symbolic world of Revelation was created in direct response to some form
of crisis, for unduly separating the social from the symbolic. Crisis theorists,
he argues, tend to support a uni-directional flow of causality in which a re-
constructed social situation generates a symbolic, literary expression that is
"malleable to the more 'real' social, political situation; while social
experience . . . exists as an impenetrable entity, unaffected essentially by
religious, mythic, and literary symbols."47 In contrast, Thompson rightly
argues that the symbolic and the. social are inextricably linked.
44
David L. Ban, "The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary
Analysis," Int 38 (1984): 49.
45
Russell, 60.
46
Collins, "Symbolism of Transcendence," 11-12, 21; Wayne A. Meeks, The Moral World
of the First Christians (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986), 143-45. Paul S. Minear adds
that with apocalyptic, as with prophecy, future expectations function as reflections on
present experience, New Testament Apocalyptic (Nashville: Abingdon, 1981), 62.
47
Thompson, "Sociological Analysis," 163.
16 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
Those theorists assume that there is an ordered, central reality to the social world,
and separate from that is another ordered world created by John. Each forms a
separate circle. As an alternative to that model, I propose that John's symbolic
world is both comprehensive and coherent. It is comprehensive in that John offers
his symbolic structure as an all-inclusive world embracing the whole of Christian
existence including social, political exchanges in everyday life. His symbolics are
misinterpreted if they are seen aá an alternative order situated at the periphery of the
'real social world.' John's symbolic world is coherent in that, if appropriated, it
integrates human experience and makes Christian existence whole. Rather than
imagining John's symbolics as a separate circle, they are better understood as a grid
or an overlay that orders all experience.48
In the above discussion it was argued that apocalyptic symbols have both
social and literary significance. Having highlighted some of the literary ele-
ments in the previous section, the discussion now turns to a brief analysis of
one aspect of the social significance of the temple as symbol in Revelation.
In antiquity, a temple was an important social and political place, but
above all it was a religious place — sacred space where one could access the
divine. As a place of intersection between the social, political, and religious,
a temple often became an important symbol by which a community
conceived of its identity and sense of place in the world.
Jonathan Z. Smith argues that societies and individuals create their
identity through "an understanding and symbolization of place," which is
both geographical and social.49
48
Ibid., 166.
49
Jonathan Z. Smith, Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions (Leiden: E.
J. Brill, 1978), 143.
The Language of Apocalyptic 17
The question of the character of the place on which one stands is the fundamental
symbolic and social question. Once an individual or culture has expressed its vision
of its place, a whole language of symbols and social structures will follow. 50
50
Ibid., 141.
51
Ibid., 143.
52
Ibid., xii, xiv, 101.
53
Ibid., xiv. See also J. Ronald Engel, "The Question of the Place on Which We Stand:
An Agenda for Religious Social Ethics," in Liberation and Ethics: Essays in Religious
and Social Ethics in Honor of Gibson Winter, ed. Charles Amjad-Ali and W. Alvin
Pitcher (Chicago: Center for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1985), 5-6.
54
Smith, xiv.
18 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
religious place (the Jerusalem Temple) and yet feel displaced, leading to the
creation of a new symbolic world in which the community becomes the
temple. Second, the idea that a change in either one's social "place" or in
one's view of the world necessitates symbol change can also be reversed, i.e.
that a change in symbol can affect one's view of the world and of one's place
in it. If a community like Qumran perceives that the Jerusalem Temple (as a
symbol of Jewish faith and identity) has become corrupt, that recognition can
spark a réévaluation of community identity and status.
The book of Revelation was written to diasporic communities, and this is
true with regards to both Jews and Gentiles. Although Gentile Christians
were not geographically separated from their previous sacred centers, their
conversion to Christianity caused them to be cut off from the temples and
cultic activities that had functioned prominently in their lives and played a
constitutive role in their identity. Of course, many Jewish communities in
Asia Minor had adapted to daily life without a temple and had transferred
their worship to the synagogue. Nevertheless, for Diaspora Jews in the first
century C.E., the Jerusalem Temple still played an important ideological role
in the makeup of their identity as Jews so that conversion to Christianity,
involving as it did exclusion from temple and synagogue, would have held
significant repercussions for the self-identity of those individuals.55 Conse-
quently, diasporic religious groups tend to seek out new symbols or new con-
struals of old symbols (such as temple) in order to address issues about their
identity, their understanding of the world and of God, and their relationship to
both. Also, the need for addressing these issues is heightened in a time of
ideological tension. Smith states:
When the world is perceived to be chaotic, reversed, liminal, filled with anomie.
[sic] Then man finds himself in a world which he does not recognize; and perhaps
even more terrible, man finds himself to have a self he does not recognize. Then he
will need to create a new world, to express his sense of a new place. 56
I do not mean to suggest that the book of Revelation was written for the
purpose of responding to the loss of the temple(s) or for the purpose of
providing Christians with a "new place." The point is rather that an under-
standing of the social location of the original audience of Revelation as
people without a temple changes our sense of the symbolic force the temple
55
That the book of Revelation may have been written after the destruction of the
Jerusalem Temple also impacts the potential displacement of Jewish Christians. The
effect of the date of Revelation on this discussion is dealt with in chapter five.
56
Smith, 145-46.
The Temple and the Interpretation of Revelation 19
language in Revelation might have had for them.57 Jews and Gentiles in
antiquity looked to their temple(s) for identity, group cohesion, justice and
authority, protection, guidance, and security. Because a temple was both a
social institution and the place for accessing deity, it mediated the deity or
deities' interaction within the social life of a community.
In the case of Revelation, the Christian communities appear to have been
experiencing various forms of suffering, identity conflicts, conflicts with the
surrounding culture and with Rome, injustice, insecurity, and fear. Revela-
tion, with its heavenly journeys, divine epiphanies, and heavenly temple,
expresses how they have access to God in a way that addresses all these
issues. In essence, the temple in Revelation functions in many ways as a real
temple did — by providing symbolic access to God.
57
Paul's use of temple language in 1-2 Corinthians provides an analogy. Neither book
was written because Christians no longer had a temple nor for the purpose of offering a
new temple, but recognizing what is involved for Christians in having left temples
behind aids an understanding of what Paul's assertion that the church is the temple
would have meant for them.
58
Roland de Vaux, "On Right and Wrong Uses of Archaeology," in Near Eastern
Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: Essays in Honor of Nelson Glueck, ed. James A.
Sanders (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1970), 69-70; G. Ernest Wright, "What
Archaeology Can and Cannot Do," BA 34 (1971): 70-76; Stephen L. Dyson, "A
Classical Archaeologist's Response to the 'New Archaeology,'" BASOR 242 (Spring
1981): 7-13; Arnaldo Momigliano, "Biblical Studies and Classical Studies: Simple
Reflections About Historical Method," BA 45 (1982): 224-228; Fredric Brandfon, "The
Limits of Evidence: Archaeology and Objectivity," Maa 4 (1987): 5-43; David W.
Jamieson-Drake, "Text vs. Tell: Which Sets the Agenda?" in SBLSP 1989, ed. David J.
Lull (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), 458-465.
59
Jamieson-Drake, 460; Johan Burger, "Archaeology - An Important Historical Source,"
TE 25 (1992): 44.
20 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
60
My use of the term "archaeology" encompasses inscribed materials such as inscriptions
and coins in addition to the "mute" remains.
61
Dyson, 11; de Vaux, "Archaeology," 65, 78; Jamieson-Drake argues that for this
dialogue to be achieved, textual studies will need to "adopt a more sociological bent,"
463.
62
de Vaux, "Archaeology," 70; Jamieson-Drake, 459..
63
Shanks and Tilley argue that interpreting material culture is "an act of translation"
dependent on the contexts of both the physical remains and the interpreters who
determine the questions to be asked of the remains, Michael Shanks and Christopher
Tilley, Social Theory and Archaeology (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
1987), 211. See also Dyson, 11; Jamieson-Drake, 458-59; de Vaux, "Archaeology," 69-
70, 78; Wright, 76.
64
Burger, 46.
65
Ibid., 46.
66
Ibid., 47.
The Temple and the Interpretation of Revelation 21
they often lack the time or the inclination to go into it at any depth. They skim the
surface, relying upon manuals that summarize other people's researches . . .
Neglecting the concrete actuality of the ancient historians, of papyri, inscriptions,
coins, and other archaeological remains, they then seek to advance learning in their
field by reading one another's books. 69
The situation has improved little today.70 Exacerbating the situation is the
general neglect of archaeological materials outside of Palestine in New
67
Graydon Snyder asserts that "distinctively Christian archaeological data does not appear
until about 180," Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life before
Constantine (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985), 2.
68
The study of Indian Buddhism offers a good example of the incredible bias towards
literary texts in religious studies. Despite the later date for the sacred texts, these texts
have been given priority as sources for early Indian Buddhism by interpreters who have
even used them to correct the earlier archaeological data when it conflicts with the later
texts, Gregory Schopen, "Archaeology and Protestant Presuppositions in the Study of
Indian Buddhism," HR 31 (1991): 1-23. Goodenough wrestles with a similar issue
when he addresses the practice of prioritizing the Palestinian Mishnah and Midrashim
over "the actual artifacts in Rome and Dura" as evidence for Jewish thought in those
cities, Erwin R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period (New York:
Pantheon Books, 1965), 12.185.
69
Robert M. Grant, "American New Testament Study, 1926-1956," JBL 87 (1968): 48.
70
For discussions of the frequent neglect of inscriptions and coins in New Testament study
see G. H. R. Horsley, "The Inscriptions of Ephesos and the New Testament," NT 34
(1992): 167; Richard Oster, "Numismatic Windows into the Social World of Early
Christianity: A Methodological Inquiry," JBL 101 (1982): 195, 218.
22 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
71
Oster identifies this trend as the "Holy Land captivity" of archaeology, Richard E. Oster,
A Bibliography of Ancient Ephesus (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1987), xxiii. See
also Steven J. Friesen, "Revelation, Realia, and Religion: Archaeology in the
Interpretation of the Apocalypse," HTR 88 (1995): 292.
72
Referring to the unbalanced emphasis on Qumran and Nag Hammadi, Grant asserts that
the "rise of early Christianity remains incomprehensible apart from the life of the early
Roman empire," Grant, 48.
73
Oster, "Numismatic Windows," 200.
74
Ibid., 219. Since Oster's admonition, a few authors have employed numismatic
materials to illuminate select concepts or specific texts in Revelation, Ernest P. Janzen,
"The Jesus of the Apocalypse Wears the Emperor's Clothes," in SBLSP 1994, ed.
The Temple and the Interpretation of Revelation 23
Eugene H. Lovering, Jr. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994), 637-661; Robert Beauvery,
"L'Apocalypse au Risque de la Numismatique," RB 90 (1983): 243-60; Larry Rreitzer,
"Sibylline Oracles 8, the Roman Imperial Adventus Coinage of Hadrian and the
Apocalypse of John," JSP 4 (1989): 69-85.
75
This problem is especially acute in the commentaries.
76
Howard Wallace, "Leviathan and the Beast in Revelation," BA 11 (1948): 61-68;
Stephen J. Patterson, "A Note on an Argive Votive Relief of Selene," HTR 78 (1985):
439-43; H. D. Saffrey, "Relire l'Apocalypse a Patmos," RB 82 (1975): 385-417; Roland
Bergmeier, "Altes und Neues zur 'Sonnenfrau am Himmel (Apk 12)': Religions-
geschichtliche und quellenkritische Beobachtungen zu Apk 12:1-17," ZNW 73 (1982):
97-109; Jan Willem van Henten, "Dragon Myth and Imperial Ideology in Revelation 12-
13," in SBLSP 1994, ed. Eugene H. Lovering, Jr. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994), 496-
515. In contrast, Adela Yarbro Collins' substantial and valuable study on the combat
myth in Revelation deals with material culture, but primarily gathers the material
evidence together in an appendix in order to demonstrate the widespread presence of the
mythical patterns established earlier in the book through literary analysis, The Combat
Myth in the Book of Revelation (Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1976). Robert M.
Royalty, Jr. makes use of some inscriptions in analyzing the theme of wealth in
Revelation, The Streets of Heaven: The Ideology of Wealth in the Apocalypse of John
(Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1998).
77
William M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia and Their Place in the
Plan of the Apocalypse (1904; repr. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979); Colin J. Hemer,
The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting (Sheffield: JSOT Press,
1986).
78
Steven Friesen, "The Cult of the Roman Emperors in Ephesos: Temple Wardens, City
Titles, and the Interpretation of the Revelation of John," in Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia.
An Interdisciplinary Approach to its Archaeology, Religion and Culture, ed. Helmut
Koester (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995), 229-250; Steven Friesen,
"Ephesus - Key to a Vision in Revelation," BAR 19 no 3 (1993): 24-37; P. J. J. Botha,
"God, Emperor Worship and Society: Contemporary Experience and the Book of
Revelation," Neot 22 (1988): 87-102; Hans-Josef Klauck, "Das Sendschreiben nach
Pergamon und der Kaiserkult in der Johannesoffenbarung," Bib 73 (1992): 153-82; J.
24 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
83
W. K. Hedrick, "The Sources and Use of the Imagery in Apocalypse 12" (Th.D. Diss.:
Graduate Theological Union, 1971), 14.
84
Steven Thompson, The Apocalypse and Semitic Syntax (Cambridge: University Press,
1985), 108.
85
Ibid., 106.
86
Ibid., 108. Stanley Porter responds to Thompson's work by demonstrating that there is
little basis for positing any form of Semitic Greek and that the language of Revelation
falls within "the range of possible registers of Greek usage of the 1st century," Stanley
E. Porter, "The Language of the Apocalypse in Recent Discussion," NTS 35 (1989):
582-603, esp. 603.
26 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
in at least two respects. First, it fails to draw precise enough distinctions con-
cerning ancient culture and John's attitude towards it. Objections to Hellenis-
tic influence on Revelation have primarily been objections to the use of
mythological ideas and abstractions and not material culture. In addition,
those objections do not allow for John's creativity in reworking mythological
materials, just as he does biblical allusions, in a way that multiplies associa-
tions, thus enriching "the communicative power of the language."87
Likewise, the idea that Revelation opposes Gentile culture in totality
lacks precision. John clearly opposes idolatry, immorality, and the social and
political structures of Hellenistic culture that encourage such behavior. This,
however, is by no means equal to a rejection of Hellenistic culture itself.
John, for instance, gives no indication of being opposed to the idea of a
temple; what he opposes is the worship of any deity other than God. Conse-
quently, there is no reason to assume that John could not draw upon imagery
and ideas from the religious environment of Asia Minor that Gentile converts
were familiar with and recast them in such a way as to make assertions about
God that would communicate to Gentile Christians. Second, the refusal to
recognize Hellenistic influence on apocalyptic literature, particularly Revela-
tion, tends to confuse the identification of source with theological validity.
John Collins makes this point admirably:
The recognition that the Old Testament and Jewish tradition is a primary
source (even the main source) for the ideas and images in Revelation is valid;
yet, this recognition should not lead to a neglect of other possible cultural and
environmental influences. Apocalyptic literature, and Revelation is no excep-
87
John J. Collins makes this point with reference to apocalyptic literature in general, but it
certainly applies to Revelation, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to the
Jewish Matrix of Christianity (New York: Crossroad, 1992), 16.
88
Collins, "Apocalyptic Literature," 354.
The Temple and the Interpretation of Revelation 27
89
Ibid., 354. Beale states: "Though the OT, Judaism, NT, and immediate context of the
Apocalypse provide the primary background for its imagery, much work remains to be
done on surveying the various sources of the Greco-Roman world to broaden the
multiple ideas associated with many of the images in the Apocalypse," G. K. Beale, The
Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999),
58.
90
Hans Dieter Betz, "Zum Problem des religionsgeschichtlichen Verständnisses der
Apokalyptik," ZThK 63 (1966): 409; see also David E. Aune, "The Influence of Roman
Imperial Court Ceremonial on the Apocalypse of John" BR 28 (1983): 23.
91
Adela Yarbro Collins, "The History-of-Religions Approach to Apocalypticism and the
'Angel of the Waters' (Rev. 16:4-7)," CBQ 39 (1977): 367-68.
28 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
the Christians' temple and they are his temple.102 C. F. D. Moule seeks to
place the temple language of the New Testament in the context of Christian
apologetic. Suggesting that Jewish opponents were accusing Christians of
having no cultic system of worship, Moule argues that Christians developed
the standard response that the church itself is a spiritual temple made up of
spiritual priests.103
The final category consists of readings of particular sections or even the
entire text of Revelation in the light of certain Jewish festivals, particularly
the Feast of Tabernacles.104 Some claim that the structure of Revelation is
based upon one or more of these festivals.105 Most of these interpretations
deal with the temple (if at all) only as it relates to these particular festivals.106
Two works that address the temple in more extensive fashion deserve special
mention. An article by William Riley, which has been virtually ignored in
studies on Revelation, discusses enthronement ceremonies of the ancient
Near East, arguing that temples were the throne room of the deity and the seat
of the deity's power on earth.107 He then attempts to connect these concepts
to the Old Testament enthronement celebration that he considers to have been
an aspect of certain festivals, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles.108 Riley's
study is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the temple in Revela-
tion, yet it could be strengthened by including ancient Near Eastern texts and
material remains contemporary with Revelation and by addressing related
concepts in Greco-Roman culture.
Intertestamental Jewish Literature, and the New Testament (Washington, D.C.: Catholic
Biblical Association of America, 1989), 120-23, 127.
102
Congar, 230; McKelvey, 176.
103
Moule applies this argument to the text of Revelation at a few points in his discussion,
C. F. D. Moule, "Sanctuary and Sacrifice in the Church of the New Testament," JTS ns
1 (1950): 29-41.
104
Hakan Ulfgard, Feast and Future: Revelation 7:9-17 and the Feast of Tabernacles
(Lund: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1989); J. A. Draper, "The Heavenly Feast of
Tabernacles: Revelation 7:1-17,'" JSNT19 (1983): 133-47; McKelvey, 162-64.
105
Farrer, Rebirth of images; D. T. Niles, As Seeing the Invisible: A Study of the Book of
Revelation (London: SCM Press, 1962), 106-115.
106 ulfgard, for example, addresses the temple only in limited fashion, 86-88. He does deal
with some archaeological materials, but only for their depictions of objects related to the
Feast of Tabernacles, 131-145.
107
William Riley, "Temple Imagery and the Book of Revelation: Ancient Near Eastern
Temple Ideology and Cultic Resonances in the Apocalypse," PIBA 6 (1982): 81-102.
108
Riley acknowledges that the existence of such an annual enthronement ceremony in
Israel is questioned; yet, he contends that the elements of enthronement theology would
have been nonetheless present, 86.
The Temple and the Interpretation of Revelation 31
Jon Paulien undertakes a literary analysis of the Hebrew cult and temple
in Revelation.109 Much of his analysis is structural, based both on seven
introductory scenes and on a division of the document into two halves.
Paulien finds that references to temple and cultic language tend to be
clustered around seven introductory scenes (Rev. 1:9-20; 4:1-5:14; 8:2-6;
11:19; 15:5-8; 19:1-10; 21:1-8). Assuming that the author of Revelation and
his audience shared a highly detailed knowledge of the Old Testament,
Paulien argues that these seven introductory scenes are part of an intentional
structuring of the book according to Jewish feasts and festivals. He finds
structural parallels with the royal enthronement ceremony, Day of
Atonement, Feast of Trumpets, daily sacrifices (tamid), Passover, Pentecost,
and the Feast of Tabernacles.110 He argues particularly that the first half of
Revelation is structured according to the daily sacrifices, enthronement
ceremony, and the spring festivals, while the second half is based upon the
annual sacrifices and fall festivals.111
Paulien's study suffers from the ubiquitous bias towards solely a Jewish
context for the work. He has created such a detailed and intricate framework
for the text on the basis of Jewish feasts, sacrifices, and festivals that Revela-
tion would be wholly incomprehensible to virtually any Gentile Christian
who dared try to make sense of the book. Paulien assumes that the ideal
reader of Revelation was a Jewish Christian deeply steeped in the "texts and
liturgical practices of the Hebrew cult" and this assumption leads him to the
inevitable conclusion that either early Christian liturgy was tremendously
influenced by the Hebrew cultus or Revelation targets "a rather limited num-
ber of historical readers, perhaps a specific subgroup of Jewish Christians."112
He acknowledges that any reader without this technical knowledge would
have "great difficulty" understanding this book.113 Elsewhere Paulien asserts
that since "all seven introductory scenes center around worship, the actions of
priestly figures, and/or temple/sanctuary structures, their relationship to the
Hebrew cultus is relatively explicit."114 Certainly, the Hebrew cultus is cen-
tral to the book of Revelation, but this statement ignores the fact that worship,
priestly figures, and temple/sanctuary structures were just as much a part of
109
Jon Paulien, "The Role of the Hebrew Cultus, Sanctuary, and Temple in the Plot and
Structure of the Book of Revelation," AUSS 33 (1995): 245-264.
110
Ibid., 251-260.
111
Ibid., 262.
112
Ibid., 263.
113
Ibid., 263-64.
114
Ibid., 254.
32 Revelation and the Temple: Introduction
the fabric of life of Greco-Roman culture in western Asia Minor, and would
have held particular significance for Gentile readers.
This survey of studies on the temple language in Revelation reveals the
need for an analysis involving a dialogue between the literary text and rele-
vant archaeological materials, as well as a sensitivity to the mixed cultural
matrix of Revelation. Previous examinations have not been attuned to the
sociological importance of the temple and temples for Jews and Gentiles, nor
have many addressed the types of questions and issues that arise for those
who are without a temple. A temple was a complex and multi-faceted insti-
tution and this complexity should not be downplayed in favor of concise and
simplistic interpretations. Furthermore, there is the need for a systematic
analysis that examines the meaning and function of this elusive symbol in the
book of Revelation. This book addresses these issues by developing the
thesis that a literary analysis in dialogue with an archaeological/sociological
analysis of the symbol of temple (and associated imagery) in Revelation, in
light of the meaning and function of temples in both Jewish and Greco-
Roman cultures, reveals that temple symbolism in Revelation makes impor-
tant theological assertions about access to God and Christian identity with
respect to both God and the world.
This book affirms that placing the book of Revelation within its
historical/cultural/social context relative to both the positive meanings and
functions of temples and to negative experiences with temples leads to a more
precise and substantive understanding of the meaning and function of temple
symbolism within the text of Revelation. To demonstrate this, the argument
proceeds in three stages: an analysis of temple realities in Greco-Roman and
Jewish societies, an examination of temple symbolism within select Jewish
apocalyptic documents, and an analysis of the text of Revelation.
Chapter two takes up the meaning and function of temples in western
Asia Minor and, to a lesser extent, Greece. I use the term "Greco-Roman" to
identify a widespread cultural phenomenon permeating the geographical areas
of Greece and western Asia Minor. When speaking of temples, however, I
refer to Greek and Roman temples since there was no such thing as a "Greco-
Roman temple." There were Greek temples and there were Roman temples.
The Jerusalem Temple and Greek and Roman temples were such complex
and, in the case of Greek and Roman temples, widespread phenomena that a
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