To my knowledge, premils think Revelation has a linear plot while many modern-day amils think Revelation has a cyclical plot, although 19-22 break the cycle with a definitive denouement.
Linear and cyclical are both spatial metaphors. Ways to structure time figuratively.
Here's an alternative to a linear or cyclical plot alike: suppose Revelation is like a maze. In terms of John's experience, it's like an extended dream in which the scenes keep shifting. An immersive experience in which he's an observer in the visionary world. Dreams can be like a maze, where the dreamer is seeking a destination or looking for a way out. A maze has an entrance and an exit. And it's possible to make progress from one end to the other. But there's a certain amount of backtracking. Entry points with no outlet.
Real life has blind alleys, wrong turns, and dead-ends. You see the same thing coming and going. Backing out. Turning around.
Suppose John's experience is like working his way through a maze. Take the binding of Satan. He's unbound, then he's bound, then he's unbound. In the vision, John is traveling in one direction. He sees Satan bound and unbound because John is moving forwards and backwards. The vision hits a wall, and he has to turn around and look for another way out. That leads to repeated sightings. In a maze, Satan may be both bound and unbound. It's not a matter of when but where. In a maze, retracing your steps or walking in circles is analogous to moving backward in time or temporal loops.
That's an interesting way of looking at it, but how does the reader benefit from such a presentation?
ReplyDeleteOh dear! There you go spoiling my lovely analysis with a practical question. What does Christian theology have to do with practicality?
DeleteSeriously, the Christian pilgrimage isn't a straight line, a clear view, an unobstructed highway from the starting-point to the destination. To the contrary, the Christian pilgrimage is characterized by setbacks, little victories followed by little defeats, unexpected turns of events for better or worse. The Christian pilgrimage is likely wandering in a maze. Many times we may feel that we are lost, even hopelessly lost. We can't see our way out. But that doesn't mean we will die in the maze. That we will never reach the destination. It just means we should brace ourselves for disappointments. We can never coast to heaven.
See? Now your analysis is pretty and practical :)
DeleteI've always thought that it was linear. Satan is being what us lawyers call a recitivist. He gets jailed during the millennium kingdom. Then gets out of jail and goes to doing what he always does.
ReplyDeleteMaybe. However, the plot of Revelation in general circles back on itself on multiple occasions.
DeleteI view it more to prove a point to disbelivers. For 1000 years, they cannot possibly blame the devil for 'making them sin'. (Let alone 1000 years of denying that God exists when He is literally physically in Jerusalem)
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