AR271 The Seven Cities of Revelation
Overview
To understand the book of Revelation better, one must understand the world in which its first audience lived. This principle is basic to the interpretation of any New Testament letter, but it’s easy to forget when reading Revelation. Many people get caught up in the visions and forget that, from beginning to end, Revelation had to make good sense to Christians in Asia Minor toward the end of the first century; if it was going to speak to anyone at all, it had to speak to them. In this course, Dr. David deSilva provides a visual tour of the local contexts of the seven cities addressed in Revelation. Beginning at the island of Patmos, Dr. deSilva examines the archaeology of these sites, explaining what this can tell us about the everyday world the early Christians encountered in these places. This course—enriched with photographs of the sites—will give you a sense of how the first audiences in these cities might have encountered the visions and oracles of Revelation.
Top Highlights
“There is in fact no physical evidence of mines or a penal colony on Patmos, calling into question the traditional image of John having been exiled to Patmos in connection with being condemned to a mine or a particular prison. Rather it appears that he would have suffered relegation to an island as punishment, a form of exile, removing a dissident whom it was not convenient to execute for one reason or another.” (source)
“But a gymnasium was also typically a place for the education of the young, training them in all the facets of the Greek curriculum including logic, rhetoric, grammar, astronomy, geometry, music, and the rest.” (source)
“to understand Revelation better one must understand the world in which its first audiences lived” (source)
“The monastery itself, however, set on a hill opposite Mount Kastelli, is built over the foundations of an ancient temple to Artemis. An inscription found on the island speaks of a priestess of Artemis named Bera or Vera and a temple of Artemis on the island, which is here called ‘the most noble island of Leto’s daughter,’ Leto being the mother of both Artemis and Apollo.” (source)
“If our image of Patmos, or especially John on Patmos, is the image of a lonely man on a rocky island, we need to revise that image considerably. Patmos was a regular stop on maritime trade routes between Asia Minor or other eastern Mediterranean points of origin and Greece.” (source)
- Title: AR271 The Seven Cities of Revelation
- Author: David A. deSilva
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. Revelation 2-3 › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Turkey › Description and travel; Education › Bible. N.T. Revelation 2-3--Criticism, interpretation, etc; Education › Turkey--Description and travel
- Resource ID: LLS:AR271DESILVA
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2019-06-20T22:51:59Z
Dr. David A. deSilva, PhD, is the Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s taught since 1995.
He’s written over 20 books in the areas of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism, including Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning (Hendrickson, 2013), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude (Oxford, 2012),Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (WJKP, 2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (IVP, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Eerdmans, 2000). He’s also interested in spiritual formation, having written Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation through the Book of Common Prayer (IVP, 2008) and Praying with John Wesley (Discipleship Resources, 2001).
He’s ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, and serves as director of music and organist at Christ United Methodist Church in Ashland. He and his wife, Donna Jean, have three sons.