Revelation And The Apocalyptic Visions Of God
In: The Mystery of God: Early Jewish Mysticism and the New TestamentSearch for other papers by Christopher Rowland in
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Abstract
The Revelation of John in itself was the catalyst in succeeding centuries for a variety of eschatologically inclined movements and readings of history. It is representative of that spirit of early Christianity which allied expectation of historical change with a visionary intuition endowing its message with authenticity. Much of the discussion of the emergence of a Jewish intermediary theology has been intertwined with the christological interests of expositors of the New Testament who have sought to explain the remarkably rapid doctrinal developments in earliest Christianity. There has been much debate about the extent to which the apocalyptic texts from Jewish and Christian antiquity include the record of actual visions. God is no longer transcendent but immediately present to those privileged to inhabit the new Jerusalem. Indeed, they will be identified with the character of God and enjoy the divine presence unmediated, without the need of heavenly ascent or vision.