19
intense insistence on emperor worship in the mid-90s.
56
The entire apocalyptic genre of
Revelation reflects its setting of giving persecuted Christians encouragement that God is
still sovereign and will ultimately avenge the injustices of this life. If Romans 13 can
portray government as divinely established, Revelation 13 depicts some as demonically
inspired. Both models have re-emerged throughout human history. The striking lament
of the fall of the great, evil, "end-times" empire in Revelation 17-18 demonstrates that it
reflected a blasphemous equation of religion and politics, combined with the greatest
wealth, gained at the expense of subjugated people, in the known world of John's day.
57
Thus the empire can be compared to both Old-Testament-age Babylon and New-
Testament-era Rome, while literally corresponding to neither. At the start of the twenty-
first century, we scarcely need to look beyond increasingly godless, Western expressions
of capitalism for frightening parallels.
58
Conclusions
The collection of false teaching and immoral behavior that New Testament
authors most strongly oppose is an interesting one. A strong insistence on both the full
deity and the full humanity of Christ naturally appears. Salvation by grace through faith,
countering all forms of legalism, nomism and ethnocentrism, proves central, but one must
submit to the resurrected Jesus as total Master (Rom. 10:9-10) and exhibit the fruit
befitting repentance. The only absolutely crucial eschatological tenet is the fact of
Christ's still future, visible return. With respect to what systematicians usually include
under "sanctification" appears an insistence on keeping security and perseverance in
55
Colin G. Kruse, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 14-27.
56
There is a tendency today to play down the extent of this persecution, but this can be done only by
rejecting the veracity of significant ancient external evidence. For details, see esp. Craig S. Keener,
Revelation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 35-39.
57
Cf. esp. J. N. Kraybill, Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse (Sheffield: SAP, 1996).
58
Cf. esp. throughout Ricardo Foulkes, El Apocalipsis de San Juan (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989).