The Function of Religious Polemics: The Case of the Revelation of John versus the Imperial Cult

The book of Revelation was wntten in the Roman province of Asia. As to its place of origin, Ephesus may be considered a good candidate, on account of the fact that the Church in Ephesus is the first congregation which is mentioned in the list of seven Churches to which the work is addressed (1:11 and 2:1). The book repeatedly argues against the religious veneration of the emperor. In this contribution I will attempt to establish what the function is of this polemic against the imperial cult in Revelation. First of all, it is important to observe that it is not so remarkable that Revelation makes the worship of the emperor the object of its criticism. There are at least five reasons why it would be quite natural for Revelation to express the aversion of the writer to the imperial cult. First, the book was most probably written during the reign of Trajan