Customer Reviews

A Bible Handbook to Revelation

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Written from a dispensationalist point of view, the majority of this Revelation handbook (Parts I and II) is topical, while the final 1/3 is described as "Part III: A Verse-By-Verse Background to the Book of Revelation," although it would be more accurately described as "selected verse-by-selected verse," since some verses aren't even cited, much less analyzed. "Part I: Introduction to the Book of Revelation" is fascinating and examines such matters as how Revelation's been viewed through history (and why)--initially as premillenialist then amillenialist for centuries and now with the return to literal interpretation, premillenialism's return. "Part II: The Theology of the Book of Revelation" consists of 11 chapters, each devoted to a particular theological subdivision (bibliology, ecclesiology, etc) and it's manifestations in Revelation. While these theologically thematic chapters are interesting, they can be a bit confusing for someone not already possessing a good grip on the structure and events of Revelation, because unlike the typical commentary approach, which for even the beginner is easy to follow because of the verse-by-verse structure, the thematic approach makes all sorts of references to verses and citations sometimes skipping chapters, something that can be a bit more difficult for the reader, though the motivated student could still manage by frequent reference to the cited verses in context. Part III's so-called verse-by-verse guide gives mostly superficial, but sometimes helpful, observations, word study insights and so on, but not on all verses. Also, since many of the verses are only quoted in part or not at all, it helps to have an open Bible along when reading this part.

It's not quite clear who wrote what in this book. Mal Couch is the general editor and wrote 11 of the 16 chapters of Parts I and II, with the other 5 chapters being attributed to Larry Crutchfield, Robert Lightner, Harold Foos, and Russell Penney. However, on the "Contributors" page Todd Virnoche is also mentioned, yet what he contributed is not indicated. And no one at all is named as the author of the 22 chapters of Part III. Another peeve is that there is just a random feel about this book, no sense of mission--the Preface does not address why the book chose to approach Revelation in this hybrid thematic/pseudo-verse-by-verse approach, what is it's intended contribution to the study of Revelation. And by offering no Conclusion whatsoever, the book misses another oportunity to bring it all together. One final annoyance is that the pages of my copy became detached from the spine. Yet despite these expressed reservations, viewing Revelation thematically does provide different perspectives on Revelation that might not be so easily observed by the standard verse-by-verse approach, so overall the book is a helpful addition to the field.

I rated it five stars, mainly because I have read over fifty books on prophecy and some ground work needed to be had in order to rate this five stars. This book takes you farther than your normal prophecy book, but it is very easily understood and will enhance your thirst of prophecy and enlighted you more when its information is assembledd with what you already know and have studied.