The Book of Revelation

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Date: A.D. 54-68 (Nero) or A.D. 81-96 (Domintian).[1]

“The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Son” by William Blake (c. A.D. 1803-1805)
Revelation 12:1-17

Author: John.[2]

Genre:

• Apocalyptic.
• Epistolary.
• Prophetic.

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Schools of Interpretation[3]

• Futurist – “The futurist scheme argues that the events of Revelation are largely unfulfilled, holding that chapters 4-22 await the end times for their realization.”
  • Dispensationalists.
    • John Nelson Darby.
    • Charles C. Ryie.
    • C.I. Scofield.
• Historicist – “The historicist school views the events of Revelation as unfolding in the course of history.”
• Idealist – “The idealist viewpoint…is reticent to pinpoint the symbolism of Revelation historically. For this school of thought, Revelation sets forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil that continues through the church age.”
  • Clement.
  • Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza.
  • Origen.
  • Paul S. Minear.
• Preterist – “The preterist (past) interpretation understanding the events of Revelation in large part to have been fulfilled in the first centuries of the Christian era – either at the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or at both the falls of Jerusalem in the first century and of Rome in the fifth century.”
  • Daniel Whitby.
  • James Stuart Russell.
  • R.C. Sproul.

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External Resources

• Recommended Reading
  • Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary (1859), by George Leo Haydock.
  • The Parousia: A Critical Inquiry into the New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming (1878), by James Stuart Russell.
  • Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1983), edited by M.G. Easton.
  • Harper’s Bible Dictionary (1985), edited by Paul J. Achtemeir.
  • Harper’s Bible Commentary (1988), edited by James Luther Mays.
  • Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible (Complete and Unabridged) (1994), by Matthew Henry.
  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1997), by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown.
  • Revelation: Vision of a Just World (1998), by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza.
  • Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (2003), edited by James D. G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson.
  • I Saw a New Earth: An Introduction to the Visions of the Apocalypse (2003), by Paul S. Minear.
  • The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John’s Gospel, Hebrews-Revelation (2005), edited by Craig A. Evans.
  • Four Views on the Book of Revelation (2010), by Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Sam Hamstra Jr., C. Marvin Pate, and Robert L. Thomas.
  • Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (2010), by Craig A. Blaising, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., and Robert B. Strimple.
  • The Last Days according to Jesus: When Did Jesus Say He Would Return? (2015), by R.C. Sproul.
  • Between the Cross and the Throne: The Book of Revelation (2016), by Matthew Y. Emerson.
  • Reading Revelation in Context: John’s Apocalypse and Second Temple Judaism (2019), edited by Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston.

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Bibliography

[1] Gentry, Kenneth L., Sam Hamstra, c. Marvin Pate, and Robert L. Thomas. Four Views on the Book of Revelation. Zondervan Academic, 2010.

[2] Dunn, James D.G., and John W. Rogerson, eds. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003.

[3] Gentry, Kenneth L., Sam Hamstra, c. Marvin Pate, and Robert L. Thomas. Four Views on the Book of Revelation. Zondervan Academic, 2010.

[4] Ibid.

* – Updated 8/24/2020.