Book of Revelation

Dan Fefferman

For other uses, see Book of Revelation (disambiguation).

Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Four seraphim surround the throne; the twenty-four elders sit to the left and right. They are dressed in white robes, representing pureness, and have crowns of gold on their heads, denoting royalty and honor (Rev 4:4). The book of Revelation does not specifically identify who the twenty-four elders are, though they are thought to be the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve Disciples of Jesus.

The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John or Apocalypse of John, (literally, apocalypse of John; Greek, Αποκαλυψις Ιωαννου, Apokalupsis Iōannou) (IPA: [əˈpɑkəlɪps]) is the last canonical book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is the only biblical book that is wholly composed of apocalyptic literature. Other apocalypses popular in the early Christian era did not achieve canonical status, except for the 2 Esdras (Apocalypse of Ezra), which is canonical in the Russian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches.

Naming

The book is frequently called "Revelation"; however, the title found on some of the earliest manuscripts is "The Apocalypse/Revelation of John" (Αποκάλυψις Ιωάννου), and the most common title found on later manuscripts is "The Apocalypse/Revelation of the theologian" (ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΛΟΓΟΥ).

Many people mistakenly call the book "Revelations" or "The Book of Revelations" due to the long series of events which unfold throughout the manuscript. However, the events are part of only one revelation (that of the End Times). The first sentence of the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ ... unto his servant John, is also sometimes used as a title.

Introduction

After a short introduction (ch. 1:1–10), the book presents an account of the author, who identifies himself as John, and of two visions that he received on the isle of Patmos. The first vision (chs. 1:11–3:22), related by "one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle," speaking with "a great voice, as of a trumpet," is a statement addressed to the seven churches of Asia. The second vision, which makes up the rest of the book (chs. 4–22), begins with "a door … opened in the sky" and describes the end of the world—involving the final rebellion by Satan at Armageddon, God's final defeat of Satan, and the restoration of peace to the world.

Revelation is considered one of the most controversial and difficult books of the Bible, with many diverse interpretations of the meanings of the various names and events in the account. Protestant founder Martin Luther at first considered Revelation to be "neither apostolic nor prophetic" and stated that "Christ is neither taught nor known in it", and placed it in his Antilegomena. John Calvin believed the book to be canonical, yet it was the only New Testament book on which he did not write a commentary.

In the 4th century, St. John Chrysostom and other bishops argued against including this book in the New Testament canon, chiefly because of the difficulties of interpreting it and the danger for abuse.^{[citation needed]} Christians in Syria also reject it because of the Montanists' heavy reliance on it. In the 9th century, it was included with the Apocalypse of Peter among "disputed" books in the Stichometry of St. Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.^{[citation needed]} In the end it was included in the accepted canon, although it remains the only book of the New Testament that is not read within the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church. See Biblical canon for details.

Religious skeptics have typically been highly critical of Revelation, often considering it the work of a mentally ill author. Typical in this vein is nineteenth-century agnostic Robert G. Ingersoll, who famously branded Revelation "the insanest of all books".

Scholars have also noted striking parallels with Mithraic Greek Magical Papyri literature, specifically the Mithraic Liturgy. Compare Revelation 1:13–16 to;

and a god descending, a god immensely great, having a bright appearance youthful, golden-haired, with a white tunic and a golden crown and trousers, and holding in his right hand a golden (700) shoulder of a young bull: this is the Bear which moves and turns heaven around, moving upward and downward in accordance with the hour. Then you will see lightning-bolts leaping from his eyes and stars from his body.

Authorship

Template:John

Traditional view

The author of Revelation identifies himself several times as "John" (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). The author also states that he was in exile on the island of Patmos when he received his first vision (1:9; 4:1–2). As a result, the author of Revelation is referred to as John of Patmos. John explicitly addresses Revelation to seven churches of Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (1:4, 11). All of these sites are located in what is now Turkey.

The traditional view holds that John the Apostle—considered to have written the Gospel and epistles by the same name—was exiled on Patmos in the Aegean archipelago during the reign of Emperor Domitian, and wrote the Revelation there. Those in favor of a single common author point to similarities between the Gospel and Revelation. For example, both works are soteriological (e.g. referring to Jesus as a lamb) and possess a high Christology, stressing Jesus' divine side as opposed to the human side stressed by the Synoptic Gospels. In the Gospel of John and in Revelation, Jesus is referred to as "the Word of God" (Ő λογος του θεου). Explanations of the differences among John's work by proponents of the single-author view include factoring in underlying motifs and purposes, authorial target audience, the author's collaboration with or utilization of different scribes and the advanced age of John the Apostle when he wrote Revelation.

A natural reading of the text would reveal that John is writing literally as he sees the vision (Rev 1:11; 10:4; 14:3; 19:9; 21:5) and that he is warned by an angel not to alter the text through a subsequent edit (Rev 22:18-19), in order to maintain the textual integrity of the book.

Early views

A number of Church Fathers weighed in on the authorship of Revelation. Justin Martyr avows his belief in its apostolic origin. Irenaeus (178) assumes it as a conceded point. At the end of the 2nd century, we find it accepted at Antioch, by Theophilus, and in Africa by Tertullian. At the beginning of the 3rd century, it is adopted by Clement of Alexandria and by Origen, later by Methodius, Cyprian, and Lactantius. Dionysius of Alexandria (247) rejected it, upon doctrinal rather than critical grounds. Eusebius (315) suspended his judgment, hesitating between the external and internal evidence. Some canons, especially in the Eastern Church, rejected the book, while most others included it.

Modern views

Although the traditional view still has many adherents, some modern scholars^{[citation needed]} believe that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos refer to three separate individuals. Certain lines of evidence suggest that John of Patmos wrote only Revelation, not the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. For one, the author of Revelation identifies himself as "John" several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. While both works liken Jesus to a lamb, they consistently use different words for lamb when referring to him — the Gospel uses amnos, Revelation uses arnion. Lastly, the Gospel is written in nearly flawless Greek, but Revelation contains grammatical errors and stylistic abnormalities which indicate its author may not have been as familiar with the Greek language as the Gospel's author.^{[citation needed]}

Dating

According to early tradition, the writing of this book took place near the very end of Domitian's reign, around 95 or 96. Others contend for an earlier date, 68 or 69, in the reign of Nero or shortly thereafter. The majority of modern scholars also use these dates.Those who are in favor of the later date appeal to the external testimony of the Christian father Irenaeus (d. 185), who stated that he had received information relative to this book from those who had seen John face to face. He says that the Apocalypse "was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign" (A.H. 5.30.3), who according to Eusebius had started the persecution referred to in the book. However, recent scholars dispute that the book is situated in a time of ongoing persecution and have also doubted the reality of a large-scale Domitian persecution.

Some exegetes (Paul Touilleux, Albert Gelin, André Feuillet) distinguish two dates: publication (under Domitian) and date of the visions (under Vespasian). Various editors would have a hand in the formation of the document, according to these theories. The dating of the work is still widely debated in the scholarly community.

Eschatology

Some Protestant theologians argue that the Gospel of John contains a realized eschatology which contradicts the futurist eschatology contained in Revelation (e.g., chs. 21–22). Against this Protestant view, however, stands the Protestant proposition that, properly interpreted, even realized eschatology is not fully realized eschatology: God's kingdom has been initiated but is not entirely implemented.

The second opinion is the Catholic and Orthodox view. Both churches hold the differing opinion that they are the visible kingdom and Government spoken of in Isaiah that God setup entirely and until the end of time. Therefore they do not fall under that previous Protestant opinion, and their joint view of the historicity of the entire prophecy of both books (John and Revelation), and also of the prophecy contained in Matthew 23, is entirely defensible. The basis for this argument is, amongst other passages, Matthew 23:36, "Till this generation passes" and Chapters 11:19 to 12:18 of the Book of Revelation, which Catholics believe is both a showing by Christ to John, of the spiritual meaning of the Virgin Mary's escape from Jerusalem and eventual Coronation in Heaven, which John originally took part in but didn't understand. The narrative is at the same time also considered a metaphor for the Church and its followers and how they will be protected by God.

The "whore of Babylon" and "666" are generally therefore considered to be apostolic code for pre-Christian Rome and the Emperor Nero respectively. For Catholics and Orthodox Christians, the only prophecy yet to be realized in the book of Revelation and in the Bible altogether is the Second Coming of Christ.^{[citation needed]}

Chronology

Revelation is divided into seven cycles of events, with the number seven also appearing frequently as a symbol within the Book of Revelation. The chapters of Revelation present a series of events, full of imagery and metaphor, which detail the chronology of God's judgment on the world.

Exact interpretations of the chronology of Revelation vary extensively. Some Biblical scholars interpret the events literally, as a chronological "laundry list" of happenings that will be experienced as the time of Revelation grows near. Others feel that the imagery contains symbolic commentaries on the world during the historical period in which Revelation was written.

Schools of thought

There are several schools of thought concerned with how the contents of the Book of Revelation should be interpreted.

• The Biblical prophecy school of thought holds that the contents of Revelation, especially when interpreted in conjunction with the Book of Daniel and other eschatological sections of the Bible, constitute a prophecy of the end times. This school can be further subdivided into the preterist view, which sees the book concerned with 1st-century events; the futurist view, which applies most of the events in the book into the end times (namely from chapter 6 onwards); and the historicist view, which regards the book as spanning history from the first century through the second coming.
• A second Biblical Prophecy school of thought exists, believing that Revelation is a rewriting of the various prophetic books of the Old Testament and that it was originally located at the end of the Old Testament with several other, since removed, prophetic books. This school also maintains that many of these same prophetic books are merely different rewrites of each other (in the same way that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are thought to be by some scholars).^{[citation needed]}
• The historical-critical approach, which became dominant among critical scholars of religion since the end of the 18th century, attempts to understand Revelation within the genre of apocalyptic literature, which was popular in both Jewish and Christian tradition since the Babylonian diaspora, following the pattern of the Book of Daniel. There is further information on these topics in the entries on higher criticism and apocalyptic literature.
• The long-standing and highly controversial view of the esoteric schools is that Revelation, like all scriptures, bears seven levels of meaning, the lowest being the literal or "dead-letter." Those who are instructed in the esoteric knowledge enter gradually into more subtle levels of understanding. From this perspective, it can be understood that Revelation, as a very difficult scripture to grasp intellectually, is more directly concerned with guiding those who have some degree of esoteric knowledge, which requires going beyond the use of the intellect. The Gnostic Kabbalist believes that Revelation (like Genesis) is a very profound book of Kabbalistic symbolism, written by a Kabbalist, for Kabbalist disciples. With the Kabbalah in hand, the disciple can more easily grasp the simultaneous presence of multiple levels of meaning contained in one symbol or allegory. This view is held by schools related to teachers such as H.P. Blavatsky, Eliphas Levi, Rudolf Steiner and Samael Aun Weor.^{[citation needed]}
• Recently, aesthetic and literary modes of interpretation focus on Revelation as a work of art and imagination, viewing the imagery as symbolic depictions of timeless truths and the victory of good over evil.
• Neo-Ebionites and other Neo-Essenes regard Revelation as a description of the Destruction of The Temple in 70 and the subsequent Imperial Roman persecution of Jews and Christians.

• The "Patristic Interpretation," or the view held by St. Augustine^{[citation needed]} , Jerome^{[citation needed]}, and other early Church Fathers, views Revelation as an attempt to describe a spiritual reality and heavenly worship and compare it to the liturgy of the Christian Church. Although all but forgotten today, this interpretation is alluded to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church^{[citation needed]} and has been avidly promoted by modern theologians such as Scott Hahn .

These schools of thought are not mutually exclusive, and many Christians adopt a combination of these approaches in the manner they find most meaningful. However, certain tendencies may be observed. The Biblical Prophecy school of thought is popular among Protestant fundamentalists, other evangelicals (many of whom also find value in the other approaches), and amongst Rastafarians, who interpret the book very differently from fundamentalist Christians but definitely belong to the Biblical Prophecy school. (Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie I to be the Messiah and God incarnate.) Members of more mainline and liberal churches tend to prefer the historical-critical and aesthetic approaches. Moreover, Roman and Orthodox churches have delimited their own specific positions on Revelation.

Schools of interpretation

There are four major schools of interpretation.

Preterist view

Preterism holds that the contents of Revelation constitute a prophecy of events that were fulfilled in the 1st century. This view depends critically on an early date of Revelation, c. 68, since any later date makes the "prophecy" postdate the events prophesied. Even accepting that date leaves a narrow margin of one to two years before the fulfillment occurs. Preterist interpretations generally identify either Jerusalem or Pagan Rome as the persecutor of the Church, "Babylon," the "Mother of Harlots," etc. They see Armageddon as God's judgment on the Jews, carried out by the Roman army, which is identified as "the beast." Some preterists see the second half of Revelation as changing focus to Rome, its persecution of Christians, and the fall of the Roman Empire. It sees the Revelation being fulfilled in 70, thereby bringing the full presence of God to dwell with all humanity. It also holds, especially in the Catholic belief, that the Emperor Nero, who blamed the Rome fire on the Christians in Rome, sparking a wave of persecution, was possibly the Antichrist mentioned in the book as his name equals 666 in Roman numerals. Also, if using the Latin spelling of Nero's name, but using the Hebrew symbols with their assigned numeric values (an ancient method known as gematria), the total of the numeric values equals 666. However, a few ancient manuscripts of the Revelation say the number is 616, fifty less than the more well known numeral. A possible method to this problem lies in early translation. In the assumption that the Revelation was meant to be distributed among the early Christians, it could very well be assumed that occasionally someone may have used the Hebrew spelling of Nero's name and not the Latin spelling, so the total value of the gematria would be 616. Catholics generally believe chapters 11:19 to 12:18 are the true story of the Journey to Ephesus (and then later to Heaven) of the Virgin Mary (who they believe is the Second ark of the Covenant), and a possible metaphor for the plight of the early church.^{[citation needed]} All that remains for Catholic preterists is Christ's second coming.^{[citation needed]}

Another view of the book of Revelation is known as Partial Preterism. This view, much like modern dispensationalism, splits end-times prophecy into multiple parts. Whereas in some of the many varieties of dispensationalism, part of the Book of Revelation is literal where as other parts are figurative, Partial-Preterism does the same and holds Matthew 24 to be partially speaking of the fall of Jerusalem in 70, where as other parts are fulfilled at the final return of Christ.^{[citation needed]}

Futurist view

The futurist view assigns all or most of the prophecy to the future, shortly before the second coming. Futurist interpretations generally predict a resurrection of the dead and a Rapture of the living, wherein all true Christians and those who have not reached an age of accountability are gathered to Christ at the time God's kingdom comes on earth. They also believe a Great Tribulation will occur - a seven year period of time when believers will experience worldwide persecution and martyrdom, and be purified and strengthened by it. Futurists differ on when believers will be raptured ("caught up"), but there are three primary views: 1) before the Tribulation; 2) near or at the midpoint of the Tribulation; or 3) at the end of the Tribulation. There is also a fourth view of multiple raptures throughout the Tribulation, but this view does not have a mainstream following.

Pretribulationists believe that all Christians then alive will be taken bodily up to meet Christ before the Tribulation begins. In doing so, Christians are "kept" from the Tribulation, much as Noah was removed before God judged the antediluvian world. Pretribulationists believe the Dispensation of Grace concludes when Christians are taken up. Midtribulationists believe that the rapture of the faithful will occur approximately halfway through the Tribulation, after it begins but before the worst part of it occurs. Some midtribulationists, particularly those holding to a "pre-wrath rapture" of the church, believe that God's wrath is poured out during a "Great Tribulation" that is limited to the last 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation, after believers have been caught up to Christ. Posttribulationists believe that Christians will not be taken up into Heaven, but will be gathered in the sky and received into the Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation. (Pretribulationist Tim LaHaye admits a post-tribulation rapture is the closest of the three views to that held by the early church.) All three views hold that Christians will return with Christ at the end of the Tribulation. Proponents of all three views also generally portray Israel as unwittingly signing a seven year peace treaty with the Antichrist, which initiates the seven year Tribulation. Many also tend to view the Antichrist as head of a revived Roman Empire, but the geographic location of this empire is unknown. Hal Lindsey suggests that this revived Roman Empire will be centered in western Europe, with Rome as its capital. Tim LaHaye promotes the belief that Babylon will be the capital of a world-wide empire. Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat have both recently written books proposing a revived eastern Roman Empire, which will fall with the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. (Istanbul also has seven hills, was a capital of the Roman Empire and is known as the Golden Horn - notable given the escatological references to the "Little Horn".) There is also a variant Futuristic view that the Tribulation can occur in any generation, meaning Satan always has an antichrist in the wings and there is always a nation-state that can become the revived Roman Empire. This variant view is developed by Angela Hunt in her fictional work, The Immortal.

The futurist view was first proposed by two Catholic writers, Manuel Lacunza and Ribera. Lacunza wrote under the pen name "Ben Ezra," and his work was banned by the Catholic Church. It has grown in popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries, so that today it is probably most readily recognized. Books about the "rapture" by authors like Hal Lindsey, and the more recent Left Behind novels (by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye) and movies, have done much to popularize this school of thought.

The Rastafarians hold a futurist view of the book of Revelation, relating it both to 20th-century events such as the crowning of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, and also to future events such as the second coming of Selassie on the day of judgment.

The various views on tribulation are actually a subset of theological interpretations on the Millennium, mentioned in Revelation 20. There are three main interpretations: Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism.

Premillennialism believes that Christ will return to the earth, bind Satan, and reign for a literal thousand years on earth with Jerusalem as his capital. Thus Christ returns before ("pre-") the thousand years mentioned in chapter 20. There are generally two subclasses of Premillennialism: Dispensational and Historic. Some form of premillennialism is thought to be the oldest millennial view in church history.^{[citation needed]} Papias, believed to be a disciple of the Apostle John, was a premillenialist, according to Eusebius.

Amillennialism, the traditional view for Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, believes that the thousand years mentioned are not ("a-") a literal thousand years, but is figurative for what is now the church age, usually, the time between Christ's first ascension and second coming. This view is often associated with Augustine of Hippo. Amillennialists differ on the time frame of the millennium as some say it started with Pentecost, others say it started with the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy regarding the destruction temple in Jerusalem (70), and other starting points have also been proposed. Whether this eschatology is the result of caesaropapism, which may have also been the reason that premillennialism was condemned, is sharply disputed.

Postmillennialism believes that Christ will return after ("post-") a literal/figurative thousand years, in which the world will have essentially become a Christendom. This view was held by Jonathan Edwards. This view gained momentum through the nineteenth century, but World Wars I and II dealt a setback to this approach.

Historicist view

The historicist view regards the prophecy as spanning the time from the end of the first century through the second coming of Christ.

Politically, historicist interpretations apply the symbols of Revelation to the gradual division and collapse of the Roman Empire, the emergence of a divided Europe in the West and a Muslim empire in the East, and the collapse of the Eastern Empire while Europe attempts to reunite and recreate the Roman Empire.

Ecclesiastically, historicist interpretations see Revelation as teaching that the Church would expand, despite persecution, until it "conquered" the whole world—but in the process, would gradually evolve into an apostate system within which true Christians would be a persecuted minority. The apostate Church is associated with the symbols of the "Mother of Harlots" and with "Babylon." It is seen as an "Antichrist system" which exists for much of history rather than expecting a single "Antichrist" in the last days, as futurist interpretations do.

According to historicist interpretations, the second coming of Christ occurs about the time that a partly reunited Europe starts to wage war against Israel. This view is held mainly by Fundamentalist Protestant Christians. The exact constitution of this confederacy differs between interpretations: in some it is mainly composed of Eastern European countries, notably Russia; in others, Western European; some include Britain, while others suggest that Britain and former Commonwealth nations will oppose the confederacy. In all historicist interpretations, Christ defeats this confederacy, rescues Israel from certain destruction, judges apostate Christianity and vindicates the true believers, and sets up a kingdom on earth.

The earliest Christian writers adopted a historicist viewpoint, though at such an early date, the distinction between historicist and futurist views was less pronounced. Historicist interpretations tend to be millenarian, emphasizing the literal reign of Christ on earth, and as that doctrine receded in importance, so too did the historicist focus in interpretation. Today, historicist interpretations are favored in the most ardently millenarian sects.

Some Protestant writers today use this school of interpretation as the foundation for an anti-Catholic polemic, but it should be noted that such is not an inherent property of historical interpretations. Many Catholic writers in the fourth and fifth centuries applied the notion of future apostasy to their own church, in various ways. Some argued that an apostasy would arise within the church. Others argued that this had already happened, and cited one or another sect which arose over some theological dispute. What differs between interpretations is the identity of the apostasy.

Spiritual or idealist view

The Spiritual view (also called Idealist by some writers) does not see the book of Revelation as predicting specific events in history. Rather it sees the visions as expressing eternal spiritual truths that find expression throughout history. Only in the last few chapters are specifically predictive eschatological issues taken up.^{[citation needed]}

Interpretations

Eastern Orthodox view

Eastern Orthodoxy has an interpretation that does not fit well into any of the above classifications. It treats the text as simultaneously describing contemporaneous events and as prophecy of events to come, for which the contemporaneous events were a form of foreshadow. It rejects attempts to determine, before the fact, if the events of Revelation are occurring by mapping them onto present-day events, taking to heart the Scriptural warning against those who proclaim "He is here!" prematurely. Instead, the book is seen as a warning to be spiritually and morally ready for the end times, whenever they may come ("as a thief in the night"), but they will come at the time of God's choosing, not something that can be precipitated nor trivially deduced by mortals. The Book of Revelation is the only book of the New Testament that is not publicly read by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Anglican view

The Anglican/Episcopal view is that this book should be seen as a book of hope and also a book of warning. It gives hope to those Christians who are being persecuted, assuring them that their suffering is not in vain. It also warns those non-Christians of the coming events and what will happen to them. Revelation is an example of typical Jewish Apocalyptic literature. It uses symbolic imagery to communicate hope to those in the midst of persecution. The events which occur in Revelation are ordered according to literary, rather than strictly chronological patterns.

Latter-day Saint view

Mormonism believes that the Book of Revelation reveals important prophecy about the last days, the millennium, judgement, the destruction of Babylon (Satan's forces of evil), and the triumph of Christ's forces of good. Distinctly Mormon views involve the nature of a divine inheritance in the afterlife for those who overcome by faith in Jesus Christ. They also view the first six seals as a representation of six-thousand years of earth's temporal existence, or being in a non-paradisaical state, with the seventh seal representing the millennium. This gives them a historicist view spanning a much larger period of time than the traditional historicist views of the book.^{[citation needed]}

Paschal Liturgical view

This view, put forth by a few Catholic theologians, considers the liturgical worship, particularly the Easter rites, of early Christianity as background and context for understanding the Book of Revelation's structure and significance. It is explained in The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse by Massey H. Shepherd and in Scott Hahn's The Lamb's Supper - the Mass as Heaven on Earth, in which he states that Revelation in form, is structured after creation, fall, judgment and redemption. Those who hold this view say that the Temple’s destruction had a profound effect on the Jewish people, not only in Jerusalem but among the Greek-speaking Jews of the Mediterranean. They believe Revelation is intended to give insight into the early Eucharist, saying that it is the new Temple worship in the New Heaven and Earth.

Esoteric view

The esoterist views the Book as delivering both a series of warnings for humanity and a detailed account of internal, spiritual processes of the individual soul. The seven seals are the seven chakras and the consequence of opening them is the unleashing of the physiological forces that reside there. The Second Coming is thus a personal event, the integration of your spiritual self with your animal self, resulting in a fully conscious human.

Some scholars have noted the similarities of the myth of Revelation about a rider on a white horse with the Buddhist and Hindu myths of Kalki who is considered the last avatar in the cycle of ages and is also associated with the end of time.

The esoteric view also presents the Book as the Christian yoga (union) practices text on death and rebirth in Christ. The four horsemen are described as the four elemental forces (fire, water, air, earth) and are used in the spiritual purification of the body and mind. The characters of Revelation are considered anthropomorphized aspects of human consciousness.

Edgar Cayce had a similar interpretation.

New Church view

The doctrine of the New Church includes a work called Apocalypse Revealed , written by Emanuel Swedenborg. This view considers the Book of Revelation a prophetical account of the judgment on the Christian church and the establishment of a new Christian church. The imagery in the visions are seen as symbolic depictions of the spiritual event of Jesus' second coming, and the resistance to his advent among those in the Christian church who are in love of power, and in dead faith. Those who believe Jesus is God, and follow his commandments are seen as those who are of the new church. The struggle between the new Christian church with the established church is the seen as the spiritual theme underlying Revelation. Apocalypse Revealed goes through a detailed exposition of the correspondences of each figure in the book.

Radical discipleship

The radical discipleship view asserts that the Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i.e. how to remain faithful to the teachings of Jesus and avoid getting lured by worldly ways. In this view, the primary agenda of the book is to expose the worldly powers as impostors which seek to oppose the ways of God. The chief temptation for Christians in the 1st Century, and today, is to fail to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus and instead be lured into adopting worldly ways, values, and priorities - imperialism being the most dangerous and insidious. This perspective (closely related to Liberation theology) draws on the approach of radical Bible scholars such as Ched Myers, William Stringfellow, and Daniel Berrigan.

Alternative

Some interpreters surmise that the Vision of Heaven in Chapter 4 resembles a calendar and clock representation to set up the rest of the Chronology of Revelation. This timeless model includes distinct correlations to cyclic events such as the 24 hours of a day, (24 elders) the seven days of the week (seven lamps of fire) and the four seasons of the year (the four living creatures). This somewhat literal interpretation asserts that John is referring back to the Book of Genesis beginning at the rainbow (halo), "the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth" as an affirmation that the covenant still stands. In this covenant God promises to Noah that the Earth will remain and that the seasons would continue as periodic periods of warm and cool.

The interpretation expands to include the notion of the hour (1/24^;th of a day) and the nearly universal acceptance of a seven-day week are symbolized here in a static form palpable to Mediterranean readers. Further treatment along these lines illuminate this passage as a timeless preface to the chronology to follow, establishing the principle that God exists outside of time: "who was and is and is to come," but is aware of the Human concepts that allow the marking of time. John's notion here supports also that Jesus is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). See also Hour and Calculating the day of the week

In this school of thought, John is appointed by Jesus as a scribe after the order referred to in Matthew 13:52: "Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of Heaven, is like unto a householder who brings forth of his treasure things new and old" (KJV). As such, he delivers to his readers a context based in the Alpha (gr. protos-beginning-Genesis) as a basis for the Omega (gr. eschatos-end-Revelation) and the prophetic scriptures that follow to the end of the apocolype.

Further transliteration indicates that the institution of periodic worship is practiced in Heaven by the four "living creatures" and the twenty-four elders. This interpretation supports the Earthly institution of daily and weekly worship that pervades the entirety of the Bible. Setting up a conceptual framework for periodicity allows the continuation of the text in the prophetic verses sequentially laid out in the opening of the seven seals on the scroll that follows...

The higher criticism

The higher criticism treats Revelation as a text, which is embodied and transmitted in manuscripts, which have their own histories. Such texts are subject to changes, such as miscopying, repetition of lines already entered, excision, interpolation or emendation. Motivations for such changes run the whole gamut of human motivations, and need also to be assessed in their historical context.

The acceptance of Revelation into the canon is itself the result of a historical process, essentially no different from the career of other texts. The eventual exclusion of other contemporary apocalyptic literature from the canon may throw light on the unfolding historical processes of what was officially considered orthodox, what was heterodox, what was even heretical. Interpretation of meanings and imagery are limited to what the historical author intended and what his contemporary audience inferred; a message to Christians not to assimilate into the Roman Imperial Culture was John's central message. Thus, his letter (written in the apocalyptic genre) is pastoral in nature, though the symbolism of Revelation is to be understood entirely within its historical literary and social context. Critics study the conventions of apocalyptic literature and events of the 1st century to make sense of what the author may have intended.

During a discussion about Revelation on 23 August 2006, Pope Benedict XVI remarked: "The seer of Patmos, identified with the apostle, is granted a series of visions meant to reassure the Christians of Asia amid the persecutions and trials of the end of the first century."

Nevertheless, many interpretative questions remain: Is the structure of the book linear, resumptive, or thematic? How does the imagery relate to historical events? Did the author intend one or multiple meanings in the text? The plurality of answers to these (and other) questions is plain to see both from the text of this article and scholarly opinion. The higher criticism has not provided definitive answers to these questions.

Dismissal

There are some notable critics who have dismissed The Book of Revelation as fraudulent, or otherwise fabricated. Among these is Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, "It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it [the Book of Revelation], and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherencies of our own nightly dreams."—Thomas Jefferson, letter to General Alexander Smyth, January 17, 1825

See also

Directly related

• Number of the Beast
• Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• Whore of Babylon
• Apocalypse
• Fifth Monarchy Men
• Laodicean Church
• Summary of Christian eschatological differences
• Apocalypse of John - dated astronomically

General

• Caesaropapism
• Christian eschatology
• Apocalyptic literature
• Apocalypticism
• Bible code
• End times
• Millennialism
• Left Behind
• The Omen
• Endtime Ministries
• New World Order (conspiracy)

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bass, Ralph E., Jr. 2004. Back to the Future: A Study in the Book of Revelation (ISBN 0-9759547-0-9) Greenville, SC: Living Hope Press.
• Understanding Prophecy and Typology http://www.inplainsite.org/html/prophecy_and_typology.html
• Brown, Raymond E. (October 3, 1997). Introduction to the New Testament. Anchor Bible. ISBN 0-385-24767-2. 
• Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr. 1998. Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation (ISBN 0-915815-43-5) Powder Springs, GA: American Vision.
• Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr. 2002. The Beast of Revelation (ISBN 0-915815-41-9) Powder Springs, GA: American Vision.
• Samael Aun Weor [1960] (2004). The Aquarian Message: Gnostic Kabbalah and Tarot in the Apocalypse of St. John. Thelema Press. ISBN 0-9745916-5-3. 
• Hahn, Scott. "The Lamb's Supper - Mass as Heaven on Earth." Darton, Longman, Todd. 1999. ISBN 0-232-52500-5
• Shepherd, Massey H. 2004. "The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse" ISBN 0-227-17005-9
• Stonehouse, Ned B., The Apocalypse in the Ancient Church. A Study in the History of the New Testament Canon, n.d. (c. 1929) Goes: Oosterbaan & Le Cointre. [Major discussion of the controversy surrounding the acceptance/rejection of Revelation into the New Testament canon.]
• Hudson, Gary W., Revelation: Awakening The Christ Within,Vesica Press,2006 ISBN 0977851729

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Revelation (KJV)

Commentaries on Revelation:

• Revelation Chart Commentary and chronological depiction.
• The Mystery of The Apocalypse
• Revelation Lectures by Prof. Siegbert Becker in .mp3 audio
• 22 Bible Studies on Revelation by Rev. Paul A. Bartz

Articles:

• Early Christian Writings: Apocalypse of John: text, introduction, context
• Apocalypse, Book of - Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia
• The End Times in Revelation - Article from Good News magazine
• Jewish Encyclopedia: REVELATION (BOOK OF)
• Biblaridion magazine: Revelation: Historic and interpretive investigation
• Cultural Impact of the Book of Revelation—September 2006 Interview

Preceded by: Jude

Books of the Bible

Succeeded by: N/A

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