Introduction to the book of Revelation

1. Introduction to the book of Revelation

2. Methods of interpreting the book- • The preterist view- the predictions of virtually the entire book have been fulfilled. • The historicist view- the book is a prophetic forecast of the history of the church.

3. The symbolical or idealist view- the book set forth by symbol basic spiritual principles which govern the life of the church throughout every age of its earthly pilgrimage. • The extreme futurist view- (Dispensationalism) after chapter three the remainder of the prophecy sets for the eschatological events to be fulfilled at the end of the history. Thus the predictions of virtually the entire book have yet to be fulfilled.

4. The moderate futurist view- those who follow this view contend that the vents beginning with chapter 7 lie in the future. • The progressive parallelism view- each of the seven scenes of the book cover the entire period of the church age between Christ=s first and second coming. Each of the seven scenes covers the period from a slightly different perspective, and adds some new information that the other scenes do not add, with each scene becoming more climactic.

5. The Author of the book- This book was recognized early on (second century) as having been written by John the apostle. It is less recognized today. Because of lack of time, I will refer you to the commentary by Mounce as well as to a new book by Bauckham for more on authorship.

6. The Date of the book- • Late date: Arguments for a date during the reign of Domitian (95-96)- • Irenaeus testimony- Irenaeus both in his works and is confirmed by Jerome to have said that the book was written during the reign of Domitian. This evidence is not without its problems, many of which have to do with the translation of Irenaeus. • The Emperor worship- this is alluded to in the book and is much more widespread during the later period. • The persecutions- these seem to fit better with the reign of Domitian than Nero. Though it must be admitted that the evidence for empire wide persecutions under either emperor is scanty. • The seven churches- the fact that they have developed and fallen away seems to indicate a later date.

7. Early date: Arguments for a date during the reign of Nero (65)- • Rev. 17:10- Gentry suggests that the Nero is the sixth king and thus this passage points very clearly to the early date of the book. I find his analysis less than convincing. For the complete argument see Gentry, Before Jerusalem Fell, p. 152. • Jerusalem and the temple in 11:1-2- does the present tense indicate that the temple is still standing? It is possible that in a vision one can see things that no longer exist. • Other arguments-

8. The nature of the book. What is apocalyptic? • Three Levels of meaning for the word: • Genre-what kind of book was an apocalyptic or an apocalypse? See Rev. 1:1 where this denotes the genre of the book. • The kind of eschatology found in these books, i.e. apocalyptic eschatology. • Social ideology-social matrix and world view which produce this kind of work.

9. Characteristics of the Genre • Revelation of heavenly mysteries is an important element. These usually occur in the form of a vision; sometimes a voice. This is seen by some to be the primary characteristic of apocalyptic. There has been a great deal of work on the nature of the experience of the writer of the apocalyptic. Did they really have a dream or is this a literary technique without any genuine experience? How were these books received? Did they see it as a transparent literary fiction? • Symbolism-events in history are described in the guise of animals, etc. Some think that the symbolism was used partly to conceal; others that this is a world of symbolism that one enters in to. Thus part of the meaning is in the way that these events were described. This is often a historical narration disguised as a prediction. Often the sins of the people as well as the faithfulness of God was a key point.

10. Apocalyptic Eschatology-what kind of teaching do we find in these books? • Strong philosophy of history. God is in charge and is unfolding his plan. The heavenly tablets, God has written everything on them that will happen in history. • Imminence - the end is near, the unfolding of the historic event is about to come to its climax. • The certainty of God’s ultimate victory. • Apocalyptic language-

11. Some important questions about the book: • What is the number of the beast?- in Rev. 13:18 John gives the number of the beast as 666. What does this mean? • What is the dominant theme of the book?- • What kind of Christology does one find in the book?-