Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of `Two Witnesses' in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - Hardcover

Petersen, Rodney L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195073746 ISBN 13: 9780195073744

Publisher: OUP USA, 1993

Synopsis

Among the enigmatic prophecies of the Book of Revelation is a passage (11.3-13) concerning `two witnesses' who will appear in the dark days of the church to preach or prophesy with powers like those of the prophets of ancient Israel. In this book Rodney Petersen presents an exhaustive examination of the treatment of this passage by interpreters from medieval times to the Protestant Reformation.

Petersen demonstrates that speculation on the identity and theological meaning of the two witnesss has abounded since the days of the early church. They have been linked to a time of culminating evil, the final proclamation of hope, and the end of history associated with divine judgement. Such speculation found ample expression in medieval literature, art and drama. In the writings of the reformers, however, the witnesses acquired increased social implications. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a proliferation of commentaries on the Apocalypse, in which reformist exegetes appropriated the image of the witnesses to their own movement, often identifying them with specific contemporary figures or using them to predict a future in tune with their hopes for the Protestant movement. Finally, Petersen shows, the theme of the two witnesses inspired and sustained those who carried the Puritan message into the New World, and features in the writings of such leading New England divines as Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards.

About this title

About the Author

Rodney L. Petersen is Executive Director of the Boston Theological Institute (BTI), Adjunct Professor of Church History at several BTI member schools, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Management and Human Resource Development at Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland.

From the Back Cover

Reform-minded movements have long appealed to the Apocalypse, for it served to whet the visionary appetite. Early in the church's history speculation grew up around the text - Revelation 11:3-13 - depicting two witnesses, or prophets, who preach at the end of history against the beast from the abyss, the epitome of evil, called Antichrist. Different interpretive methodologies have discovered different meanings in the text, and a symbolic value for political or ecclesial reform has been identified with it throughout the history of its use. The witnesses have been linked to a time of culminating evil, to the final proclamation of hope, and to the end of history associated with divine judgment. Such speculation found ample expression in medieval literature, art, and drama. In the writings of reformers, however, the story acquired increased social implications. The text of the Apocalypse came to lend visionary strength to Protestant piety, polity, and political activity, and the adventual witnesses became increasingly visible in Protestant polemics. Anglo-American commentators, in particular, have used the text both for self-identity and as part of a formula for plotting the onset of Christ's millennial reign. Tracing the history of how the Apocalypse was read, Preaching in the Last Days sheds light on how social groups are formed through ideas occasioned by texts. Petersen's study provides a fascinating look at the theological significance of how we read biblical texts and offers new insights on the development of culture, the Christian movement, and its churches. The book has added importance for understanding the assumptions behind the ways in which the book of Revelation is read andused in our own day.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195073746
• ISBN 13: 9780195073744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336