Judged in this way, the Apocalypse of John shines in a light which no student of early Chris- tian literature can call other than brilliant. Whatever ditticulties were felt by the early Fathers in giving it a place in the Canon, there is no book of the NT wliose claim, once admitted, has been less a matter of subsequent doubt. Until less than a century ago, the Apocalypse was supposed to contain a forecast* of the entire career of the Church in time, but the modification of this view through the clear perception that both pro- phets and apocalyptists wrote for their own time, attaching to its needs and prospects a certain finality, has not altered the belief of Christians in the permanent spiritual value of this unique book.
II. The Apocalypse of John.— ±. Scheme of the book. — It is not possible to supply in this article anything like a Commentary or even an adequate Introduction to the Apocalypse. Yet it may be useful to precede a discussion of some of its salient features with the following scheme of its contents, which is an abbi-eviated version of that given by F. C. Porter in his invaluable manual (op. cit. 179 f.).
Superscription, 11-3.
A. The messaifes of Christ to His (Dhurches represented by the Seven Churches of Asia, l*-322.
(a) Introduction, including salutation, theme, attestation,
14-8. (6) The Seer's Call, 19-20. (c) The Seven Messages, chs. 2 and 3.
B. Visions of Judifment, composing the body of the book (chs. 4-20) intersected at chs. 7, 11, 14, and 19, with visions of the victory and bliss of the faithful.
(a) Visions of God and Clirist respectively performing and revealing, chs. 4 and 5.
(6) First stajres of the Judgment, including the opening of six seals, t the salvation of the faithful, and the destruc- tion of one-third of mankind at the sounding of six trumpets, chs. 6-9.
(c) Last stages of the Judgment, issuing in the final overthrow of Satan and Rome, especially the imperial cultus (the 'Beast'), and in the General Resurrection and Judgment. The .Seer receives a new commission. He describes the conflict between the worshipiiers of the Beast and the followers of the Lamb, and his vision of the wrath of God in seven bowls, chs. 10-20. Note that a lar<re portion of this section consists of assurances to the faithful and of songs of triumph, and much the greater part of the judgment portion (chs. 12, 17, 18, and 19) describes the fall of Rome.
0. The Blessed Consummation, including the coming of God
stronghold of secrets that should be inaccessible to men. On the representation of this idea in the Genesis narratives of creation and the relation of the latter to the Babylonian myth of Marduk and Tiamat, see Gunkel, Schopfunff u. Cliaox, 189.5.
• In an obvious sense, of course, the book did contain such a forecast. As with every prophet, the end is within the vision of the writer. In his case it is to come 'shortly' — i.e. most likely within his own generation.
t There are pauses after the 6th seal and the 6th trumpet. The 7th seal contains, as it were, the 7 trumpets, and the 7th trumpet contains the 7 bowls.
to dwell with men and the descent of the Heavenly Jerusalem, chs. 21 and 22. Note that both the Epilogue and the Prologue of the book solemnly emphasize the claim to be considered 'pro- phecy ■ (22i8f. ; cf. 13).
2. Examples of the problems. — A few specimens may be given of the many fascinating problems which emerge for the student regarding: (1) the literary structure of the Apocalypse ; (2) the sig- nificance of some of its vhotq prominent details.
(1) In spite of its being, more than almost any other book of the NT (see below), saturated with reminiscences of books of the OT (esp. Dan., Ezek., Is., Jer., Joel, and generally all tlie portions of the OT which describe visions of God or offer pictures of bliss or woe), the book leaves the reader with a strong impression of its spiritual unitj'. The writer is a Christian and a prophet. His central positive theme is Christ Crucified, Risen, and Ascended (P"- 5®* ^-^•)- The warrant, substance, and spirit of his prophecy are 'the testimony of Jesus,' a phrase in which the of seems to incluae both a subjecti\^B and an objective meaning* (19^"; cf. l^^-)- The world to come is imminent, and its inheritors are the worshippers of God and the Lamb (1«- 7»^- etc.).
It is evident, however, as a few examples will be sufficient to show, that this general unity goes along with great looseness in the assimilation of borrowed material.
Examples : (o) Ch. 11 is made up of portions of two apoca- lypses, one of which (represented by w.l- ") belongs to the time of the siege of Jerusalem (c. a.d. 70), and the other embodies a portion of the Antichrist legend, which related how Antichrist would slay Enoch and Elijah, returned from heaven, who would, however, be raised up by God or His angels Gabriel and Michael (see Bousset's Antichrist ; and Tert. de Anima). In the Apocalypse, Enoch becomes Moses, and what was previously described (v.2) as the ' holy city ' becomes ' spiritu- ally Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified ' (v.S). T))e general purpose — to teach that the worshippers of the true God are safe (vv.i-2), and that the powers of wicked men will not prevail against the testimony of law and prophecy to the true God (vv.3-12) — is evident. But it is equally evident that the author is hampered in the expression of this message by a superabundance of borrowed and not quite congruous material. Though the time of the testimony of the two witnesses in v.3 corresponds with that during which the holy city is to be trodden under foot bj' the Gentiles (cf. vv.2.3), the situation of the city at v.l3 does not correspond with that indicated at V.2 any more than the holy city of the latter verse corresponds with ' Sodom and Eg^^jt ' of v.**