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The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation

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Written by a first class scholar on biblical interpretation, The Returning King gives us more vintage Poythress. After many years of teaching this book for students at Westminster Theological Seminary (I was one of them), we now get the benefits in a form we can use in our own ministries and teaching! This book is a great, practical, and well-written introduction to the consecutive chapters of Revelation, suitable for pastors who want the basic themes, a Sunday School class, or college & seminary students. You will be able to grasp the main themes and contrasts and develop a sane appreciation for Revelation from a humble teacher who can appreciate other perspectives, yet still convince you of the value of his own interpretation. Of particular interest are Poythress's insights on how the dragon, beast, false prophet and harlot counterfeit & image the Trinity and the church respectively. This book will stimulate you to read and appreciate Revelation as a "picture book," not a confusing puzzle book. For a detailed verse by verse view in the same interpretive framework (recapitulationist/multiple fulfillment view of Revelation) see G.K. Beale's NIGTC The Book of Revelation at a thorough 1245 pages--a commentary which Poythress recommends in The Returning King.

A few years ago I heard a speaker who began his talk by saying that he loved the book of Revelation because it was so simple and clear and it so neatly summed up the teaching of the Bible. I laughed because everyone knows that the book of Revelation is anything but simple and clear. He said he was serious and he mentioned that he had studied Revelation under Vern Poythress at Westminster Seminary and he had made it seem clear and simple.

At the time this book had not been published but I was able to get some tapes by Poythress, and they taught what is written in this book. When the book came out I got it right away and I have to say that I was not disappointed in the tapes or in this book.

Poythress writes like a kindly, wise elder. I say he is kind because, though he takes a position on the interpretation of the book, he is gracious to those who disagree with him. One of the things I particularly liked about this book is his discussion of how to outline the book. He listed a few different ways that this could be outlined, but rather than attacking various positions he affirmed that the existence of these differing views should cause us to marvel at the greatness of God in the book. These things show that the book of Revelation is like a giant tapestry, with many colors and patterns weaving in and out. The book is so rich that one can never tire of admiring the beauties of God in it.

As to his position, Poythress says that the book follows the pattern of recapitulation - it describes the same historical events over and over again using different metaphors and pictures. So, rather than being a straight chronological description of the end time, the book of Revelation describes the second coming, and the events surrounding it, several times.

Poythress shows that the book of Revelation is actually comprised of several cycles of judgment. He gives the tools for understanding how to identify these cycles and in doing so makes Revelation slightly less difficult.

This is the place to start in understanding the book of Revelation.

The Returning King is a great introduction the book of Revelation. The first 50 pages or so contain high level discussions on the various views of Revelation (idealist, futurist, preterist, historicist) as well as other controversial aspects such as the millennium (premil, postmil, amil). This survey of all the major viewpoints alone is worth the price of the book. The rest of book is a high level discussion of the text. Poythress takes an idealist, amil view but provides a very fair discussion of all the other viewpoints.

It was written as an introduction and is very successful as such. It is not a thorough commentary of Revelation. If you have never studied Revelation this is a great place to start.

This paperback on Revelation brings in a simple and refreshing perspective on Revelation. For example he suggests that children can understand Revelation...that we need to stop 'puzzling' over Revelation and enjoy the Panoramic pictures of this book. His 'down home' encouragement is exactly what this book is when laid side by side with Beale's NIGTC Commentary on Revelation. (The NIGTC is a technically dense work with many many references to all kinds of sources for each verse).

Dr. Beale (2004's E.T.S. President) recommends this book as part of his course recommended reading on Revelation at Wheaton. Of the 8 or so books he recommends, this one sports a number of great visual concepts that do empower bible teachers and pastors. As a pastor who is preaching through Revelation from the Greek text, I found his material helpful on the application side of things.

For example, on the four major views on Revelation Poythress supplies a great little visual diagram of how the four views look. Just the diagram alone can help many people understand the four different view (Preterist, Futurist, Historical, and Idealist) more than most commentaries would.

The weakness is that you will not have comments of substance on every question in Revelation. It's not meant to be an exhaustive commentary on Revelation.

Enjoy it. It's well written and worth owning a copy.

I really appreciate Poythress' demeanor and presentation. It is the highpoint of his writing. He is a gentleman on all levels.

While I understood at the outset that his book was an Amillennial approach to Revelation, it still is slightly maddening to read an explanation of something that he takes as symbolic, but offers no Scriptural support. For instance, on page 185, in discussing "no longer any sea," he states, "The description here is symbolic. We will not lose the beauty and awe that modern people associate with the sea and its creatures. Rather, we will lose evil and chaos that ancient people associated with the sea...the removal of the sea means the permanent removal of all challenges to God's order, and hence the peace and stability of the new world."

It sounds interesting, but there is nothing he produces that supports his symbolic meaning. While he provides verses and passages of biblical text to show that "terrible monsters," etc., came from the sea, this in and of itself does not support a symbolic understanding of the text.

There are a number of other sections in which Poythress dives into the allegorical and each time, I'm left asking, "How did he get there?"

Vern Poythress has provided an excellent service for the church in not only removing much confusion often associated with Revelation but also, more positively, allowing the message of the book to shine clearly through. And what is that message? Christians must recognize that State power can corrupt its diviinely intended function and arrogate to itself authority and power that rightly only belongs to God. Christians must remain faithful in their witness to God despite political opposition (the beast), and be 'overcomers'. They are assured that victory over evil has, in principle, already been gained (through Christ's death and resurrection) and that a day is coming when evil will be finally vanquished, justice established, and God's original purposes for his human creation established in a new heavens and a new earth.

I particularly appreciated his treatment of the theme of Satanic counterfeit - this motif makes references to the dragon and the beast quite meaningful.

Poythress allows for all four perspectives of the traditional ways in which Revelation has been interpreted (Preterist, Futurist, Historicist, Idealist) to inform his overview, but (correctly) places a priority on the Idealist and thereby allows the books message to have enduring significance for all Christians at any time between the first and second comings of 'the Lamb'.

I will be using this book as the primary source for an adult Sunday School class on the Book of revelation; it is very informative and insightful without being overly technical.

Practical, concise, and easy to read. Provides insight not usually found in this kind of book.

The strength of this book is its focus on celebrating the attributes of God. The author did a very good job bringing out the theme of the book of Revelation, which is that God will win in the end due to His nature, and He's looking out for us.

I was also impressed with the quality of analysis that went in to the various outlines provided for the book of Revelation. There are actually three different outlines included. They will help people of any interpretive approach make better sense of the book.

Since the author is an Amillennialist, I wish he'd spent more time pitching the theoretical strengths of that system. When, towards the end of the book, the millennium is addressed, it is quickly brushed aside as just another example of how God will win. While this is true in a sense, there was no attempt to refer to the literally hundreds of Old Testament references to it, and how they can be explained as allegories (as opposed to literal fulfillment).

His argument that most people get more hung up on the puzzle than the pictures is an excellent one. For that reason, I'd suggest this book to anyone studying the book of Revelation.

This overview of Revelation was written by Vern S. Poythress, a Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Dr. Poythress has written six theological books and has had over 160 theological articles published.

The Returning King is a wonderful study of the book of Revelation. Poythress covers a variety of conflicting perspectives within Revelation (idealist, futurist, preterist, historicist) as well as other contentious facets such as the millennium interpretations (premil, postmil, amil).

In covering divergent viewpoints he enters into a realm where few authors dare. He explains each view with scholarly honesty and bravery. His examination of the major viewpoints alone merits the purchase of this book. In his exploration of opposing perspectives Poythress is never flippant or dismissive. But, he never leaves the reader confused about his conclusions. The author continually returns to Scripture (both in and out of Revelation) to demonstrate where truth rests.

The Returning King was not written to be to be exhaustive. However, it does not skimp on depth or intellect. Poythress examines Revelation verse by verse and focuses on the key phrases. He then spends time analyzing and explaining the meaning behind each point. No confusing or controversial stone is left unturned.

Poythress' background is very scholarly and based in academia. However, this book is not written in such a manor that a new Christian or young person would be prevented from comprehending the excitement in Revelation. This is a wonderful way to explore an important book of the Bible that many find confusing and scary.

I think the author did a good job of making sure he was taken serious (as an academic I suppose) by leading up to the various theories of what the Revelation is: why it was written, when it was written, how it was written, etc. The fact that the apostle was on an island, imprisoned, shows some hint as to how it was written to surpass the guards and still be able to be delivered to the new churches. However, do not read this book if you are looking into the meaning of the Book of revelation - as you would expect in a guide about it. The author gives some insight by comparing some text as is written in the Books of Daniel and further notes that figurative language should not be taken literal, i.e. there will be "no real dragon" coming out from the deep. The best thing I learned from this book was the way the Book of Revelation as far as the loop-to-loop scheme of the text and the various historical context of it - but nothing more. I would not recommend it be read by a believer looking for deeper insight.