Overview

The images in the book of Revelation confound even the most seasoned of interpreters. In this book, Andrew R. Guffey argues that part of the confusion stems from the fact that the book of Revelation was first and foremost a work to be “seen,” but that few interpreters address the visuality of the book. The Book of Revelation and the Visual Culture of Asia Minor describes a connection between rhetorical discussions of ekphrasis, visual culture, and John’s images—a “concurrence of images”— using theory and thick historical description. Guffey’s analysis situates the text and its rhetorical performativity in the context of ancient visual and rhetorical culture, arguing that Revelation is not merely a work of literary craft, but also of visual culture.

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9781978706576

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Few scholars on the book of Revelation can match Andrew R. Guffey's sensitive appreciation of its visual character. In this beautifully-written monograph, Guffey engages broader scholarship on image and visuality, laying out a robust challenge to exegetes: to focus less on precise sources such as Roman coins or monumental buildings than on analogues from John's cultural milieu; to 'unlearn' long-established patterns of reading the Apocalypse which tend towards decoding John's images at the expense of appreciating their aesthetic power. Instead, Guffey refocuses the crucial question: what is an apocalyptic 'image', and what does it do? This is an important book, which will revolutionize how scholars speak about the 'visuality' of this most visual of biblical texts. -- Ian Boxall, The Catholic University of America

Few scholars on the book of Revelation can match Andrew R. Guffey's sensitive appreciation of its visual character. In this beautifully-written monograph, Guffey engages broader scholarship on image and visuality, laying out a robust challenge to exegetes: to focus less on precise sources such as Roman coins or monumental buildings than on analogues from John's cultural milieu; to `unlearn' long-established patterns of reading the Apocalypse which tend towards decoding John's images at the expense of appreciating their aesthetic power. Instead, Guffey refocuses the crucial question: what is an apocalyptic `image', and what does it do? This is an important book, which will revolutionize how scholars speak about the `visuality' of this most visual of biblical texts. -- Ian Boxall, The Catholic University of America

Author Information

Andrew R. Guffey is visiting instructor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

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