Chapter Eleven
Visionary Literature
The Two Types of Literature
THE CONTENT OF LITERATURE AS A WHOLE falls into two large categories. Some
literature presents a replica of existing reality; the usual term for such literature is
realism. Other literature presents an alternative to known reality. It does not imi-
tate empirical reality but creates or imagines an alternate reality. The standard
term for such literature is fantasy.
The Bible’s tendency toward realism is a commonplace. Its staple is historical
narrative and biography. Even the fictional parables of Jesus stay close to the way
things are in everyday reality.
Visionary Literature Defined
But the other type of literature is also well-represented, chiefly in the related gen-
res of prophecy and apocalypse. I have decided to discuss this amorphous body
of literature under the single heading of visionary literature. Visionary literature
pictures settings, characters, and events that differ from ordinary reality. This is
not to say that the things described in visionary literature did not happen in past
history or will not happen in future history. But it does mean that the things as
pictured by the writer at the time of writing exist in the imagination, not in empir-
ical reality.
Prophecy and Apocalypse Are Partly Visionary
In discussing prophecy and apocalypse together I do not mean to imply that these
biblical forms do not have distinguishing traits that make them different from
each other. Nor am I saying that they are wholly visionary. Prophecy, especially,
contains much that is straightforward preaching and prediction, and many of its
judgments can best be approached under the literary category of satire.
Still, the visionary element is strong in both genres, and my purpose is to
delineate the rhetoric and literary forms that will allow a reader to make literary
sense of these writings. They are among the most literary parts of the Bible but are
so different from familiar types of literature that they often get bypassed in literary
discussions. By discussing them under this visionary aspect, I am obviously omit-
ting much that could be said about both genres. I should also note that the vision-
ary element in such literature should by no means be regarded as necessarily
futuristic in orientation.
The Element of Otherness
I have already hinted at the first thing we should notice about visionary literature:
the element of otherness. Visionary literature transforms the known world or the
present state of things into a situation that at the time of writing is as yet only
imagined. In one way or another, visionary literature takes us to a strange world
where ordinary rules of reality no longer prevail.
Reversal and Transformation as Visionary Themes
The simplest form of such transformation is a futuristic picture of the changed
fortunes of a person or group or nation. In the prophetic oracle of judgment, for
example, the currently powerful individual or group is pictured as defeated, con-
trary to all that is apparent at the time of writing:
You women who are so complacent,
rise up and listen to me;
you daughters who feel secure,
hear what I have to say!
In little more than a year
you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,
and the harvest of fruit will not come. . . .
The fortress will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a
wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks
(Isa. 32:9-10, 14).
In the oracle of redemption, this pattern is reversed. Instead of a coming woe
more terrible than anything that presently exists, those to whom the oracle is ad-
dressed will receive a blessing that is the opposite of anything they currently expe-
rience:
“The days are coming,’’ declares the LORD,
“when the reaper will be overtaken by the
plowman
and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills’’
(Amos 9:13).
The motifs of transformation and reversal are prominent in visionary literature,
and they lead to this principle of interpretation: in visionary literature, be ready for
the reversal of ordinary reality.
Transcendental Realms as a Visionary Theme
The otherness of visionary writing is often more radical than the temporal rever-
sals and changing fortunes just noted. A leading element of visionary literature is
the portrayal of a transcendental or supernatural world. In the Bible this other
world is usually heaven, but there are also visions of hell. Visions of either type do
not primarily take the reader forward in time but rather beyond the visible spatial
world. One thinks at once of such passages as Isaiah’s vision of God sitting on
his heavenly throne (6:1-5), or Ezekiel’s vision of the divine chariot (Ezek. 1), or
scenes of heavenly worship in the Book of Revelation (e.g., ch. 4), or the descrip-
tion of the New Jerusalem in the last two chapters of Revelation. The element of
transcendence is pervasive in visionary literature, and it, too, can be formulated as
a principle: when reading visionary literature, be prepared to use your imagination to
picture a world that transcends earthly reality. Visionary literature assaults a purely
mundane mindset; in fact, this is one of its main purposes.
The Cosmic Scope of Visionary Literature
The strangeness in visionary literature extends to both scenes and actors. The
scene is cosmic, not localized. In Old Testament prophecy it extends to whole na-
tions. In apocalyptic works it encompasses the entire earth and reaches beyond it
to heaven and hell. In the Book of Revelation, for example, we move in a regular
rhythm between heaven and earth, and the scenes set on earth involve the entire
planet. The action, moreover, eventually reaches out to include the whole human
race throughout all of history. Old Testament prophecy is similar; Richard Moul-
ton writes:
These prophetic dramas are such as no theatre could compass. For their state
they need all space; and the time of their action extends to the end of all
things. The speakers include God and the Celestial Hosts; Israel appears, Is-
rael Suffering and Israel Repentant; Sinners in Zion, the Godly in Zion; the
Saved and the Doomed, the East and West, answer one another.¹
Supernatural Agents and Strange Creatures
Filling this cosmic stage are actors that do not fit ordinary expectations. God and
angels and glorified saints in heaven seem appropriate enough in the heavenly
scenes, and they are leading actors in the visionary literature of the Bible. But
other creatures are more startling to earthly eyes: a great red dragon (Rev. 12:3-4),
“living creatures” with “six wings and. . .covered with eyes all around” (Rev. 4:8), a
warrior riding a red horse (Rev. 6:4), two flying women with wings like those of a
stork (Zech. 5:9), or a beast that “was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle,”
which had its wings plucked off and then stood “on two feet like a man” (Dan.
7:4).
Inanimate Forces as Actors
Such mingling of the familiar and unfamiliar, a hallmark of visionary literature,
takes an even stranger form when inanimate objects and forces of nature suddenly
become actors, as in this vision of imminent military invasion in Isaiah 13:10:
The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
Such breaking down of ordinary distinctions between the human and the natural
realms is equally pervasive in the Book of Revelation:
The woman was given the wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the
place prepared for her in the desert. . . .Then from his mouth the serpent
spewed forth water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away
with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and
swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth (Rev. 12:14-
16). .
Anything Can Happen
In the strange and frequently surrealistic world of visionary literature, virtually any
aspect of creation can become a participant in the ongoing drama of God’s judg-
ments and redemption. It is a world where a river can overflow a nation (Isa. 8:5—
8), where a branch can build a temple (Zech. 6:12) and a ram’s horn can grow to
the sky and knock stars to the ground (Dan. 8:9-10). Sea, clouds, earthquake,
storm, whirlwind, and assorted animals are constant actors in visionary literature.
This is obviously a type of fantasy literature, not because the events symbolically
portrayed are unreal or untrue, but because the form in which they are pictured as
happening is purely imaginary.
The visionary strangeness of such writing leads to a related rule for reading it:
visionary literature is a form of fantasy literature in which readers must be willing to
exercise their imaginations in picturing unfamiliar scenes and agents. It requires what
the poet Coleridge called “the willing suspension of disbelief.” We know that peo-
ple do not fly through the air on wings, but when reading such visions we sus-
pend our disbelief and enter the realm of make-believe in order to appropriate the
truth it conveys about reality. The best introduction to such visionary literature in
the Bible is other fantasy literature, such as the Narnia stories of C. S. Lewis.
Visionary Literature as a Subversive Form
What is the point of such writing? Why would a biblical writer resort to fantasy in-
stead of staying with realism? Visionary literature, with its arresting strangeness,
breaks through our normal way of thinking and shocks us into seeing that things
are not as they appear. Visionary writing attacks our ingrained patterns of deep-
level thought in an effort to convince us of such things as that the world will not
always continue as it now is, that there is something drastically wrong with the
status quo, or that reality cannot be confined to the physical world that we per-
ceive with our senses. Visionary literature is not cozy fireside reading. It gives us
the shock treatment.
Kaleidoscopic Structure
The element of the unexpected extends even to the structure of visionary liter-
ature. I will call it a kaleidoscopic structure. It consists of brief units, always shift-
ing and never in focus for very long. Its effects are similar to those of some mod-
ern films. The individual units not only keep shifting, but they consist of a range
of diverse material, including visual descriptions, speeches that the visionary
hears and records, dialogues, monologues, brief snatches of narrative, direct dis-
courses by the writer to an audience, letters, prayers, hymns, parables. Visionary
elements, moreover, may be mingled with realistic scenes and events.
This disjointed method of proceeding places tremendous demands on the
reader and is the thing that makes such literature initially resistant to a literary ap-
proach. The antidote to this frustration is a basic principle of interpretation: in-
stead of looking for the smooth flow of narrative, be prepared for a disjointed series of
diverse, self-contained units.
Dream Structure
Dream, and not narrative, is the model that visionary literature in the Bible fol-
lows. Of what do dreams consist? Momentary pictures, fleeting impressions,
characters and scenes that play their brief part and then drop out of sight, abrupt
jumps from one action to another. This is exactly what we find in visionary liter-
ature.
Pageant Structure
Sometimes, it is true, the units form a more discernible sequence than this, as in
the visions of the four horsemen of Revelation (6:1-8). The model we should have
in mind for such passages is the pageant—a succession of visual images that
suggest in symbolic fashion an event or situation. In no case, however, does vi-
sionary literature in the Bible follow the typical structure of a story.
Narrative Elements
Even though visionary literature is not structured as a story, some of the standard
narrative questions are exactly the right ones to ask. Individual units normally con-
sist of the usual narrative elements of scene, agent, action, and outcome. The
corresponding questions to ask of individual passages are:
1.Where does the action occur?
2.Who are the actors?
3.What do they do?
4.What is the result?
Not just the individual units but usually the books as a whole will yield some type
of unity and organization if we ask these narrative questions:
1.What overall plot conflicts govern the work?
2.Who are the main actors in the work?
3.What changes occur as the book unfolds?
4.What final resolution is reached in regard to the overriding conflicts?
Symbolism as the Basic Mode
Visionary literature not only has story-like qualities; it makes even more use of the
resources of poetry. And above all, visionary literature uses the technique of sym-
bolism. In fact, it is symbolic through and through, a point that cannot be over-
stated. To insist that the Old Testament prophetic books and the Book of Reve-
lation use symbolism as their basic mode is not to deny that they describe super-
natural and historical events that really happen. The crucial question, however, is
how the writers go about describing history.
The Reality of What Is Portrayed
It can be easily documented by ordinary historical means that the events de-
scribed in visionary literature are historical in nature. For example, Israel and
Judah were carried into captivity (as predicted in Old Testament prophecy), and
the Roman Empire did fall (as predicted in Revelation). The literary question is,
How are these historical realities portrayed in visionary literature? The answer
usually is, By means of symbolism.
Symbolism in Old Testament Prophecy
Consider some typical specimens. The youthful Joseph dreamed that the sun,
moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. This symbolic picture was fulfilled
later in his life, but the fulfillment was not literal. Isaiah described a river that over-
flowed the land of Judah. This symbolic picture was fulfilled historically (but not
literally) when Assyria invaded and conquered Judah. The dream, interpreted by
Daniel, of a statue composed of various minerals (Dan. 2:31–45) pictured histor-
ical realities, but it is not a literal description of those realities.
Symbolism in the Book of Revelation
The same type of symbolism prevails in the Book of Revelation. It is already
present in the letters to the seven churches, the most realistic part of the whole
book. We read, for example, about people “who have not soiled their clothes”
(3:4) and who are destined to become “a pillar in the temple of my God” (3:12).
Surely no one will interpret such statements literally. When the Christians at
Laodicea are said to be lukewarm (3:16), we are obviously not talking about body
temperature, and when they are described as being “poor, blind, and naked” (3:17)
it is not a literal picture of their physical state but a symbolic picture of their spir-
itual condition. Nor does Christ literally stand at a physical door and knock (3:20).
If there is this much symbolism already in the letters to the churches, how much
more can we not expect in the futuristic sections of Revelation?
The action that unfolds in the opening verses of Revelation 12 is also a good
index of the symbolic mode of the book. This passage narrates how a woman of
cosmic dimensions (symbolic of Old Testament Israel) gives birth to a child “who
will rule all the nations” (Christ), and it tells of the futile attempt of a great red
dragon (Satan) to destroy the child, who is caught up into heaven. The most plau-
sible interpretation of the passage is that it is a symbolic account of the incar-
nation and ascension of Jesus as narrated in the Gospels.
The corresponding question we need to ask of visionary literature in the Bible
is a further principle of interpretation: of what historical event or theological reality
or event in salvation history does this passage seem to be a symbolic version?
An example of a theological reality in symbolic form would be God’s forgive-
ness of sins as seen in Zechariah’s vision of the replacement of the high priest’s
filthy garments with clean ones (Zech. 3:3–5). Similarly, the sealing of believers in
Revelation (7:2–3) is a symbolic picture of redemption. By “events in salvation his-
tory” I mean such events as the moral degeneration of the end times and the final
judgment that are repeatedly pictured in the Book of Revelation.
Visionary Literature Is Symbolic Rather Than Pictorial
We need to make a distinction between symbolic and pictorial effects. Visionary
literature in the Bible is heavily symbolic but rarely pictorial. Many of the scenes in
Revelation become grotesque the moment we visualize them as pictures. The por-
trait of Christ in Revelation 1:12-16, replete with a hand holding seven stars and a
mouth with a sword issuing from it, is a series of symbols representing various
aspects of Christ’s character, not a composite picture of him. Someone has
expressed the distinction thus:
Symbolic writing. . .does not paint pictures. It is not pictographic but ideo-
graphic. . . .The skull and crossbones on the bottle of medicine is a symbol of
poison, not a picture. . . .The fish, the lamb, and the lion are all symbols of
Christ, but never to be taken as pictures of him. In other words, the symbol is
a code word and does not paint a picture.²
Interpreting the Symbols
How can we know what a given symbol means? It is relatively easy. In Old Testa-
ment prophecy the immediate context usually provides an interpretive framework
for a given symbol or scene. Similarly, whenever a symbolic vision has been ful-
filled in subsequent history, we can use that fulfillment to interpret the prophecy
in which it was portrayed. This includes New Testament fulfillments of Old Testa-
ment prophetic and messianic visions.
Symbols Are a Universal Language, Easily Grasped
A wide acquaintance with visionary literature both in the Bible and in literature
generally is a great asset because literary symbolism tends to be a universal lan-
guage that recurs throughout literature. Such common symbols as thunder, earth-
quake, dragon, lion, or harvest occur often enough in visionary literature for us
generally to know what they mean.
A Keen Eye for the Obvious
Above all, we should never minimize the usefulness of contact with everyday expe-
rience and a keen eye for the obvious. The purpose of symbols is not to conceal
but to reveal. A few of the symbols in the visionary literature of the Bible no doubt
had a contemporary meaning that has been lost, but for the most part all we need
is a sensitivity to the obvious associations of literary symbols. We do not need a
commentary to tell us that a sword symbolizes judgment or a throne power or a
vineyard prosperity.
Grasping the Total Meaning
Nor should we allegorize every detail in a passage unless there is a hint that we
are intended to do so. Often it is the total impact of a scene or action that conveys
the meaning.
The Mystery of the Supernatural
Then, too, some of the images portraying supernatural reality are meant to convey
a sense of more-than-earthly mystery. Naturally, much remains elusive in Ezekiel’s
vision of the divine chariot (Ezek. 1). The images remain mysterious because their
purpose is to convey the mystery of supernatural reality. Someone has contrasted
the clarity of outline in Greek statues of the gods and the blurred edges of vision-
ary writing in the Bible:
The very clarity and definiteness of outline in those wonderful marbles stand
out as a limitation: in comparison with these vague and mystical imaginings of
the Christian seers the representations of Greek art are impotent. In the end
the Greek statue of a god, for all its gracious beauty, is only a glorified and
idealized man. The visions of the apocalypse, on the other hand, transcend
once for all the limitations of human nature.³
SUMMARY
Visionary literature is what its name implies—an imagined picture, frequently
symbolic rather than literal, of events that have not yet happened at the time of
writing, or of realities such as heaven that transcend ordinary reality. Such writing
requires that readers be ready to use their imagination—to let it fly beyond the
stars. Visionary literature liberates us from the mundane and familiar and literal. It
is an assault on our patterns of deep-level thought in an effort to shake us out of
complacency with the normal flow of things. Visionary literature is a revolutionary
genre. It announces an end to the way things are and opens up alternate possi-
bilities.
Further Reading
The characteristic rhetoric, imagery, and generic features of apocalyptic writing
are discussed in these sources: William A. Beardslee, Literary Criticism of the New
Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1970), pp. 53–63; Amos N. Wilder, “Apocalyptic
Rhetorics,” in Jesus’ Parables and the War of Myths, ed. James Breech (Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1982), pp. 153–68; and vol. 14 of Semeia (1979), especially the intro-
duction by John J. Collins (pp. 1–20).
For Old Testament prophecy, J. Lindblom, Prophecy in Ancient Israel (Phila-
delphia: Muhlenberg, 1962), is good on the visionary element (see especially pp.
122–82).
For literary commentary on the New Testament Book of Revelation, see the ex-
cerpts collected under that heading in The New Testament in Literary Criticism, ed.
Leland Ryken (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1984); and my book The Literature of
the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), pp. 335–56.
¹The Modern Reader's Bible (New York: Macmillan, 1895,1935), 1392.
²Donald W. Richardson, The Revelation of Jesus Christ: An Interpretation (Rich-
mond: John Knox, 1939), 16. For convincing statements of the same viewpoint,
see the excerpts under “Revelation, Book of, Symbolism,” in The New Testament
in Literary Criticism, ed. Leland Ryken (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1984).
³J. H. Gardiner, The Bible as English Literature (New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1906), 272.
