Date

Author

Татьяна Цветкова

Source

Gorky

Preserved copy

Internet Archive

Translated material

How to read the apocalypse

Interview with Biblician Veronika Androsova

The apocalypse is mentioned in mass culture much more often than other biblical books, but its content is by no means reduced to the set of grotesque eschatological images and number 666. What is actually narrated in the book of revelations, who, when and why it is not read during Orthodox worship? Tatyana Tsvetkova discussed these and other issues with Veronika Androsova, a biblicalist and candidate of theology.

- How is the Apocalypse different from other Bible books?

- First of all, it is necessary to recall that the Christian Bible is not something monolithic, it consists of two parts - the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament is the Scriptures of the Jews before the Nativity of Christ, and the new one, which in volume is much smaller than the dilapidated, tells about Jesus as the "Christ" - the expected Jews of the Messiah. The New Testament consists of four gospels, the books of the acts of the apostles, the messages of the apostles and the apocalypse.

The Apocalypse is strikingly from the books of the New Testament. The gospels tell about the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the apostles, the apostolic messages contain practical recommendations and discussions about Christian life. The apocalypse is written by the language of images and symbols, it is dominated by colorful pictures of a fantastic plan.

But if readers are familiar with the Old Testament books, especially with the books of the prophets of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, then they, opening the apocalypse, are not surprised. This book is completely rooted in the Old Testament imagery. In addition, in Jewish literature there was a whole apocalyptic genre, the heyday of which began from the II century before the birth of Christ. A powerful incentive was the persecution of the Jewish faith under the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphan ( 175 - 164 BC ). It was difficult for the Jews to understand how God allows severe suffering for faith, why the righteous are suffered by torment, and sinners are prosperity. The works of the apocalyptic genre assured that God at the end of time will reward everyone according to merit and the right on earth will be restored in the new world renewed and blessed by God.

Apocalyptic works showed figurative paintings of the future, paintings of heavenly spheres. Such revelations were honored by the people of God, his chosen ones. These revelations, as a rule, were given in the form of symbolic visions using a fantastic imagery associated with angels, animals and numbers. The secretaries often did not understand the meaning of visions, and the angel sent by God interpreted their meaning.

- You can tell in a few words what the apocalypse tells about, what is its plot and the main message?

-First of all, this is a text-figure that was supposed to be read at the liturgical meeting of seven Christian communities of that time (I in R. Kh.). Seven communities were in the cities of Asia Minor - these are Ephesus, Smirna, Pergamum, Fiatir, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicia.

The author, calling himself John, is in exile on the island of Patmos for the "testimony of Jesus", that is, a preaching of Christianity. And on the "Day of the Lord" - probably on Sunday - John sees Jesus Christ in the radiance of heavenly glory. Christ commands John to record heavenly visions that will be revealed to Him, and to convey to church communities exhortation and instruction.

The first heavenly vision of John is the throne/throne of God and the heavenly forces surrounding it; John sees the lord of the whole world. This vision is a key, it seems to answer a question that Christians asked in a difficult persecution in a difficult time: “Did God retire from us? Does he own the world in which this happens? ” The apocalypse on the first pages replies: "Yes, God is the Lord - the Creator, he reigns in heaven, and the time is coming when his kingdom and his truth will be fully approved on earth."

John sees a book sitting on the throne in the hand of a scroll seated on the throne sealed with seven seals. No one can remove the seals except Jesus Christ who appears in the image of a closed lamb/lamb. A deep meaning is laid here: a sealed book symbolizes the saving plan of God about world history, and Jesus Christ accepts and realizes this plan. The image of the scroll transmitted by God also expresses dominion: John sees how the lamb removes the seal from him one after another, that is, Jesus gradually begins to direct and lead the world story, which seems to be unfolding in the visions of John. The apocalypse is unique in that in it in a symbolic form the spiritual meanings of world history are shown - up to the appearance of Heavenly Jerusalem at the end of time, the establishment of the kingdom of God in the entire universe.

The narrative of the Apocalypse moves like a cone-shaped spiral-the impression is periodically formed, then God will appear in the world and the deliverance will come, but the story goes on a new round. When the seventh seal is removed, and it seems that salvation is close, pipes that inform the courts over people who are stubborn in evil. But the pipes are also not the end, followed by a cycle of seven cups of the wrath of God - the last eschatological disasters.

The central chapters of the Apocalypse (Rev. 12-14) are of great significance, this is a kind of semantic core of the book. They contain vivid visions of the confrontation of the forces of good and the forces of evil: the dragon-Satan and his allies, the “first beast” and “second beast” -lga, are fighting the church depicted as the mother of the faithful and the bride of the lamb. The second beast-ladder forces people for religious worship of the first beast-the earthly ruler-and to worship the Diavol dragon, who gave the beast of power. Some people faithful to God were killed by the beast, but John sees that in heaven in God these martyrs are revealed as true winners. It was through self -sacrifice that Jesus Christ, a stabbed Lamb, won an eternal victory over evil. The symbolism of the numbers of the Apocalypse makes it clear that the dragon and animals are released a limited time - no matter how hard they try, they will not be able to subjugate humanity.

The 19th chapter depicts how Christ who came in glory defeats the beast with his Word, the 20th chapter speaks of the ties of the dragon. It is said that in a thousand years the dragon again goes free to seduce people on earth. But the fire from the sky falls off the dragon, and then the resurrection of the dead and the last trial of all people are being committed.

Now the scroll of history is completely deployed, and the highest point of the spiral is achieved - this is the vision of the “great city” of Heavenly Jerusalem, the kingdom of God. This city seems to connect the heaven and earth, it collects in itself not only the eternal splendor and glory of God, but also the good fruits of human history: “Earthly kings will bring fame and honor to it” (Rev. 21:24). Heavenly Jerusalem is portrayed as a new paradise.

So, the description of disasters is by no means the main thing in the apocalypse - against the backdrop of amazing visions by the leitmotif, the heavenly call sounds: "Do not be afraid." This, if you like, can be called the Message of the Apocalypse. Those first addressees who were in a situation of uncertainty and persecution saw in the eschatological paintings of John a reason not for fear, but for greater hope for God. The visions of the Apocalypse show that even an unprecedented concentration of evil still cannot defeat good and good will win a complete victory.

- What do you need to know about the apocalypse, starting reading?

- First of all, acquaintance with other biblical texts, that is, with the literary context, from which the apocalypse grows. The surprise and embarrassment of readers of the Apocalypse often stems from ignorance of the rich history of this text, growing from a great tradition - this is the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and the “Inter -Western” Jewish apocalypsis.

Three main approaches to understanding the meaning of the apocalypse can be distinguished in relation to the temporary plan:

1) in the framework of the “eschatological” approach, the plots presented in the Apocalypse are interpreted as a prophetic foreshadowing of events completing human history;

2) the “historical” approach helps to reveal that the apocalypse is a message to specific historical addresses - Christians of Malaya Asia of the end of the 1st century. According to R. Kh. The author of the apocalypse John gives a pastoral response to the pressing problems of church communities, addresses them with approval and warnings (this is especially clearly visible in Rev. 2-3);

3) The “spiritual-symbolic” approach emphasizes that the Apocalypse is the theological composition written in a symbolic language. In this approach, an attempt is made to understand the ideas that the author wanted to convey to readers through symbolic images. The purpose of this approach is to formulate the theological and spiritual and moral ideas of the book that are relevant for readers of all time .

Many images of the apocalypse can be interpreted using all three approaches. Let us take for example the image of the beast from the 13th chapter: “And I became in the sea of sea, and saw the outgoing beast with seven heads and ten horns: there were ten diadies on its horns, and on his heads the blasphemy names” (Rev. 13: 1).

According to the eschatological interpretation of the beast, you can compare with the "antichrist", the Bogobor ruler of the last times, or with its totalitarian state. The historical interpretation is looking for possible specific manifestations of the “beast”, which were visual for the first readers of the Apocalypse. In this regard, one can especially distinguish the Roman emperors, who in the 1st century. According to R. Kh. They began to read as gods, and in particular it is worth noting the cruel emperor Nero, who organized the first persecution of Christians. According to the spiritual and symbolic approach, the features of the “beast” can be recognized in any powerful totalitarian ruler who uses his power to commit iniquity and seeking to take the place of Jesus Christ and God in the souls of people.

- What do we know about the book of Revelation? When was she written, who is her author?

- These simple and understandable questions do not have the same simple and unambiguous answers. It is known for certain that the text of the revelations was already known in the II century by R. Kh. The authoritative fathers of the early Church refer to the book: St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, Tertullian, St. Justine Philosopher, Holy Ippolit of Roman.

The traditional point of view regarding authorship is based on the testimony of the same Church fathers who considered the apocalypse by the creation of the Apostle John Zevedeev/John the Theologian, one of the twelve nearest disciples of Christ. John the Theologian is also considered the author of the fourth gospel. Therefore, the full name of the book is "Revelation of John the Theologian . " As for the date of writing the book: the traditional point of view dates back to the commentary of the same Iriney Lyons: “The Apocalypse was seen at the end of the reign of Emperor Domitian,” and the end of his reign was the 95th year of the 1st century according to R. Kh.

But biblical science, having begun to develop in the XVIII century, did not want to be satisfied with the traditional point of view - it was asked whether the “external” certificates of authorship and dating internal evidence of the text itself were confirmed. The first consideration point was the author’s self -function. On the one hand, the author calls himself John, but never says that he is an apostle - he calls himself a prophet, a brother of Christians, and mentions the apostles as a separate group. On the other hand, he acts as an authoritative person - expects that his texts will be read at the liturgical meetings of Christians in the seven church communities of Asia Minor. The text feels the confidence that the author’s words will be perceived very seriously, not as a preaching of a certain brother by faith, but as a revelation from Jesus Christ himself (“these words are true and true,” open 22: 6). It can be assumed that this is still an apostle John, who simply did not want to excessively emphasize his apostle.

The second point of consideration is the usage and the style of the Greek texts of the Apocalypse and the fourth Gospel, the author of which is traditionally considered the apostle John the Theologian/John Zevedeev. On the one hand, biblicalists reveal both lexical and grammatical differences between two texts, as well as differences in style. The gospel from John is distinguished by a special syntax: there are many repetitions in it, the proposals are strung on each other, the impression of a smooth deployment of thought is achieved. In the apocalypse, the tongue is more dynamic and concise. Even the holy Dionysius of Alexandria in the 3rd century according to R. Kh. Drawing attention to the differences in the style: it is difficult to imagine that the two so different texts go back to the same person. On the other hand, many biblicalists object that these formal differences should not be overestimated and that there are very bright semantic similarities between the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse. For example, the struggle of light and darkness, good and evil, the name of Jesus “Lamb/lamb” and “winner”.

Let us dwell on one difference: the original Greek text of the apocalypse is not consistent with the norms of the Greek language, in particular, the improper use of cases is found. And in the Gospel of John there are no such “grammatical errors”. There are interesting opinions about the origin of John's “mistakes”: I will refer to the opinions of one of the largest modern researchers of the Apocalypse, the American biblicalist Gregory Bila, some of which are translated into Russian, including the book “Old Testament on the pages of the new”. Bil suggests that these roughnesses of the language do not come from the fact that the author did not own Greek to a sufficient extent, but are the result of a well -thought -out author's strategy. The inconsistency of the literary norm appears in those places of the Apocalypse, where the author gives important allusions to the Old Testament books. It's like a marker, a signal: "Stop, pay attention, something important here."

For example, already at the beginning, in 4-6 verses of the 1st chapter, there is a brightest example of such an author’s “roughness” designed to attract our attention. "John - seven churches in Asia: grace to you and the world from the one that was and was coming." In fact, the name of the Lord here is not used in the genitive case, as it should be, but in the nominative: "Grace and the world from the existing one and the future." A violation of grammar standards emphasizes the sacred oversized status of the name of God.

- The number 666 and the word "Antichrist" fell into a mass culture from the apocalypse?

- The word “Antichrist” is never used in the text of the book of Revelation, it is found in the first and second Epistles of John and denotes a person of lawlessness and, more specifically, the ruler, who at the end of time will demand worship as God. In the apocalypse, the “beast” corresponds to this. “Anti-Christ” in a different Greek means “[the one] instead of Christ” or “against Christ”.

The number 666 is really taken from the Apocalypse, from the 18th verse of the 13th chapter: “Who has the mind is to count the number of the beast, for this number is human; Its number is six hundred sixty six. ” In this number there is no special mysticism. To begin with, in ancient languages - Jewish, Greek, Latin and Church Slavonic - there are no separate designations of numbers, the numbers are indicated by the usual letters (a - 1, B - 2, etc.). Accordingly, if the letters of the alphabet simultaneously served as numbers, then for each word it was possible to calculate its numerical meaning. Most likely, 666 is a numerical meaning of a certain name. However, significant difficulties lie here. It is easy to calculate the numerical meaning of the name, but it is difficult to “derive” the name from the numerical meaning, because different names are suitable for the same number. Many church authors believe that the name of the beast “encrypted” by John will not be able to unravel the end of earthly history and the “beast”-antihrist itself does not appear. And if you interpret this number based on the historical approach, we can assume that we are talking about some Roman emperor. Many scientists drew attention to the fact that if the Greek words “Caesar Nero” write down in Jewish letters, then the amount will be 666.

In turn, the spiritual and symbolic interpretation interprets the number 666 based on the symbols of the number 7. According to the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, on the seventh day God completed the creation and blessed it-that is, the number seven is a symbol of fullness and completeness. Then six denotes the “incomplete” state of the created world, in which a person seeks to exist autonomously from God - it is like an imperfection that is trying to claim perfection.

In addition, 666 in the Apocalypse can be compared with the “Angel measure” mentioned in Rev. 2:16 - 144. This is again a symbolic number (12 × 12), denoting the fullness of the people of God. You can summarize: the number of the beast indicates that a person seems to be at a “low -hearted” level of the beast, and in heavenly Jerusalem a person will be exalted by God to the spiritual state of angels.

- Why don't the Apocalypse read in the church during the worship?

- It must be explained that we are talking about the Orthodox Church. Let's make a small historical excursion. In the I-II centuries, according to R. Kh. The Apocalypse was perceived very positively in the entire Christian world-numerous church writers, starting with Asia Minor and ending with Latin Africa, mentioned it one way or another. На латинском Западе этот интерес остался навсегда, сомнений по поводу канонического статуса книги не возникало. В западном христианском искусстве и богословской мысли Апокалипсис всегда был значим, в западных христианских конфессиях отдельные фрагменты Апокалипсиса читаются за богослужением.

А на христианском Востоке в III веке были высказаны сомнения в апостольском авторстве книги, и эта дискуссия бросила тень на ее авторитетность. Получилось так, что формирование круга богослужебных чтений в Византийской империи пришлось на тот период, когда Апокалипсис оказался на периферии церковного сознания (IV в. по Р. Х. ).

Поскольку книга не вошла в круг чтения, то и церковных проповедей для широкой публики не произносилось. Объем нашего православного наследия, касающегося Откровения Иоанна Богослова, весьма мал по сравнению с западной христианской традицией. Однако не стоит считать, что Апокалипсис в православных церквях остался без внимания — можно упомянуть многочисленные греческие толкования на Апокалипсис (с I тысячелетия по Р. Х.), правило о прочтении книги целиком в Коптской церкви в Великую Пятницу, правило о чтении Апокалипсиса на Всенощном бдении в нашей русской православной церкви.

— Был ли в мировой истории момент, когда казалось, что все, что написано в Апокалипсисе, сбывается?

— Многократно, причем в каждом столетии — люди ощущали созвучность видений книги Откровения, когда становились свидетелями природных катастроф, войн, гонений, падения нравов, а Средневековье вообще мыслило себя в апокалиптических категориях.

В интересе к Апокалипсису немалую роль играет проживание схожего опыта — угрозы преследований со стороны государства и атмосферы тягостной неопределенности. Но в тексте Откровения невозможно найти точных указаний на какие-то конкретные исторические события. Например, четыре всадника, появляющиеся после снятия печатей со свитка, — очень обобщенные образы. Саранчу, одно из бедствий семи труб, при наличии фантазии можно соотнести с очень многими реалиями. Можно даже услышать, что Иоанн имел в виду ядерное оружие. Но не нужно быть легковерными — научный богословский подход как раз учит взвешенности и сдержанному отношению ко всяческим заявлениям о «разгадке тайны конца света».

Важно учитывать, что Иоанн в первую очередь обращал свой текст к своим современникам и что бедствия и трудности происходят на протяжении всей истории человечества, а не только перед концом времен. Христианский автор VI века Цезарий Арльский говорил: «То, что сейчас происходит, еще в большей мере произойдет в день суда». Апокалипсис затрагивает множество тем, которые актуальны отнюдь не только для эсхатологического финала земной истории. Чтение Апокалипсиса помогает осмыслять трудности и находить точку опоры в Боге, в доверии к Его замыслу.

— Когда вы занимались изучением этой книги, случалось ли с вами что-то необычное?

— Не было «необычного» в смысле чего-то мистического, но нередко возникало стойкое ощущение, что меня направляют. Я в первый раз прочитала текст Апокалипсиса в 14 лет, и он произвел на меня сильное впечатление. Мне тогда особенно запало в душу послание Сардийской Церкви (Откр 3:1-6). А когда через восемь лет я согласовала с научным руководителем тему для кандидатской диссертации — «небесные книги в Апокалипсисе», — то обнаружила, что небесная книга жизни упоминается именно в этом послании. Такое вот «случайное» совпадение.

Как специалист по Библии, я могу оценить поразительную глубину текста Апокалипсиса, его в высшей степени продуманную и красивую композицию, удивительное сочетание огромного количества аллюзий на ветхозаветные тексты. Его литературное «сооружение» можно сравнить с творениями архитектора Гауди — нестандартное, с многообразием элементов, эдаким «буйством», из которого складываются стройность и гармония. За счет разноплановой структуры повествование поворачивается к читателям разными гранями, и создается уникальный смысловой объем. Задаешься вопросом: как могло родиться такое потрясающее произведение? Безусловно, автор был в высшей степени открыт к действию Духа Божия, и его духовное горение соединилось с литературной гениальностью.