Establishing the chaotic background of John's Apocalypse - Part 1

Tonight I began to explore the chaotic context of John's Apocalypse. I delved into an interesting book, Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students edited by David L. Barr. Chapter 2 is an essay by Leonard L. Thompson titled "Ordinary Lives". Thompson argues that contrary to the typical approach of attributing the persecution of Christians during the reign of a particular Roman Emperor (typically Nero or Domitian) as the causal context of John's Apocalypse; the text was motivated by the day to day ordinary life for Christians in the Roman Empire. Generally, the official attitude of Rome was not to hunt down Christians. In fact, Christians could live, work, and prosper in the empire. However, if charges were brought against them, they could be executed just for being a Christian.

"Some could travel throughout the empire, taking advantage of its peace and prosperity, visiting and founding Christian congregations. Others might immediately be viewed with suspicion and killed by officials of that same empire. Thus, some could view the Roman Empire as a source of divine blessing, while others could see it as an evil power destroying the godly. Every Christian, however, would be more or less aware of the contingency of life" (p. 37).