Re: Revelations relocated?

erespess@inil.com
Fri, 09 Jul 1999 20:09:08 -0400 

>That's pretty interesting.  Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is probably
>a good place to start before we approach any text, especially highly
>symbolic texts.  The thing about texts that employ high degrees of
>symbolism is that when we approach them they're more like ink blot tests
>than any other form of literature -- we tend to see our own patterns in
>them.  This is very easy with the book of Revelation and other
>apocalyptic literature.

This makes sense to me.  People can easily find what they are looking in
symbolic texts

>So we have to start with ourselves and our own presuppositions.  If we
>come into the text with antisupernatural presuppositions, we're going to
>read it one way.  If we come into the text willing to at least concede
>the possibility that John was experiencing some kind of vision from God,
>then we may approach the book another way.

Personally, I beleive that it is absoluetly possible, even probable for
John to have such a vision, but I like to look at it from both
perspectives, I suppose.

>Point is, we look to the text first, in my opinion.  How is the text
>directing us to read it?  There are references to heavenly signs in
>apocalyptic literature, what do they mean?  Do they seem to be pointing
>to specific time frames within the text?  Or do they mean something else?
> Christ cut his disciples off whenever they asked for a time frame --
>None of your business, boys, was essentially his answer.  See Acts 1.  So
>should we look for that?

After looking back over Rev 4 just now, it DID seem to me to be quite
possibly references to the zodiac.  And in Biblical times, i'm not aware of
the zodiac having the connotation it does now.  I'm not quite in the frame
of mind at the moment to try to explain what I mean though.  I've got a bit
of a headache and need to take a nap.  I will go into it more later. though.

>So what I'd ask this guy is, do you think the model author is directing
>us to read the text this way?  Or are we just seeing our own patterns
>here?

It's a good question, but since I have never been into astrology or
astronomy, and have never heard of these theories before now, I don't think
it made sense to me because I was predisposed to beleive it.  You never
know though.  I'll read through it again, and see what I can come up with.

Elizabeth