Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of ''Two Witnesses'' in the 16th and 17th Centuries

333 Pages·1993·25.01 MB·English

by  Rodney L. Petersen

Preaching in the
Last Days
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Preaching in the
Last Days
THE THEME OF 'TWO WITNESSES'
IN THE SIXTEENTH
AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
Rodney L. Petersen
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1993
Oxford University Press
Oxford New York Toronto
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and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 1993 by Rodney L. Petersen
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Petersen, Rodney Lawrence.
Preaching in the last days : the theme of 'two witnesses' in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries / Rodney L. Petersen.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-507374-6
1. Bible. N.T. Revelation XI, 3-13—Criticism, interpretation,
etc.—History. I. Title.
BS2825.P384 1993 228'.06—dc20 92-27964
246897531
Printed in the United States of Americaon
acid-free paper
To George H. Williams
for a vision of faith in time
to Karlfried Froehlich
for the technique of history
to my parents
for introductions and sustaining love
and to my son, Eliot,
may he walk in the way of hope
As depicted by Lucas Cranach in the Luther Bible, 1522, December edition, as found
in Philipp Schmidt. Die Illustration der Lutherbibel, 1522-1700. Bin Stuck abendlan-
dischen Kulter- und Kirchengeschichte mil Verzeichnissen der Bibeln, Bilder und
Kunstler. Basel: F. Reinhardt, 1962.
vi
The Two Witnesses
(3) "And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thou-
sand two hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth."
(4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before
the Lord of the earth. (5) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from
their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must
be killed in this manner. (6) They have authority to shut the sky, so that no
rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority
over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every
kind of plague, as often as they desire.
(7) When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from
the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them,
(8) and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is pro-
phetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (9)
For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages
and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in
a tomb; (10) and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and cele-
brate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment
to the inhabitants of the earth.
(11) But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified.
(12) Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up
here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched
them. (13) At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the
city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest
were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Revelation 11:3-13
(NRSV).
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Preface
Christian eschatology and apocalyptic speculation have been the subjects of a spate
of books in recent years, but detailed studies of particular themes are needed. This
book is an effort in that direction. The study of specific texts can reveal the changes
in detail that become new trends and outlooks. Apocalyptic symbols have been
read in different ways in the history of biblical exegesis. Without going exten-
sively into the effects of different schemes of history, one may say that the
images in the book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) have been understood in a
literal or prima facie way, in a spiritual or allegorical manner, or further, in such
a way as to introduce a third, temporal factor that affected the symbol's literal
value. This last, more typological method of understanding was quite popular
among reformers in the sixteenth century.
Various studies have been done on the figure of Antichrist, the epitome
of evil associated with specific visions in the Apocalypse. Here we will study
that human agency which is the positive counterpart to Antichrist, the two wit-
nesses (Rev. 11:3-13). They appear in the dark days of the Church to preach
or prophesy with the powers attributed to the prophets of Israel. It appears as
if they warn of the deceptions of Antichrist. Having completed their testimony,
they are slain by the beast from the bottomless pit, only to be resurrected and
vindicated in their ascent to heaven. The sounding of the seventh trumpet (Rev.
11:15) now rings the apparent end of history. The text is suggestive yet open-
ended. Many have speculated on the identity of these prophetically mantled
witnesses, or martyrs, and have associated theological themes with them: (1) a
time of culminating evil, (2) the final proclamation of hope through prophetic
word, and (3) the consequent end of history associated with divine judgment and
government. The lines of speculation about the identity and time of these wit-
nesses, established early in the history of the Church, find expression in medieval
literature, art, and drama and take on increased social implications in reformist
exegesis. This interest is visible in the proliferation of commentaries on the Apoca-
lypse in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in popular literature as
well. The effect of the narrative outlined by our text continued to draw attention
after the Reformation, developing an even clearer visibility in subsequent Protes-
tant polemics. In fact, we may say that the two witnesses become an image for
self-interpretation, part of the message-oriented reform movement called Protes-
tantism.