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Book Review: Revelation as Narrative

Amongst the weaker sections is that on structure, in which the discussion is limited to the debate over linear or cyclic progression. Resseguie favours a linear structure, concluding that ‘a linear view does not mean that the events of the Apocalypse follow a neat chronological arrangement ... Rather the progression is a literary progression with one event folding into another until the end is reached’ (p. 59). Against this background the reader might be confused by a positive comparison to the movie Groundhog Day, in which the main character lives the same day over and over again (pp. 131-2). A lack of interest in other important macro-structural indicators, e.g. the use of suspense, is perhaps evidenced by the broad arrangement of the commentary according to the medieval chapter divisions. Where this commentary shines is in its treatment of descriptive detail. It is rich with observations of verbal parallels and oppositions, it mines the significance of numbers deeply and is particularly strong when it comes to the elucidation of character. The commentary as a whole has a lightness of touch which, while a virtue, risks favouring conclusions of broad applicability at the expense of a closer engagement with the text’s more challenging and notorious puzzles.