Power and Place: Temple and Identity in the Book of Revelation (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur Die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft Und Die Kunde Der alt (Beihefte ... Und Die Kunde Der Alteren Kirche)

`No physical structure in antiquity held more significance as a place of access to deity than a temple' - from the introduction. Stevenson's study explores Jewish thought and tradition and the inter-mingling of Greco-Roman and Jewish culture based on an analysis of symbolism in the Book of Revelation. Written in the latter half of the first century, the Book of Revelation was written for Christians living in the culturally diverse area of western Asia Minor. Considering Early Christianity in the ancient Mediterranean was devoid of temple buildings, Stevenson questions why temples appear in Revelation, what they symbolise and whether this is representative of ideas of symbolism in the contemporary world. Archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, and historical research is used to illuminate the meaning and function of temples in both Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures. This evidence is then brought into a dialogue with a literary analysis of how the temple functions as a symbol in Revelation. Throughout the Hellenistic and early Roman imperial periods, temples permeated virtually every aspect of society in Greece and western Asia Minor.