CBQ <\/em> , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that \u201cthe author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and salvation in political-social categories and that he underlines the significance of the eschatological reservation for the sake of preventing salvation from becoming an illusion.\u201d <\/p>\n The two passages share a number of themes. Both are triadically structured, both refer to the work of Christ (His \u201clove\u201d and His being \u201cslain\u201d respectively), both combine priest and king. 5:10 includes the key difference, the phrased \u201cthey shall reign on earth,\u201d which Fiorenza insists is future. <\/p>\n
She notes that 1:5-6 gives us a complex statement in praise of Christ, in what she describes as a \u201chymnic-hieratic style.\u201d Three titles are followed by three predications (using participles) about the work of Jesus, and the whole concludes with a doxology. She thinks that predications about Christ had their origin in a baptismal tradition. She argues that the verb in the second predicate is \u201cloose\u201d rather than \u201cwash,\u201d and notes other NT passages that link loosing or redemption with blood (Romans 3:24-26; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12). THus, redemption is conceived of as \u201cliberation from the evil actions and deeds of their past\u201d through the blood of Jesus, a liberation communicated at baptism. <\/p>\n
Jesus has also \u201cmade kingship and priests\u201d of those who are liberated. Fiorenza finds parallels in the LXX of 1 Samuel 12:6, 1 Kings 12:31 and 13:33-34, as well as close analogies in Mark 3:14ff and Acts 2:36. These all refer to \u201cinvesting or installing someone\u201d and granding them \u201ca new dignity.\u201d The addition to 5:10, however, indicates that the author was worried that the baptismal liberation would be taken too far, and he tries to rein in eschatological fervor by stressing the eschatological reserve \u2013 the fact that those liberated by Jesus, made kingdom and priests, will <\/em> reign in the future, not now. <\/p>\n The hymn in Revelation 5 also uses political and economic imagery to describe the work of Jesus. The Lamb is God\u2019s \u201cpurchasing-agent\u201d who \u201chas traveled the whole world to purchase men for God.\u201d Those purchased are pictured as slaves in a slave-market, or as POWs who are purchased by the blood of the Lamb. The Exodus is in the background, with Christians liberated from bondage as Israel was. <\/p>\n
Fiorenza suggests that the message is partly one of resistance and antagonism toward the Roman empire: \u201cThe Christian community as the kingdom of God is understood in political terms as the alternative to the Roman empire.\u201d But this antagonism demands an eschatological understanding of redemption and liberation, and of the kingship that the saints exercise: \u201cAs long as the beast and Babylon have the power on earth, it is an illusion and enthusiastic misunderstanding of the baptismal formula . . . to understand it in the sense that those who have been set free from their sins are already exercising their kingship.\u201d <\/p>\n
Several critical comments: First, the idea that these passage pick up on baptismal formulae and theology is attractive. Unproven, certainly, but also certainly plausible. It wasn\u2019t long before the baptismal rite included hints that Christians were being invested as priests. Second, the translation of 5:10 as \u201cthey will reign\u201d is questionable, and I think wrong. The saints are a kingdom, and they already reign. Third, the notion that the reign of the saints is \u201cillusory\u201d as long as the beast holds power assumes a bestial notion of power. Perhaps the saints reign as Jesus did, in suffering, as a slain Lamb. That power is \u201cillusory\u201d only if we think that bestial power is the only sort of power. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that \u201cthe author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and salvation in political-social categories and that he underlines the significance of the eschatological reservation for the sake of preventing salvation from becoming an illusion.\u201d The two passages share a number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-revelation"],"yoast_head":"\n
Political Redemption<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political Redemption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leithart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-02T10:40:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-06T16:41:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PLeithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/\",\"name\":\"Political Redemption\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-02T10:40:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-06T16:41:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\"},\"description\":\"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Political Redemption\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\",\"name\":\"Leithart\",\"description\":\"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\",\"name\":\"Peter Leithart\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Peter Leithart\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Political Redemption","description":"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Political Redemption","og_description":"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/","og_site_name":"Leithart","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","article_published_time":"2011-03-02T10:40:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-09-06T16:41:45+00:00","author":"Peter Leithart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PLeithart","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Leithart","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/","name":"Political Redemption","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-03-02T10:40:35+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-06T16:41:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d"},"description":"In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2011\/03\/political-redemption\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Political Redemption"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/","name":"Leithart","description":"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d","name":"Peter Leithart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Peter Leithart"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}