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  1. Praying that my questions are clear, the second and third questions are more follow-up questions to the first one.

    What is your take on the lack of commentary that John gives in writing Revelation as opposed to the abundance of commentary in his gospel account?

    Do we have the right or responsibility to interpret the symbolism since it seems the apostle did not?

    And how can one avoid over-interpreting the book while holding to the position that the book is apocalyptic literature instead of prophecy (or the prophecy is bound up within the apocalyptic style)?

    p.s. my intent with the second question is not to say that we shouldn’t interpret what it says and live in light of its truth but does John’s lack of interpretation serve as a boundary on how much we should interpret it? In other words, shouldn’t we simply interpret it in the normal, literal sense as one would any other prophetic literature found in the Bible (while not interpreting it in the normal, literal sense of a narrative or epistle)?

    Forgive me if any of this is not clear.

    1. Sorry I’m just now getting to this. Brief replies:

      1) The two books are very, very different!
      2) John meant those symbols to communicate, to resonate with his audience.
      3) I think it’s both apocalyptic and a prophecy! Over-interpretation is probably going to be in the eye of the beholder. . .

      I hope this helps!

      JMH

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