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The book of Revelation: the approach
Approaches of views on interpreting the book of Revelation
The book of Revelation: the approach
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No part of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the last profound book in the New Testament. It conveys the significant purpose of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people by reinforcing the importance of faith and the concept of Christianity as a whole. This book was written by John in 95 or 96 AD. What is, what has been, and what is to come is the central focus of the content in Revelation.
Literalist fundamentalists read Revelation’s multivalent visions as predictions of doom and threat, of punishment for the many and salvation for the elect few. Scholarly scientific readings seek to translate the book’s ambiguity into one-to-one meanings and to transpose its language of symbol and myth into description and facts. In Elisabeth Schûssler Fiorenza’s The Book of Revelation: Justice and Judgment, a third way of reading Revelation is depicted. The collection of essays in this book seeks to intervene in scholarly as well as popular discourses on the apocalypse from a liberationist feminist perspective.
The first two parts of the book discuss the kind of theological-historical perspective and ecclesial situation that determines the form-content configuration of Revelation. The first section attempts to assess the theological commonality to and differences from Jewish apocalypticism. Fiorenza focuses of the problem that although Revelation claims to be a genuinely Christian book and has found its way into the Christian canon, it is often judged to be more Jewish than Christian and not to have achieved the “heights” of genuinely early Christian theology. In the second part of the book, Fiorenza seeks to assess whether and how much Revelation shares in the theological structure of the Fourth Gospel. Fiorenza proposes that a careful analysis of Revelation would suggest that Pauline, Johannine, and Christian apocalyptic-prophetic traditions and circles interacted with each other at the end of the first century C.E in Asia Minor. She charts in the book the structural-theological similarities and differences between the response of Paul and that of Revelation to the “realized eschatology”. She argues that the author of Revelation attempts to correct the “realized eschatology” implications of the early Christian tradition with an emphasis on a futuristic apocalyptic understanding of salvation. Fiorenza draws the conclusion that Revelation and its author belong neither to the Johannine nor to the Pauline school, but point to prophetic-apocalyptic traditions in Asia Minor.
Much of Revelation is the source of debate. Many passages are symbolic in nature, and the exact meaning of the symbols can be difficult to determine. Some passages can be interpreted in various ways. The identity of the Four Horsemen, the 144,000, and Babylon the Great in particular are points of contention. Nevertheless, proper hermeneutics and careful study can illuminate these difficult passages.
One of the most distinct feature of dispensationalist view is the millennial kingdom in Revelation. The thousand year reign of Christ will take place on the earth. Based on grammatical-historical exegesis of chapter 20, Thomas provides
...ht and the damnation of the Children of Darkness. Much like the eschatological traits found in John, this message is one of hope and perseverance. Where John emphasizes the role of hope for the near future in which salvation was within reach, the War Scroll focuses on perseverance in the hope for the dawning of the battle between the Sons of Light and Sons of Darkness culminating in the abolition of evil and dualism. These thematic parallels are of significant value to the understanding of the influence of the community at Qumran on the author of the Fourth Gospel; so impressive are these parallels that they can not simply be attributed to the concept of a common Jewish milieu of late Second Temple Judaism. In eschatological terms, the corresponding ideals of the two communities are suggestive of a Johannine author who was influenced by the society at Qumran.
In the religious figures of Saul of Tarsus and Augustine of Hippo, similarities are found, not only in their individual conversions to Christianity, but also in their attempts to change the cultural worldview of their time. They faced like challenges trying to combine other belief systems with the belief that the God of the Hebrew scripture was the God of Truth and the one and only God. It became their life’s purpose to make Christianity the way for all.
According to Peter Eicher’s standard monograph on this topic, the concept of self-revelation is to be rated as the ‘Principle of modern theology’. Despite far-reaching differences in terms of approach and development, this basic concept is shared by the most heterogeneous modern theologians, such as Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Rudolf Bultmann, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, Richard Niebuhr, Jürgen Moltmann, Eberhard Jüngel, and Wolfhart Pannenberg. A more or less balanced composite of their different approaches is part of every undergraduate introduction to contemporary theology, as articulated, for example, in Alasdair McGrath’s Christian theology: “God has taken the initiative through a process of self-disclosure, which reaches its climax and fulfilment in the history of Jesus of Nazareth.“ However, despite the modern inclination to project the concept of self-revelation onto de-contextualized Bible verses such as John 14:9, self-revelation is anything but biblical in origin. In spite of this, only a few scholars are aware of how modern theology came to adopt this concept; it is adopted somewhat unreflectively. This is ironic, particularly in the context of modern biblical studies.
The Book of Daniel is the only full-blown apocalyptic book in the Protestant recognized version of the Canon. A literary device divides the book into two halves. Chapters 1-6 are a collection of stories that introduces the reader to Daniel and three other Israelites as unwilling guests of the Babylonia Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. The second half, Chapters 7-12 consists of apocalyptic imagery of deformed beasts and the heavenly court. The focus of this paper will be on chapter 7, which serves as a bridge of the two halves. Chapter 7 is the earliest of the visions as it identifies with the genre of 8-12 while through language and content it reverts to Daniel chapter 2. The linguistic break down is not as neat as the literary divide in that Dan. 2:4b-7:28 was written in Aramaic while other portions of the book is written in Hebrew.
“Revelation” starts off at a small town doctor’s office in the waiting room. Mrs. Turpin and several other characters are making small talk as they wait to see the doctor. Mrs. Turpin’s words quickly reveal the fact that she is a prejudiced snob. She is very quick to judge everyone in the room. Mary Grace is an ugly girl who is setting in the room listening to all of Mrs. Turpin’s judgments. Mary Grace gets very upset with Mrs. Turpin for being so judgmental. Instead of saying something to make her stop, Mary Grace throws her book at Mrs. Turpin. She then continues to hit and strangle Mrs. Turpin. During the struggle, Mary Grace calls Mrs. Turpin and “old warthog from hell”. Mrs. Turpin goes on with her day very angry. She could not understand what she had in common with a warthog since she was better than everyone else. While Mrs. Turpin was taking care of her family’s pigs she had a revelation. She was talking to God and she realized that she was wrong for making judgments so quickly and thinking that she was better than others.
New flowers blooming, baby animals, and the cold giving way to warmth, the season of spring embodies the idea of rebirth. Like nature, people have the ability to be reborn, becoming someone completely different than who they were before. In the novel, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the theme of rebirth is prominent throughout the story, allowing the characters to develop into who they are supposed to be.
Works Cited: Aune, David E. Revelation 1-5. Word Biblical Commentary 52A. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1997. Bauckham, Richard. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. New Testament Theology.
There are two kinds of revelations: (1) universal revelations, which are contained in the Bible or in the depositum of Apostolic tradition transmitted by the Church. These ended with the preaching of the Apostles and must be believed by all; (2) particular or private revelations which are constantly occurring among Christians (see CONTEMPLATION). When the Church approves private revelations, she declares only that there is nothing in them contrary faith or good morals, and that they may be read without danger or even with profit; no obligation is thereby imposed on the faithful to believe them. Speaking of such revelations as (e.g.) those of St. Hildegard (approved in part by Eugenius III), St. Bridget (by Boniface IX), and St. Catherine of Siena (by Gregory XI) Benedict XIV says: "It is not obligatory nor even possible to give them the assent of Catholic faith, but only of human faith, in conformity with the dictates of prudence, which presents them to us as probable and worthy of pius belief)" (De canon., III, liii, xxii, II).
As defined by Migliore, Revelation means an “unveiling,” uncovering,” or “disclosure” of something previously hidden. Today, Community of Christ affirms the Living God is ever self-revealing to the world through the testimony of Israel and Jesus Christ. Revelation provides important decisions about who God is and how we are to understand the world and ourselves. In seeking to understand, as a member of Community of Christ, we must explore the historical and contextual response of the leaderships to revelation within the setting of the Restoration and the Reorganization era.
The term millennium does not appear anywhere in Scripture. The idea originated from a thousand year period of time that characterizes the reign of the Messiah. In fact, the phrase “thousand years” is stated six times in Revelation 20. There are three main schools of thought based upon one’s view of the thousand-year reign of Christ. These views are: Amillennial, Postmillennial and Premillennial. Over the centuries these prophetic differences have caused conflict within the body of Christ and are still currently widely debated. Instead of the book of Revelation being the basis of comfort (1 Thess. 4:18) among Christians it has become a bone of contention. However, this controversy should not deter Christ’s disciples from receiving the blessings that Revelation has to offer (Rev. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Rather, one should study prophecy under the Spirit’s guidance and look at the data provided within the full context of the Word assessing each of the views for correct motives and presuppositions. Therefore, this paper will examine the nature, timing, and duration of the millennium as well as the occupants of the millennial kingdom and the relationship of Israel and the Church to the millennial kingdom. The aim of this paper is to address “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place” (Rev. 1:1, ESV).
Recapitulation is a music technique employed by various composers which reiterates a familiar theme with slight embellishments, most commonly found in Sonata-form. A similar concept, of reiterated concepts is also employed by John in the Book of Revelation. While this essay will not discuss music, it will explore the use of recapitulation in the Book of Revelation. Through the use of this literary device, John creates a pattern which accentuates the ________________. There are many theories regarding the entailment of recapitulation in the Book of Revelation spanning form the inclusion of the seals, trumpets and bowls while other theories all include the the presentation of the characters, such as the contrast
In terms of Revelation 12’s canonical context, the text functions as the rising action section of the book. To explain, chapters 1to 3 functions to introduce the author and provides his reasons for writing to the seven churches. Subsequently, each of the seven churches of Asia Minor are addressed. In this section, John communicates “messages of encouragement, rebuke, challenge, and hope to the particular congregations to which the letter is addressed” (Pattemore, 65). The rest of the book, particularly chapter 4 to 22 consists of the details of John’s apocalyptic vision. Specifically, chapter 4 is the starting point for John’s apocalyptic vision as he is invited into heaven to be receive information from God and the heavenly seven spirits that
Thiselton, A. C. (1980). The two horizons: New Testament hermeneutics and philosophical description. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, xix.