Hearing at the Boundaries of Vision Education Informing Cosmology in Revelation 9

by Ryan, Sean Michael

• ISBN13: 9780567222169
• ISBN10: 0567222160
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-01-02
• Publisher: Bloomsbury T&T Clark

Summary

This study considers how a significant variable, namely level of literary education (enkuklios paideia), might affect an ancient hearer's interpretation of Revelation 9. This volume focuses on how two hypothetical ancient hearer-constructs, with very different "mental libraries", may interpret the rich cosmological imagery of Revelation 9.

The first, ancient hearer-construct (HC1), the recipient of a minimal literary education, retains a Homeric cosmological model. The second ancient hearer-construct (HC2), by contrast, utilises a tertiary-level knowledge of Aratus and Plato to allegorically reinterpret the cosmological imagery of Rev 9 (cf. 'Hippolytus', Refutatio IV.46-50). The volume concludes by critically comparing the hypothetical responses of HC1 and HC2 with the early reception of Revelation 9 by Victorinus, Tyconius and Oecumenius (3rd-6th century CE), attentive to the educational attainment of each commentator.

Author Biography

Dr Sean Michael Ryan is a Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Heythrop College, University of London, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Greek Encyclical Education
3. Graeco-Roman Cosmologies
4. Hearer-Construct One (HC1): Interpretation of the Cosmology of Rev 9:1-19
5. Hearer-Construct Two (HC2): Interpretation of the Cosmology of Rev 9:1-12
6. Victorinus, Tyconius and Oecumenius\: Interpretation of the Cosmology of Rev 9
7. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of References
General Index