Open AccessThe Power of Literary Art in Revelation 12:1–6
Author(s) -
Leandro Antonio de Lima
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
unio cum christo
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2473-8476
pISSN - 2380-5412
DOI - 10.35285/ucc2.2.2016.art12
Subject(s) - revelation , greatness , narrative , literature , plot (graphics) , repetition (rhetorical device) , power (physics) , philosophy , style (visual arts) , art , history , linguistics , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Revelation’s symbolisms and catastrophic descriptions greatly inuenced the Western world. Yet the book has not been much examined for its literary and narrative qualities, except by some critics who were more interested in fragmenting it into disconnected sources than understanding the richness of its literary production. A thorough analysis of its literary resources, however, reveals the greatness of its style, the sense of its purposes, and the unity of the book. There are rich intertextual relations with the Old Testament, especially with Genesis and Daniel, as well as repetition, numerology, cross-references, and a cyclic plot. When the art in the narrative (especially in 12:1–6) is considered, not only does the book become extraordinary for the readers, but its theological and moral meanings become more accessible.