Interpreting the New Testament Text: Introduction to the Art and Science of Exegesis by Darrell L. Bock & Buist M. Fanning

Author:Darrell L. Bock & Buist M. Fanning [Bock, Darrell L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2006-10-20T04:00:00+00:00

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Apocalyptic Genre

Visions and Symbols

W. HALL HARRIS III

Suppose an intelligent visitor from a distant planet, unfamiliar with the Bible or ancient Near Eastern culture, set out to read the Gospel of Mark or Paul’s letter to the Romans. Our otherworldly visitor would be able to understand without a great deal of difficulty the major thrust of the Gospel narrative or the main argument of the letter, though he would certainly not be able to resolve every detail. But if the same visitor were to begin reading the book of Revelation (aside from the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2–3), he would soon be reduced to asking, “What is this all about?” and “How am I to understand all these images?” These problems are not new, nor are they limited to hypothetical extraterrestrial visitors. The same questions have been asked for centuries by ordinary readers, would-be interpreters, and even biblical scholars. Apocalyptic material is perhaps the most difficult genre of literature in the NT to handle from an exegetical perspective. This is true for several reasons (explained further below), but first we must define what we mean by “apocalyptic” since not everyone agrees on a definition. The boundaries between apocalyptic, eschatological, and prophetic literature are also somewhat fuzzy, creating further problems for definition and for exegetical study.

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