Review: `And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.'
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2014
Justin Mark Staller comes to this assignment of reorienting the reader to this exegetical work on Revelation with strong credentials: he was raised by devout parents in an American, Protestant, fundamentalist, evangelical, Pentecostal Holiness Church, associated with the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, attended the University of California, Berkeley (his first thesis on an alternative hermeneutical approach to John's Apocalypse and the Graduate Theological Union, Pacific School of Religion and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. His approach to his subject is committed, honest, immensely readable, and cogent.Some readers need a reminder of Staller's nidus for investigation and it is because of that that we can find the following in the encyclopedia: `The Book of Revelation, often known simply as Revelation or the Apocalypse, is the final book of the New Testament and occupies a central place in Christian eschatology. Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text, apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation." The author of the work identifies himself in the text as "John" and says that he was on Patmos, an island in the Aegean, when he was instructed by a heavenly figure to write down the contents of a vision. This John is traditionally supposed to be John the Apostle, although some historical-critical scholars reject this view. Recent scholarship has suggested other possibilities including a putative figure given the name John of Patmos. Most modern scholars believe it was written around AD 95, with some believing it dates from around AD 60. The book spans three literary genres: epistolary, apocalyptic, and prophetic. It begins with an epistolary address to the reader followed by an apocalyptic description of a complex series of events derived from prophetic visions which the author claims to have seen. These include the appearance of a number of figures and images which have become important in Christian eschatology, such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, and culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of interpretations: historicist interpretations see in Revelation a broad view of history; preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the apostolic era (1st century), or--at the latest--the fall of the Roman Empire; futurists believe that Revelation describes future events; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon, although there are short apocalyptic passages in various places in the Gospels and the Epistles.'As Staller states in his scholarly fashion, `The book of Revelation is a portrait of the Christian gospel in all its cosmological glory, written in an apocalyptic more suitable to translating heavenly realities for an earthly audience. Revelation illuminates the ultimate causes and consequences of Christ's ministry: his incarnation, his anointing, his transfiguration, his crucifixion, his resurrection. It is a book that explains the flight of Israel, her exodus through the wilderness and exile, her life among the nations, the higher reason for her afflictions and fortunes. It is a book that affirms the election of saints, the exaltation of the church, in inevitability of human suffering, and the hope of divine vindication. All of this was, and is, and continues to be the Revelation of Jesus Christ.'What Staller sets out to do is to make the Revelations understandable: `The aim of this book is to offer up, for your consideration, a specific historical narrative as the primary referent of Revelation's obscure images and cataclysmic events.' He walks us through the history and the various interpretations of what has usually been perceived as predictive apocalyptic threat and instead puts it all into perspective - allusions to allegory, the various cultures' influences on interpretation, the misinterpretation on the part of the fire and brimstones perpetrators who would use fear to bring the masses into their fold - and offers some well-considered alternative ways of interpreting this book. The book is relative short (10 pages of bibliography and far too many footnotes that substantiate Staller's thoughts but visually tire the reader. But despite these `flaws' this is an important book, certainly informative for everyone who concentrates of the condition of the world today! Grady Harp, April 14