The Revelation to John in Process Hermeneutic

“Undercurrents and Paradoxes: The Apocalypse to John in Process Hermeneutic.” Readings in the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. Ed. David L. Barr. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

This collection of essays reflect the interpretative strategies of a group of scholars who worked together for over a decade as members of the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar on Reading the Apocalypse: The Intersection of Literary and Social Methods. My essay presents two reading strategies drawn from process philosophy to explore John’s understanding of two radically different manifestations of power (coercion and persuasion).

From the back cover:
Reading the Book of Revelation is a wide-ranging introduction to the interpretation of the Apocalypse. Each chapter provides an overall reading of Revelation that grows out of a particular methodological approach. The primary approaches include historical, literary, and social analysis, which are then used in combination with other reading strategies, including social-conflict theory, philosophy, women’s studies, ethics, history of religions, postcolonial studies, and popular culture. Each of the essays focuses on a specific text from Revelation and shows how the method used helps interpret that text and how diverse methods produce divergent readings of a text. . . . Developed as a resource book for undergraduates, this work will also prove useful to graduate students, religious leaders, and others who wish to explore how methods shape our understandings of texts.