The Theology, Christology, and Pneumatology of the Book of Revelation are highly reflective of the social, political and religious context in which the book was written. Within the text, we find expressed the views of an author, and Christian community in general, challenged by the power and ideology of Rome, as well as having to re-imagine and re-comprehend their God, and divinity in general, in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ and the work of the Spirit among them.
Before beginning this investigation it is important that we define as much as possible what is meant by ‘how God, Christ and the Spirit are portrayed’. The exploration of these figures holds an established set of names within Christian thought, specifically Theology, Christology, and Pneumatology. In this circumstance, Theology, which in general convention may contain all of these distinction, is defined more precisely as the way John understands God, or what Trinitarian Christianity would identify as God the Father. If we then use the base definition of Theology as ‘talk about God’, and extend this to both Christology and Pneumatology, we assemble a clearer idea of what we intend to do in this essay. Through examining the way in which John describes these three entities, God, Christ and the Spirit, as well as what they say and do, we will elicit the way in which John understands the heavenly realm and the divine being, as well as where Christ and the Spirit fit within it.
Having clarified the matters of Theology, Christology, and Pneumatology, let us now move on to explore the Theology of the Book of Revelation, that is, the way in which John, and so the book, understands God. The Theology of Revelation, according to Bauckham, is highly context...
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... of Revelation. London: T & T Clark Limited, 1993.
—. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Beale, G. K. "The Book of Revelation." In The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans/Carlisle Cumbria: Paternoster, 1999.
Bredin, Mark. Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace. Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2003.
Bucur, Bogdan G. "Hierarchy, Prophecy and the Angelomorphic Spirit: A Contribution to the Book of Revelation's Wirkungsgeschichte." Journal of Biblical Literature 127, no. 1 (2008): 173-194.
Carrell, Peter R. Jesus and the Angels: Angelology and the Christology of the Apocalypse of John. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
McGrath, Alister E. Theology: The Basics. 2nd. Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, 2008.
Woodman, Simon. The Book of Revelation. London: SCM Press, 2008.
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.
Tavard, George H. "The Christology of the Mystics." Theological Studies 42, no. 4 (December 1, 1981): 561-579. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2013).
Revelations of Divine Love is a 14th century masterpiece written by Julian of Norwich. This book is an account of St. Julian’s sixteen different mystical revelations in which she had encountered at a time of great suffering and illness. St. Julian focussed on the many “mysteries of Christianity.” Through her many revelations she encountered God’s vast love, the existence of evil, God’s heart for creation, the father and mother-heart of God, and the need to obey her Father in Heaven. Amongst these revelations the most powerful was the revelation of God’s love and character. Revelations of Divine Love is a wonderful source of revelation to connect a reader to the Father.
Taylor’s “From God’s Determinations” and Wheatley; s “Thoughts on the Work of Providence” project the feelings of love, faith, and dedication they have toward their religion. Both texts are fine examples of two men writing how they feel, giving accounts of what they believe, and explaining how God, a supernatural being, has played an important role in the shaping their lives through the many acts of miracle He has performed such as creating the Earth. To explain in further detail, both Taylor and Wheatley are constantly inserting examples of what their God has done throughout each text. It is made obvious to the reader that both men are very spiritual
This paper is written to discuss the many different ideas that have been discussed over the first half of Theology 104. This class went over many topics which gave me a much better understanding of Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. I will be addressing two topics of which I feel are very important to Christianity. First, I will be focusing on the question did Jesus claim to be God? This is one of the biggest challenges of the Bibles that come up quite often. Secondly, I will focus on character development.
McManners, John. "The Oxford History of Christianity." The Oxford History of Christianity. New York: New York Oxford Press, 2002. 28.
... Print. The. 2003 Hartman, Louis F. & Lella, Alexander A. The Anchor Bible, The Book Of Daniel. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. Print, 1978 Cook, Stephen L. Apocalyptic Literature.
The Christian worldview is centered on the Gospel and places their beliefs in the essential teachings of the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (DiVincenzo, 2015). This paper will explain who God is and what he created, what our purpose and nature is as humans, who Jesus was and what he did while on earth, how God plans to bring his people back into the right relationship with himself, and as a Christian how one is to live their life with an analysis of the Christian worldview.
There are several aspects to consider when exploring the Christian worldview. There are many facets or denominations and they each have their own distinct beliefs and practices, but they all share the same fundamental beliefs. In this Paper we will explore the character of God, His creation, humanity and its nature, Jesus’ significance to the world, and the restoration of humanity, as well as my beliefs and the way that I interact with Christianity and my personal worldview.
London: A & C Black, 1966. Charles, R.H. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John. International Critical Commentary.
Revelation identifies itself as “both an “apocalypse”…and as prophecy”, making it distinctly different from the rest of the New Testament. “Jewish apocalyptic literature flourished in the centuries following the completion of the OT canon”, and it is scattered throughout the Old Testaments in books such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. Apocalyptic literature is full of “visions that dramatize the prophet’s admission to God’s heavenly council”, and convey their meaning primarily through symbolism. John brings a “balanced message of comfort, warning, and rebuke” in Revelation, testifying to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Apart from the OT literature, Revelation shows a distinct optimism toward the end of days, for “Christ’s death has already won the decisive victory over evil”, with the Kingdom of God already among believers. This book was written in “approximately A.D. 95 on the island of Patmos”, which is still standing to this day. It was written under the emperor Domitian, with Roman authorities exiling John “to the island of Patmos (off the coast of Asia)”. The events in Revelation are also “ordered
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
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.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Pentecost, J Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1964.