A socio-literary model for the socio-political interpretation of the seven prophetic messages in the Apocalypse of St. John : an exercise in theology done from the periphery
This study is done from the periphery and designs a socio-literary model for the socio-political interpretation of the seven prophetic messages in the Apocalypse of St. John. The main function of the model is to highlight the author of Revelation's socio-political position in relation to the groups in society and the church, as well as John's socio-political aims. The secondary functions are to accentuate the groups involved within Revelation's context, their social characteristics, as well as their socio-political position in relation to one another and John's position towards them. The model attempts to show how John involves religion in the political arena as a means to influence his readers' construction of social reality. It further aims to contribute in our search into the socio-historical context and social function of Revelation. The design of the model is an endeavor to participate in the methodological debate regarding future research on Revelation. The model designed is the product of a synthesis of various socio-literary models. This study's contribution to the synthesis model is four fold. Firstly, the synthesis model is made applicable to the Apocalypse of John. Secondly, it adds to the synthesis model a primary rhetorical dimension and argues that Revelation is a piece of primary rhetoric. In primary rhetoric the rhetoric determines the literary techniques and constructions employed by the author of a text. On the basis of the work done by Collins (1979:104), this model attempts to specify the literary function of Revelation in more detail than was done before. Thirdly, this model builds on the work of Carney (1975:xvii,309)) and Elliott (1986:18f), and emphasizes the advantages of using the broadest possible socio-historical background. Fourthly, it strives to provide a scientific paradigm for studying the text from the perspective of the oppressed.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations