From Imperial Persecution to Colonial Situation: Alternatives to Persecution Theories in Revelation Studies

Abstract

For centuries the idea that John wrote the Book of Revelation to comfort Christians suffering Roman imperial persecution dominated the interpretation of the text's social setting. Due to the lack of archaeological and literary evidence, scholars have abandoned such a view and offered alternatives ranging from prophetic rivalries to Christian complacency to account for the Revelation's crisis rhetoric. However, these depoliticizing views assume that an absence of persecution amounts to a lack of systemic oppression and reflect the limitations and strengths of competing interpretation paradigms in biblical studies as well as the guild's Eurocentric ethos. Framing Revelation's rhetorical situation as a colonial situation, new approaches explore how John and his interlocutors turned idol food into a site for negotiating power, identity, and wealth.