Chiasmus Resources

Anyone about to explain a text faces the vexing problem of how precisely to pose the state of the question. His initial option will determine the results of the inquiry and will also immediately capture the interest of his readers or lose it. Initial options in approaching an apocalyptic text like Rev. 11. 1–13 boggle the mind. Valuable analyses have appeared,1 but a cutting-edge of criticism is difficult to discern.2 I propose to try a new method, namely, to explain the narrated action and discourse of Rev. 11. 1–13 by considering the ‘causes’ of the text. The initial option to focus on narrative should prove welcome, if only because no one else seems methodically to have attempted it.3 This approach will require addressing the key issues of the climactic point of a given story, the way the elements of the story (who, what, where, when, etc.) build to that climactic point, and the integration of the story into a set of related, sequential narratives.