Silence and Praise: Rhetorical Cosmology and Political Theology in the Book of Revelation

Cosmology is a central focus in Johns Apocalypse, Ryan Leif Hansen argues, but not in the sense that John envisions a stable cosmos. Rather, John employs cosmological themes for persuasive purposes that include a critique of Roman imperial cultic discourse. Hansens argument requires a discussion of the apocalyptic genre and rhetoric, the ways in which apocalyptic literature makes meaning especially through the construction of symbolic worlds, and then a comparison of this means with cosmolo...