As Scholer asserts, the "fundamental theological commitments" of the letter can be ascertained through the acceptance of "four clear affirmations" pertaining to: 1) Ultimate divine victory, 2) Vindication of the saints, 3) The reality of suffering, and 4) A call to deepening discipleship. It is these under girding foundations that would have spoken more clearly to the original hearers than the apocalyptic manner in which they were packaged. Indeed, the allegorical means by which these affirmations were delivered says considerably more about the high context nature of the society they were originally designed for, than it does about the implications inherent in the text.
In essence, our contemporary responsibility in light of the text is of the same nature as that of its original hearers - potentially more urgent in fact. Indeed, God is still about the work of Scholer's "four clear affirmations," and as such we too must be prepared to busy ourselves with John's mandate to "overcome." Eternity is closer now than it ever has been - final glorification awaits the faithful. Metaphor and allegory aside - our contemporary reading of the text must allow for the primacy of the theocentric and christocentric nature with which the apostle wrote to rise to the top; for that is the epitome of the Revelation.
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