Revelation

Despite its surreal and rather appalling images, says Roland Faley, the Book of Revelation is a book of real hope, filled with magnificent scenes and poetry. In this work, a commentary on and companion to the Book of Revelation, he makes this mysterious book of scripture, which is particularly relevant with the approaching millennium, accessible to a popular audience.

Writing in a simple style, the author takes the Book of Revelation section by section. Each section contains the particular passage from the Bible, an explanation of the meaning of that passage, based on contemporary biblical scholarship-the "Then," and a pastoral application that contains the author's reflections on the potential practical meaning of that passage for his readers-the "Now."

Evil may seem insurmountable, explains, Faley, but this book, rooted in faith and written in a time of trial, shows that Christ the Lamb will ultimately triumph. Engaging, enlightening, and inspiring, this book is the perfect text for Bible study classes, college courses, or everyday readers who may not have had the courage to approach this provocative text.

pastoral commentary

Scott Lewis begins his volume focusing on New Testament apocalyptic with Albert Schweitzer's famous 19th-century book The Quest for the Historical Jesus that concludes that both the worldview and the message of Jesus were thoroughly apocalyptic. And he brings us to the present with the heated debates generated by the historical Jesus research of the last 20 years and the rebirth of apocalyptic fervor at the beginning of the new millennium.

The book focuses on five areas:
1) the attempts since Schweitzer to define the apocalypse genre and its constituent eschatology and theology
2) the debate over the question concerning the nature of Jesus' teaching and proclamation, and whether the apocalyptic statements attributed to him are genuine or products of the early church
3) the apocalyptic nature of Paul's proclamation and the central role it plays in his moral exhortation, ecclesiology, and spirituality
4) the nature of the message of the Book of Revelation and the different approaches to its interpretation
5) the application of apocalyptic theology and eschatology to the life of the church in the form of preaching, ethics, spirituality, and social justice; and
6) a concluding reflection

A special concern of the book is the reappropriation of the apocalyptic tradition by the modern church in a manner that avoids the many misuses of this genre in the past. To this end, it is most important that apocalyptic theology be recognized for what it is: a theology of hope rather than a theology of fear.

There are two major entities at the close of the book of Revelation that explain the author's understanding of forthcoming life with God: the Celestial City (the heavenly Jerusalem) and the cosmic Lamb. The marriage of these two marks the concluding highpoint of John the Seer's work. What are the entities in question? How do they marry and what is the significance of that event for those who believe in Jesus as cosmic Lord? In The New Jerusalem in the Revelation of John, Bruce Malina offers insights into the concluding vision of the book of Revelation to assist Bible readers to understand what the visionary of Revelation said, and meant to say, to his first-century Mediterranean audience. The New Jerusalem and the Revelation of John sets out comparative models of what sorts of cities existed during the time of the New Testament and what it meant to live in an ancient Mediterranean city. It further explains the significance of the celestial marriage of the City and the Lamb. The result is a set of reading scenarios that describe and explain Revelation's closing visions, which mediate the theology of John the Seer. The definition and comparative model of the city in The New Jerusalem and the Revelation of John is also useful for persons interested in understanding those first "urban" members of Jesus groups addressed by other New Testament documents. Chapters are "Presuppositions about Language and Reading," "The Genre of the Book of Revelation," "The Holy City in the Sky," and "The Cosmic Lamb Marries." Includes relevant charts.