Complexity and Creativity: John's Presentation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation

Within the book of Revelation, John provides a unique and fascinating portrait of Jesus. This monograph examines John's interaction with imagery from his cultural context (Roman emperor worship), from the key writings of his apparent religious heritage (the Old Testament), and from convictions shared within the wider early Christian community. In the sections devoted to each of these three sources (Roman emperor worship, the Old Testament writings, and early Christianity), Naylor provides an assessment of the way that John utilizes images, phrases, and motifs from each in his depiction of Jesus. The interaction with this material represents, Naylor argues, not a haphazard conglomeration of material from divergent sources, but rather a complex, well-developed set of religious convictions concerning Jesus, creatively expressed in this early Christian writing.