A IDENTIDADE DA MULTIDÃO NO CULTO CELESTIAL NO APOCALIPSE DE JOÃO / The identity of the multitude in the heavenly cult in the Revelation of John

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

John of Patmos, using literary and dramatic elements and the scenic and liturgical structure, created in his Book of Revelation a specific symbolic universe. The protagonists of this universes images are divine beings as well as humans that are present among them, exaltedly singing and praising God. During the process of composition, the author inspired himself by the apocalyptic and eschatological traditions of the merkavah vision traditions present in the books of Ezechiel, Daniel and 1 Henoch, and made his own reading of these traditions that complies with his own literary objectives and the needs of the readers / auditors of his writing. The celestial and human beings emphasized in the images, and the presence of merkavah traditions, indicate that Revelation is part of a certain current of the contemporary apocalyptic literature. It is noteworthy that in apocalypticism, Qumran, and the hekhalot literature, as well as in Revelation, there are evidences of an intense ecstatic experience of heavenly cult groups. The scenery of these visions is mainly liturgical, located inside a heavenly temple. The images, produced by interpretations of mystical experiences in Ezechiel, 1 Henoch, and other mystic writings, were meditated and enriched by experiences of heavenly journeys which prophetic groups experimented during their earthly cults. In the mystical experiences registered in the analyzed parts of the Revelation of John could be perceived certain characteristics of the heavenly voyagers. In the discourse about the vision of universe they see and describe, they reveal their beliefs, challenges and expectations; this means: they reveal their religious self-understanding. Beyond the identity of the heavenly cults performers, we also perceive the highly creative character and function of the ecstatic phenomena in general and specially in the Revelation of John. The writing reveals and promotes the structure of a perfect and complete divine-human world which is in permanent move. By means of its inherent symbolism, this world manifests the idea of creating, recreating and governing the entire universe. The human beings participate actively in this universe and cooperate with its reconstitutive function. This cooperation with the reconstitution of the universe is present and actual, even though the plenitude of this reconstitution is reserved for the future.

ASSUNTO(S)

bíblia n t apocalipse teologia ciencias da religião - teses e dissertações literatura apocalíptica merkavah na literatura rabinica judaica crítica e interpretação liturgia apocalíptica

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

Documentos Relacionados