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The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Theology)

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Richard Bauckham treats Revelation in this series in a refreshingly original way and that is the major strength of this book. Because Revelation is unique in the NT - not only in thought but also in structure and style - it only makes sense to treat it uniquely.

Not coincidentally, there are seven chapters to his book which at once begins to shape the way Bauckham will treat this book. He begins by addressing what he sees as the root issue behind many people's misunderstanding of Revelation - a misunderstanding of what kind of document it is. Most seem to treat Revelation as a code to be deciphered but Bauckham corrects this tendency by showing that Revelation is at once a letter (to the seven churches in Asia), a prophecy (not just of predictive events but of discernment for the present) and an apocalypse (literature which is characterized by the its view of the inbreaking of God's power into history).

Through this Bauckham shows that Revelation is a response to the situation of his readers' worldview. Many at the time were wooed and awed by the prosperity that Rome brought through its peace and worshipped its power and unequalled strength and Revelation is a critique of both. To combat the illusion that Rome propagates the seer John contrasts it with the image of the throne - the rule of God. Thus, the book is precisely so theocentric because at its core it is attempting to redirect the thought and attitudes of his readers from what they perceive to what is real.

This John does by presenting an alternative vision of reality through his imagery of beasts, angels, scrolls, martyrs and thrones. The imagery is meant to provide a way of viewing the truth of reality in a different way, to symbolize the truth behind the appearence of how things seem in the world.

This is Bauckham's thesis and he exposits it very well. From his introduction and discussion about the centrality of God he goes on to look at the triune aspects of God's activity. A chapter is devoted to the work of God, two to the Son (for both his person and his activities) and one to the Spirit. While this is done very well, my only reservation about this set up is its presupposing such a tangible view of the trinity by John, which is a bit anachronistic. But in spite of this the material is covered very well.

At the end the relevance of Revelation is expounded more forcefully than any other book in this series and it is here that Bauckham really shines in his book as he seems superb at exhorting and creating subjects for discussion.

Overall, this book is very well written. One thing of interest is to note that Bauckham uses far fewer citations in his book than most other authors in this series which is refreshing since I feel that more of his own thought and analysis is coming through and that the book is less a pastiche of all modern scholars on any given subject. This is of a piece with Bauckham's natural and inviting way of writing and this makes his book very enjoyable and highly recommended.

I read this book for a class on Revelation at Catholic Theological Union. I am glad this book was the required text for that course.

This book is not a line by line exegesis of the Book of Revelation; instead Bauckham approaches Revelation thematically. Because of this thematic approach, the theology of Revelation becomes clear.

Bauckham also supports shows how Revelation is firmly connected to the Hebrew bible. After reading The Theology of the Book of Revelation, I finally decided to read Ezekiel for the first time. Bauckham clearly shows that the theology of Revelation is intimately tied to imagery and theology contained in the Hebrew bible (e.g. Ezekiel).

As to a prior reviewer's comment that Bauckham's book "spiritualizes the millenium into irrelevance," the reviewer is correct. The parousia really is irrelevant to Baukham's understanding of Revelation. Bauckham makes a very good argument that Revelation is not about Christ's second coming.

Read this book if you want to read a very good commentary on Revelation which goes against the current popular way of understanding. This is definately not an end times book.

I have read this book at least five times and will read it again, because it is quite simply the best read on the subject. It is not a verse by verse commentary, but a theological commentary that is reader friendly, but one recognizes the depth of research and understanding of history that Bauckham pours into this book. He has another book called The Climax of Prophecy that carries much of the same subject matter, but this one is an easier read. This book completely changed my thinking on the book of Revelation. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a serious approach to Revelation and not the canned stuff that you get from the Left Behind series. This book will leave you hoping for Bauckham to write a verse by verse commentary on Revelation. Until he does read Craig Koester's book Revelation and The End of All Things along with this book. Bauckham makes sense of the 144,000, the two witnesses, the goal of history and how the book centers around the worship of God and Christ. I recommend this book for everybody from scholar on down.

This is a very good book that gives a summary of the overall meaning of the book of Revelation. It covers many passages but is not a line-by-line exegesis which is fine since the meaning of every single symbol in Revelation is not agreed upon anyway. Nevertheless, most of the points are covered nicely. Many of the symbols in Revelation are compared to the persecution of the Saints by the Roman Empire and other entities throughout the Church age and the comfort that John was conveying in this letter to the Churches that even though they should perservere and keep the faith even to the point of death. Christians, by remaining faithful to their calling by bearing whitness to the truth against the claims of the beast will provoke conflict with the beast resulting in (very likely) their martyrdom. This is how the Saints "conquer". Not by sword but ramaining true to God even to death, knowing that in the end they will have an eternal reward leaving satan, the beast and the followers of the beast to be judged.

Overall this is a very good non-dispensational, non-"historist" summary of the purpose and overall meaning of Revelation. Many cross-references are made the old testament where many similar symbols are used to express the same imagery that John is expressing.

This short book on Revelation is A SPLENDID THEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW of the highlights of Revelation seen mainly through the lens of the Old Testament. Never before has the meaning of this last and mysterious book of the New Testament become so crystal clear to me. Furthermore the beauty of Bauckham's interpretation is that it is so firmly based on solid biblical interpretation and biblical reality. An excellent book, you will love it!

Bauckham's work here is a fresh of breath air in the midst of a lot of choking misunderstanding. He reads Revelation appropriately in context while recognizing the highly phenomenal language of apocalyptic literature. One of the monumental strengths of this book is the way that Bauckham seamlessly weaves theology and exegesis. He explains the complexities and intricacies of the book contextually and then develops an extremely clear theology. In addition, Bauckham's treatment of Revelation in relation to the OT is clear and indispensable to really understand this book. He allows the OT scriptures to form the paradigm from which he understands John's language, imagery, even his prophetic role. With imaginative application of a paradigm-shifting book, Bauckham's work must be read and continually referred to in order to understand the richness of such a beautiful, and so often misunderstood book. Bauckham is a scholar of the highest rank, and yet his writing is both engaging and accessible. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to seriously understand Revelation.

This book came as required reading for a class in graduate school and helped reveal the overarching messages in the book of revelation. This book has been one that has perplexed me since I was a young believer. Is this book to be taken literally? Is the book figurative? Is it somewhere in-between? Bauckham falls into a general examination of the book, looking at the genre, the big issues, the themes, and specific issues that scholars debate in all circles. This book is not an exegetical painful process, rather a good look at the big picture of revelation. How should we apply it today? Are we afraid that we will be 'left behind?' Thank goodness Tim Lahaye made a DVD for those people who will be 'left behind.' Anyway, on a more serious note, this book is a great introduction to the book of Revelation and will help almost anyone get around the book without feeling overwhelmed or lost. Highly Recommended - Joseph Dworak

Bauckham's essay of Revelation is thought provoking and spiritually challenging. His analysis of Revelation through the lens of "apocalyptic genre" gives pause to readers who are of a dispensational bent. He has a strong grasp of the 1st century influences that seemingly competed with Christian piety. To put it plainly, this book puts Revelation in context from beginning to end, while defying the more popular interpretations of today. It is a definite read for the seminary student, scholar, and layman alike.

This is one of the best books on Revelation I have read. It is concise and to the point and makes sense of the most misunderstood book of the Bible from both an historical and a theological viewpoint. Unlike the majority of books written about Revelation, it doesn't go verse by verse but covers the major themes independently which gives the reader a much better overall perpective.

Bauckham demonstrates how it is a mistake to interpret Revelation from a purely historicial perspective (ie Preterist) which makes it relevant only to first century Christians. It is also a mistake to read it from a purely futuristic perspective (ie Dispensationalism) which doesn't make it relevant for the people to whom it was originally addressed. This also leads to false assumptions, some of which turn out to be false, and makes it even more confusing.

Bauckham believes that the symbolic creatures in Revelation can only be identified with specific first century entities which the original readers had to cope with. He is consistent with most scholars in identifying the Dragon with Satan, the Seprpent, which was the primordial source of chaos and evil in the universe. The Beast from the sea is the first century Roman Empire, and the beast from the land is the Roman imperial cult which propped up the deity of the emperor. These three represent an anti-trinity. The harlot is identified as the city of Rome and the 144,000 represent an army of faithful Israelites who act in the role of holy warriors in participating in the sacrificial martyrdom of the Lamb.

Revelation as a prophetic book canonized as scripture has a timeless relevance just as Jesus and the apostles used earlier prophetic books to explain the times they were living in. It's underlying message is just as relevant for Christians living today as it was at the time it was written.

Bauckham demonstrates how Revelation is thoroughly Jewish-Christian. It borrows heavily from the Hebrew scriptures and makes parallel reference to Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Exodus story. The use of Temple symbols also makes it highly unlikely that it was written by a gentile for a gentile audience.

Revelation shows a very high Christology, similar to Paul's letters, and is strongly trinitarian. Jesus is clearly the risen Lord enthroned in Heaven who will return in triumph. This blows apart the theories of modern liberal scholars who want to portray Jesus as a wandering itinerant revolutionary sage who was exalted by gentile churches centuries later. Revelation makes it very clear that the exaltation of Jesus began at a very early date within the Jewish Christian community.

Bauckham points out that Revelation is not for modern feel-good charismatic Christians. John calls the churches to be faithful witnesses to God's Kingdom even to the point of participating in Christ's sacrificial death through martyrdom. In the first century Roman Empire, declaring Jesus as your Lord had dire consequences.

Bauckham makes it clear that people who try to interpret Revelation from a purely futuristic perspective by trying to identify its symbols with present or future entities miss the whole point. Revelation's timeless message is that God's Kingdom, although hidden, remains in opposition to the idolatry of man-made kingdoms which are based upon power and exploitation. It challenges the status quo.

The hope which Revelation offers is that no matter how bad or corrupt the world becomes, God is still on the throne and will prevail in the end.

In Biblical interpretation, we must remember we are a low context society relative to the high context society of the Biblical writers. Many of the meanings of terms and allusions are lost on us. It would be like someone 2000 years from now reading the diary of a 21st Century American and stumbling upon the phrase, "It was raining cats and dogs outside today!", and this futuristic person interprets that phrase literally.

Bauckman reminds us that the diction of Revelation alludes consistently and beautifully to events in the Old Testament. "The sea was no more", 21:4, what in the world does that mean? Only dry land on the new earth? No, it's an allusion to the chaotic primordial waters in the first chapter of Genesis, the waters that burst forth from the deep to destroy the earth during Noah's age. That natural evil will no longer exist in the New Order.

"They are virgins they have not defiled themselves w/ women", does this mean that there are only virgins in Heaven? No, it's a reference to *war*. Soldiers were to abstain from sexual relations w/ women before battle, like Bathsheba's husband in 2 Samuel. The war is fought and won by the slain lamb, Christ, and the soldiers participate by witnessing to the faith until the very end.

These are just two examples of the insights that the author provides the reader. I'm not sure I agree w/ all his points, but he makes a strong case for his, ostensibly, "symbolic" view of Revelation by placing the letter w/in the context of apocalyptic Jewish-Christianity undergoing Roman persecution. One of my favorite points he makes, is the "libertarian" message in Revelation, that God is 'Pantokrator', the Almighty, the all powerful, the God of nature, and the blasphemous Roman Empire ("Who is Like the Beast?" (another juicy poetic counter to "Who is Like God?" from Exodus, and also the Hebrew name for Michael, who of course plays an important role in Revelation)) attempts to replace God w/ its human institution. This deliciously implies the theological justification for Individual Liberty, that no Gov't should intervene between God and the conscience of the individual, for in doing so that is being like the Beast of Revelation.

Revelation is not only true in substance and message, but it is a work of *art*, something that the uber-literalists and Left Behind types overlook when ravenously searching for clues about the future.