Patmos in the Reception History of the Apocalypse

295 Pages·2013·3.34 MB·English

by  Ian Boxall

OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
OXFORD THEOLOGY AND RELIGION
MONOGRAPHS
EditorialCommittee
J. BARTON M. J. EDWARDS
P. S. FIDDES G. D. FLOOD
D. N. J. MACCULLOCH C. C. ROWLAND
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
OXFORD THEOLOGY AND RELIGION MONOGRAPHS
HINDUTHEOLOGYANDBIOLOGY
TheBhāgavataPurānaandContemporaryTheory
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JonathanB.Edelmann(2012)
ETHNICITYANDTHEMIXEDMARRIAGE
CRISISINEZRA9–10
AnAnthropologicalApproach
KatherineE.Southwood(2012)
DIVINEPRODUCTIONINLATEMEDIEVAL
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HenryofGhent,DunsScotus,andWilliamOckham
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THESALVATIONOFATHEISTSANDCATHOLIC
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StephenBullivant(2012)
COMEDYANDFEMINISTINTERPRETATION
OFTHEHEBREWBIBLE
ASubversiveCollaboration
MelissaA.Jackson(2012)
THESTORYOFISRAELINTHEBOOKOFQOHELET
EcclesiastesasCulturalMemory
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THEANTI-PELAGIANCHRISTOLOGYOFAUGUSTINE
OFHIPPO,396-430
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INDUSTRIALENGLAND
FromSouthcotttoSocialism
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EasternAsceticismandtheFramingofthe
ChristianLifec.400–650CE
AlexisC.Torrance(2012)
SCHELLING’STHEORYOFSYMBOLICLANGUAGE
FormingtheSystemofIdentity
DanielWhistler(2013)
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
Patmos in the Reception
History of the
Apocalypse
IAN BOXALL
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
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For Chris Rowland
teacher, mentor, friend
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
Acknowledgements
Thewritingofthisbook,andofthedoctoralthesisofwhichitisarevision,has
been a voyage of rich and often surprising discoveries, as exhilarating as my
first journey to the terrestrial island of Patmos over a decade ago. Like all
travellers,Istandinprofounddebttowiseguideswhohelpedmetochartan
initialroute,ortomodifymycourseinordertoencounternewterrain,andto
fellow travellers who helped me along the way. Many academic colleagues
have encouraged me in the project and helped sharpen my thinking, among
themPeterAnthony,JohnAshton,JonathanDowning,JohnJarick,NickKing
SJ, Judith Kovacs, Bob Morgan, Natasha O’Hear, and Sean Ryan. I also wish
to express my thanks to staff and students at St Stephen’s House for their
ongoing and enthusiastic support, and especially to Robin Ward, Damian
Feeney,andLucyGardnerfortheirfriendshipandadvice,andtheirgenerosity
inprovidingsabbaticalcoverduringthefinalwriting-upstagesoftheoriginal
thesis. Lucy’s wise, careful, and incisive comments on various drafts of the
introductionandfinalchapterhaveresultedinavastlyimprovedfinalversion,
forwhichIamhugelygrateful.
Thanks are due to my assessors at various stages of the doctoral process
(MarkusBockmuehl,JohnMuddiman,MarkEdwards,andChrisTuckett)for
their critical encouragement and sage advice. John Muddiman also served as
examiner for the DPhil, along with David Brown: I wish to record my
gratitude to both for their enthusiasm for the project, and for their wise,
perceptive, and generous feedback. I am also profoundly indebted to the
Oxford Theological Monographs Committee, especially Diarmaid MacCul-
lochandOxfordUniversityPress’sanonymousreader,forrecommendingthe
bookforpublication,andtothestaffatthePress,especiallyTomPerridgeand
LizzieRobottom.
The support of my family and friends, most especially that of William
Whittaker, has been invaluable in convincing me that I could bring the
researchtoaconclusion.Asever,mygreatestdebtistomysupervisor,mentor
and book adviser, Chris Rowland, from his initial encouragement to me to
embark on a doctorate amidst a busy teaching job, to his immense kindness,
limitlesswisdom,andinfectiousenthusiasm,allofwhichhaveencouragedme
ateverystageoftheresearchfor,andwritingof,thismonograph.Itisadelight
andaprivilegetobeabletodedicatethisbooktohim.
I am grateful to Bloodaxe Books for permission to quote from David
Constantine’s translation of Friedrich Hölderlin’s ‘Patmos’, originally pub-
lished in Friedrich Hölderlin, trans. David Constantine, Selected Poems
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
viii Acknowledgements
(Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, 1990). I am also grateful to Ashgate
forpermissiontousearevisedtablefrommyarticle‘Exile,Prophet,Visionary:
Ezekiel’s Influence on the Book of Revelation,’ in Henk Jan de Jonge and
Johannes Tromp (eds), The Book of Ezekiel and its Influence (Aldershot:
Ashgate,2007),pp.147–164.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,26/3/2013,SPi
Contents
ListofPlates xii
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
OverviewoftheBook 3
DefinitionofTerms 6
Method 9
1. ‘IwasontheIslandCalledPatmos’:Re-readingRev.1:9 14
Introduction 14
(cid:1)¯ªg(cid:1)(cid:3)ø(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:5)Å(cid:6)...Kª(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:8)(cid:9)Å(cid:5) 14
K(cid:5)(cid:10)fiB(cid:5)(cid:11)(cid:12)øfi ... 16
...(cid:10)fiBŒÆº(cid:13)ı(cid:9)(cid:14)(cid:5)fi (cid:1) —(cid:4)(cid:10)(cid:9)øfi 19
(cid:15)Øa(cid:10)e(cid:5)º(cid:8)ª(cid:13)(cid:5)(cid:10)(cid:13)FŁ(cid:7)(cid:13)FŒÆd(cid:10)c(cid:5)(cid:9)Ææ(cid:10)ıæ(cid:16)Æ(cid:5)(cid:1)(cid:3)Å(cid:12)(cid:13)F 22
Kª(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:8)(cid:9)Å(cid:5)K(cid:5)(cid:17)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:18)(cid:9)Æ(cid:10)ØK(cid:5)(cid:10)fiBŒıæØÆŒfiB(cid:19)(cid:9)(cid:14)æfiÆ 24
PossiblePatmosAllusionselsewhereinApocalypse 25
Conclusion 27
2. PatmosinEarlyPatristicTradition(2nd–5thCenturies) 28
Introduction 28
PatmosasPlaceofExile 31
PatmosasPlaceofPrivilegedRevelation 45
PatmosinApocryphalActsandLives 49
Conclusion 55
3. PatmosinEarlyMedievalLatinTradition(6th–10thCenturies) 56
Introduction 56
PatmosasPlaceofExile 58
PatmosasPlaceofPrivilegedRevelation 62
AllegoricalInterpretationsofPatmos 70
Conclusion 74
4. PatmosinLaterMedievalLatinTradition(1000–1516) 75
Introduction 75
PatmosasPlaceintheBiographyofJohn 76
PatmosasAppropriateLocationforVision 80
EcclesialInterpretations 84
PatmosasFretum 86
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x Contents
ThreeAnonymousMendicantCommentaries 88
ActualizationofJohn’sPatmosExperience:FrancisofAssisi 92
PatmosinRev.10 96
PatmosinWesternMedievalLiturgyandDevotion 97
Conclusion 103
5. PatmosinEasternTraditionsfromthe5thCentury 105
Introduction 105
PatmosasNarrativeWorld:theActsofJohnbyProchorus 106
PatmosintheGreekCommentaryTradition 114
TheCaveTradition:AdditiontotheProchorusActs 117
OrientalOrthodoxTraditions 121
PatmosasMonasticIdeal:WritingsofStChristodoulos 128
Conclusion 131
6. PatmosinWesternInterpretersfrom1517 133
Introduction 133
BiographicalInterest 134
GeographicalandTopographicalInterestinPatmos 145
PatmosandPersecution 152
ActualizationofPatmos:MartinLuther 157
SignificanceoftheName‘Patmos’ 160
PatmosandthePoets 162
PatmosinPost-1900Historical-CriticalCommentaries 170
Conclusion 176
7. VisualInterpretationsofPatmos 177
Introduction 177
VisualExegesis 178
EarlyMedievalExamples 179
Anglo-NormanApocalypses 181
DouceApocalypse 184
OtherLateMedievalExamples 188
EasternIconography 190
RenaissanceandEarlyModernPaintingsandAltarpieces 195
HieronymusBosch,StJohnonPatmos(c.1485–1500) 197
SandroBotticelli,SanMarcoAltarpiece(c.1490) 201
HansBurgkmairtheElder,StJohntheEvangelist
onPatmos(1508/1518) 203
DiegoVelázquez,StJohntheEvangelistontheIslandofPatmos
(1618–1619) 205
Conclusion 207