Timothy B. Tse argues that, while John uses language drawn from the Hebrew Bible’s descriptions of YHWH’s dwelling place, scholarship has overlooked the importance of his spatial transformation of that language. Tse thus uses theories relating to Relevance, Resistance Theory, Critical Space Theory, and Conceptual Metaphor, to demonstrate that a significant part of John’s apocalyptic strategy of resistance is to re-present his vision to his audience spatially, so that they can experience a divinely ordained alternative to the world in which they live.
Tse first demonstrates John's attempts to relegate his audience’s experience of space to his own revelation; John’s description of the visionary world creates the metaphors “the earth is a Sanctuary” and “the Saints are its priests.” Tse argues that, under this view, life on earth must be evaluated according to the concerns of the Sanctuary, which by definition requires the removal of everything impure, and the Saints (namely all Christians in both the historic and visionary worlds) must take priestly responsibility for the earth. John therefore portrays the Saints joining in the removal of all impurity upon the earth by fighting, as priests, in God and the Lamb’s war against Satan, Babylon, and all her impurities. Tse concludes that overall, John means to realign the church’s experience of space, so that they understand themselves as priests of the Sanctuary, and live according to that reality.
By:
Dr. Timothy B. Tse Imprint: T.& T.Clark Ltd Country of Publication: United Kingdom Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN:9780567716095 ISBN 10: 0567716090 Series:The Library of New Testament Studies Pages: 184 Publication Date:12 December 2024 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Chapter One: Introducing the Problem Chapter Two: The Cosmos in John’s Apocalypse Chapter Three: The Earth is a Sanctuary Chapter Four: The Saints are its Priests Chapter Five: Conclusion and Significance Bibliography Index
Timothy B. Tse is a PhD graduate of the University of St Andrews, UK.