The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Revelation, number four, and Apringius

Theology Biblical Theology
#1

Another interesting side-note by Dr Papandrea regarding Revelation, he notes that the number 4 carries with it the sense of spatial, geometric wholeness, so that four corners of the earth = whole earth/land; four living beings covered in eyes = God’s omniscience seeing every part of the earth/land etc.

So, when he talks about the New Jerusalem being a square/cube and having four walls there is an implication that it encompasses the whole world. In a footnote Panadrea makes an interesting reference:
‘Many early christian writers interpreted the three gates as a reference to the Trinity, the idea being that that divine can be accessed by any one of the three persons of the Trinity. Apringius of Beja said that the three gates on each of the four sides predicted that the whole world would accept the Trinity, Tractate on the Apocalypse 21.13.’

#2

Hi Pog

Not sure what thinking is going on here. I think four may well represent completeness ( though seven I think is representative of perfection). The new Jerusalem is depicted as I understand it as a cube but Rev 21:21 indicates Twelve gates - as these are always open and the nations of the earth bring their honour and glory to it (v26) this would imply that spatially it would not encompass the whole earth - if by encompass you mean occupy. It would seem though that access is available to the whole earth except nothing profane will enter it. Now whether it is to be taken literally or is symbolic of ‘the church’ is another matter, but if so, again, because of those that ‘dwell outside’ the implication would be that this would not initially, anyway, encompass the whole earth.

Cheers S

#3

Hi sturmy,

The quote is taken from a book I just finished reading: The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Appraoch to the Book of Revelation by Dr Panadrea (Assistent Professor of Church History), a Catholic Early Church historian.

He notes (rather than argues - its a book for lay readers) that 4 is symbolic of completeness in the physical/geographical sphere - 7 is perfect/ divine/ spiritual completness (in contrast).

The New Jerulsalem is indeed a cube (he talks about why) - but what I found interesting was the connection drawn between the 3-fold squareness of the city and the symbolic resonance of the number 4 (4 walls each with 3 gates = 12 gates).

I agree that literally it cannot occupy the whole earth since there is an outside, but symbolically/ numerically it is hinted that the NJ = church = 4 (and 3 and 12) = whole earth.

I wondered if anyone had come across such an idea before, or if anyone had read Apringius (I’d never heard of him) and could highlight what connection he made by talking of ‘the whole world’ accepting the Trinity. There’s hints of universalism here - if one has enough of a nose for confirmation bias as I do :slight_smile: