Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse

267 Pages·2015·14.08 MB·English

by  J. Nelson Kraybill

l i b r a r y o f n e w t e s t a m e n t s t u d i e s
ImperIAL CuLT
ANd CommerCe IN
JohN’S ApoCALypSe

J. NelsoN Kraybill
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
132
Executive Editor
Stanley E. Porter
Editorial Board
Richard Bauckham, David Catchpole, R. Alan Culpepper,
Margaret Davies, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl,
Robert Fowler, Robert Jewett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon
Sheffield Academic Press

Imperial Cult and Commerce
in John's Apocalypse
J. Nelson Kraybill
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series 132
Copyright © 1996 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield SI 19AS
England
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
EISBN 9781850756163
4... all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far
off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great
city?*' And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,
"Alas, alas, the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth!'"
(Rev. 18.17-19)
Frontispiece: An ancient mosaic from Ostia, port of imperial Rome. It
depicts a merchant ship with a corn measure (modius) on each side, indi-
cating grain was the normal cargo. The inscription reads, NAVICUL[arri]
ET NEGOTIANTES KARALITANI ('Shipowners and Merchants from
Cagliari [Sardinia]').
Copyright Archivi Alinari, Via Alibert 16, Rome

CONTENTS
Preface 9
List of Figures 11
Abbreviations 12
INTRODUCTION 15
1. Christians Lured by the Beast 15
2. On the Shoulders of Giants 18
3. Recent Sociological Interpretation 20
4. Socio-Economic Analysis 22
Chapter 1
A DWELLING PLACE OF DEMONS 24
1. Economic Aspect of John's Vision 25
2. A Comfortable Church with a Few in Trouble 30
3. Syncretism in Revelation and the Early Church 38
Chapter 2
NATIONS HAVE DRUNK HER WINE 57
1. Background to Roman Rule in Asia Minor 58
2. Asia, the Richest of Provinces 65
3. The Spoils of Conquered Nations 66
4. The Rise of Provincials 68
5. Principal Routes of Upward Mobility 70
6. Vestiges of the Patronage System 72
7. Economic Opportunity for Provincials 80
8. Role Models of Success 82
9. Upward Mobility among Jews and Christians 86
10. Christian Missions among Merchants and Tradesmen 94
Chapter 3
THE MERCHANTS HAVE GROWN RICH 102
1. The Object and Nature of Maritime Trade 102
2. Trimalchio: Profile of a Merchant 109
8 Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse
3. Guilds in Italy and the East 110
4. Privileges for Shippers 117
5. Maritime Trade and the Imperial Cult 123
6. Maritime Trade Offices at Ostia 134
7. Commerce and the Mark of the Beast 135
Chapter 4
REPAY HER DOUBLE FOR HER DEEDS 142
1. Babylon and Rome in Apocalyptic Tradition 142
2. Social and Economic Critique in the Book of Revelation 147
3. Tyre as a Type for Rome in Revelation 18 152
4. Nero Redivivus as Agent of Judgment 161
Chapter 5
THE BLOOD OF PROPHETS AND OF SAINTS 166
1. Jewish Experience on John's Mind 167
2. Jewish Political and Economic Relations with Rome 172
3. Jewish Role in International Commerce 184
4. Cult and Commerce among Jewish Merchants 189
5. Rabbinic Concern for Idolatry in Commerce 191
Chapter 6
A HEALING OF THE NATIONS 196
1. A Convergence of Pressures on Christians 196
2. Nonviolent Response to Social Injustice 200
3. A Just Society in the New Jerusalem 205
4. Faith Community as a Taste of the New Jerusalem 214
5. New Jerusalem in the Post-Apostolic Era 218
6. God as the Only Worthy Patron 221
Bibliography 224
Index of References 237
Index of Authors 249
Index of Subjects 252
PREFACE
Not long after I began the following study, I had the opportunity to give
a series of lectures on Revelation at the Centro de Estudios of the
Mennonite Church in Uruguay. A few students in the class had suffered
abuse or torture, for their religious or political convictions, at the hands
of a dictatorship supported by the government of my own country.
'Coins of the United States say "In God We Trust"', ventured one
student, 'but actually your leaders trust in their guns and their dollars.'
Those students helped their North American teacher see that issues of
empire, economics and idolatry are as real today as they were when
John of Patmos condemned Babylon (Rome) for injustice, oppression
and blasphemy.
Back in Virginia, where I was a student, newspaper headlines were full
of references to empire and allegiance over the next few years. The Soviet
empire collapsed; the American empire extended its own economic and
political influence. Wars fueled by religion, nationalism or ethnic hatred
festered in several parts of the globe. International arms merchants literally
made a killing, a blasphemous business that feeds the economies even of
nations that call themselves Christian.
There is virtually no comment on these modern events and concerns
in the following pages. I have tried to view Revelation from the perspec-
tive of a first-century reader. John of Patmos had the Roman empire in
mind when he wrote, not people of the twentieth century. However, if
we can understand why John saw loyalty to Jesus as being in tension
with loyalty to Rome, then we will have a valuable reference point for
similar analysis of domination systems today. Empires and nations of
every generation make demands that raise critical questions of allegiance
and obedience for followers of Jesus.
Although I believe Revelation is instructive for weighing the political
and economic choices of Christians today, it is important to recognize
the limitations of drawing too heavily from just one book of the Bible in
making our own ethical choices. By any conventional standards, John of