Visions
Excerpt
[Visions are] things normally hidden from human eyes. Visions, dreams, and heavenly journeys are closely related phenomena through which secrets are thought to be revealed. These media of revelation are especially characteristic of apocalyptic literature. Visions can be distinguished from theophanies and epiphanies of angels or of Jesus. In theophanies and epiphanies, the emphasis is on the appearance or presence of a heavenly being and often on the message conveyed by that being. In visions, the emphasis is on an object, a scene, or a sequence of events that is enacted.
Accounts of visions have certain typical formal features. They are usually in the first person: the visionary describes his or her experience. The setting is often given near the beginning: the date, place, and time at which the vision occurred. Then follows the content of the vision, usually introduced by the words ‘I saw.’ Sometimes the account concludes with remarks about how the visionary reacted to the vision or what he or she did immediately afterward.
Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper’s Bible dictionary 1985 : 1114. Print.
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