The book of Revelation is perhaps the least understood and most controversial text of the Christian Scriptures. Among the mainstream churches, Revelation has been put into the 'too-hard basket.' Among the more fundamentalist churches, it has been used to construct lurid timetables of the 'end-of-the-world.' The reading of Revelation through modern eyes has tended to sever the text's connections to its original first century audience. In particular, the modern understanding of heaven and earth, the modern conceptualization of time, and the modern demarcation between politics and religion produce interpretations of apocalyptic that are alien to the ideology and worldview of its original author and audience.

In this thesis I interpret the book of Revelation as looking not to the end of world history, but as an unmasking of the world dominated by the Roman Empire. In other words, Revelation exposes the claims of empire as illusory, and envisions an alternative reality that claims to be revealed and authorized by God. While this understanding runs counter to the modern 'apocalyptic paradigm,' I believe it is in keeping with the 'total conception of reality' in antiquity.