SOURCE: Blevins, James L. “The Genre of Revelation.” Review and Expositor 77 (summer 1980): 393-408.

In the following essay, Blevins contends that the structure of Revelation was based on that of Greek tragedy, including its chorus and staging.

Scholars find it difficult to pinpoint the peculiar literary genre of the book of Revelation. Recent studies have shown the relationship of Hellenistic biographies to the genre of our New Testament Gospels.¹ Less recent work has demonstrated the affinities between Greek letter writing style and that of Paul.² However, the genre of Revelation remains elusive. Charles Talbert, a specialist in genre studies, recently stated: “Someone needs to establish a credible genre for the book of Revelation.”³ It is usually assumed by researchers that Revelation belongs to the literary Gattung of apocalyptic literature. In reality, however, it was Revelation which gave its name to the other apocalypses. In fact, the dissimilarities between Revelation...