"The Words Of The Prophecy Of This Book": Playing With Scriptural Authority In The Book Of Revelation

Abstract

As is generally known, the book of Revelation, i.e. the Apocalypse of John, is one of those New Testament texts that have, for the longest time, been denied to belong to the biblical canon. The text of the Apocalypse itself shows an immense claim to authority. More than any other New Testament text, this book wants to be understood as Gods and Christs word respectively, which had been revealed to John, the seer of Patmos. A more precise analysis of this play with generally accepted prophetic texts like Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel and Daniel on the one hand, and on the other hand the emphasised statement that the text is Gods unalterable word, whose adherence is necessary for salvation, could allow an intriguing insight into the question of which literary techniques are applied by text of the Revelation in order to communicate its claim to be read as an authoritative Scripture. Keywords: Apocalypse of John; authoritative scripture; biblical canon; book of Revelation; Christ; New Testament; prophetic texts; salvation