What is the futurist interpretation of the book of revelation. Some read the book of revelation as entirely symbolic. What is the futurist interpretation of the book of. Most interpreters hold that the first three chapter are addressed to a circular rout of seven literal churches of that day. This method of interpreting the book of revelation achieved considerable stature in the reformation because of its identification of the pope and the papacy with the beasts of revelation rev. Historicist interpretations of the book of revelation. Book of revelation for dummies cheat sheet dummies.
Revelation introduces itself as the revelation of jesus christ, which god gave him to show his servants 1. The interpretation of revelation has always been a subject of debate among bible interpreters. The interpretation of the book revelation lamb and. The interpreters using the historicist approach for revelation had their origins in the jewish apocalyptic writings such as we see in the book of daniel, which predicted the future the time between their writing and the end of the world. Methods for interpreting the book of revelation part 6. The idealist approach doesnt interpret revelation in terms of any. The preterist method of interpreting the book of revelation says that the book had a direct application to the persecuted christians who first received it.
Apply standard, solid, proven methods of interpretation it may seem unnecessary to say this, but ive found that people often take more liberties when interpreting revelation than they do with other books. No matter what approach you take to the book of revelation futurist or preterist, premillennial or amillennial you will find enlightenment as you have. The books vivid imagery and striking symbolism have produced 4 main interpretive approaches. When it comes to understanding revelation, scholars throughout the ages have taken four primary interpretive approaches. There are several methods of interpreting revelation. Our third principle is that context is the key to interpretation and our fourth principle is that. One helpful way to meet the challenge of interpreting the book of revelation is to become acquainted with some of the main approaches to its. We are going to begin a new endeavor, and continue it, as we have time, interspersed with the other ongoing projects we have here on christogenea saturdays. John wesley wrote of revelation, oh how little do we know of this deep book. This type of interpretation is often called idealism, and translates the symbols found in the book as universal symbols depicting the clash between good and evil. There have traditionally been four or five schools of thought on the interpretive framework of the book of revelation. Our second principle is that the meaning of a text is dependent on its genre.
The historicist method sees these prophecies as being fulfilled through the course of human history beginning at the time of the prophets who wrote them. The basic premise of the futurist viewpoint is that the majority of the prophecies in. Such literature was developed and became popular after. First, revelation is a fulfillment of the sixtyfive books that came before it. The other three systems are the historicist, the preterist, and the spiritual or idealist. Here is a summary of the four approaches to interpreting revelation. While this view still has proponents within the church, it does not match up with the purpose of the book, nor the time which god said it would take place revelation 1. One website announces that all prophecy was fulfilled by 70 ad, and it makes some rather extraordinary comparisons of the revelation to peculiar tales from the history of judaea up to 70 ad as proof of its assertions. Interpreting revelation has cause much debate, and at least four standard methods for interpreting the book has developed. While some think of it as the revelation of john, it is actually the revelation of jesus christ. Different schools of interpreting revelation evidence unseen.
It provides the reader with clear insights into the various methods of interpreting this last book of the bible. Reagans book, wrath and glory, covers the book of revelation chapter by chapter. There are four major schools of interpretation for the book of revelation. Principles of proper bible interpretation skeptics have often asked, if the bible is gods word, why are there so many. Hinds author of the gospel advocate commentary on revelation, and many others used the historical method of interpreting revelation. As such, this method cannot be the one god wants us to use in interpreting the book of revelation. It also ignores the time limitations the book itself places on the unfolding. I would like to present a few problems that i have with the historical method of interpretation and you can consider the merits of my discoveries for yourself.
The real meaning of the bibles book of revelation is a popular, ongoing debate. Revelation touches the heart of people in every century. This short article is presented in hopes that it will stimulate you to start looking for some answers. Throughout most of history since the predictions of the book of daniel, historicism has been widely used. Interpreting revelation by cornelis venema ligonier ministries.
Under this view, the book of revelation is mostly a book of future prophecy. Elsewhere he confessed, i by no means pretend to understand, or explain all that is contained in this mysterious book notes, 650. Historicist interpretations of the book of revelation wikipedia. There are a variety of ways to interpret the book of revelation, and many of these methods overlap. The recent unprecedented success of the left behind series is evidence of this popular fascination. The four major schools of prophetic interpretation if we are to have any success in being free of the inertia of preconceived ideas, if we hope to be aware of our. He then uses the spiritual senses of scripture to illustrate how to arrive at proper methods of interpreting revelation to arrive at the historicist, futurist, and idealist views. Methods of interpreting prophecy 2015 audio there are a lot of harebrained preterist websites on the internet. The primary meaning of the revelation, or at least the anchor point of any meaning, is what john intended it to mean, which in turn must also have. The prophecies of revelation are fulfilled in various historic events such as the fall of the roman empire. Key to understanding commentaries on revelations is knowing the position of the commentator. Biblical hermeneutics is the science that teaches the principles and methods of interpreting the word of god. Select a bible version for study that is faithful to the meaning contained in languages in which the bible originally was written, giving preference to translations done by a broad group of scholars and published by a general publisher above translations sponsored by a particular denomination or narrowly focused group.
He concluded that the correct method of interpreting the book of revelation was to blend the futurist and preterist methods. This approach to revelation holds that the book supplies a prophetic panorama of church history from the first century to the second coming of christ. Correct method of interpreting the book of revelation. Let us look at our suggested methods and see how they fare when compared to the past, present, and future dimensions of the. Our method of interpretation should always match the literary genre the. Ppt six methods of interpreting the book of revelation powerpoint presentation free to view id. Most churches today teach the futurist interpretation of the book of revelation. Reagans video program, revelation revealed, presents a sweeping overview of the entire book of revelation. This paper seeks to define and present the problems or rationale behind.
The preterist method of interpretation takes the position that most everything in revelation was about contemporary events of johns time and usually rejects continuous divine involvement in. The interpretation of the book of revelation has often proven difficult throughout the history of the christian church. The allegorical approach to revelation was introduced by ancient church father origen ad 185254 and made prominent by augustine ad 354420. Every age tends to read revelation and spot dynamics on display that mirror dynamics in their own political, economic and religious situation. An overview of revelation multimedia training kit covers the book of revelation verse by verse. The book of revelation was written with many of the elements of apocalyptic literature. For most the only question about eschatology that exists is whether you think the rapture is pre, mid, or posttribulation.
The english title comes from the latin revelatio, which in its verb form means to reveal or unveil what was previously hidden. Like all books of the bible, revelation was written in a particular time and place to particular people. With the advent of the historicalcritical method of biblical interpretation, it became the dominant interpretation among new testament scholars. Methods of interpretation there have traditionally been four or five schools of thought on the interpretive framework of the book of revelation as a whole. The first view of revelation is the idealist view or the spiritual view. Many evangelicals dont realize that the futuristic interpretation of revelation. But its also saturated with symbolism and prophecy, which has led to a variety of methods of interpretation. Historicism, a method of interpretation in christian eschatology which associates biblical prophecies with actual historical events and identifies symbolic beings. Through the ages several different methods of interpreting daniel and revelation have been proposed. A definition and short history of historicism as a method. For your information, we present here a description of the four main methods of interpreting revelation.
It has been accurately said that the spiritual method is the lazy way out of interpreting revelation. In general a biblical text has one meaning is our first principle. Most christians dont even realize other interpretations exist, but there are actually 5 different approaches to interpreting the book of revelation, maybe you knew. Youll find four major interpretive approaches to the book of revelation that can help you read, understand, and figure out the apocalyptic letter of john. Approaches to interpreting the book of revelation devan c.
Interpretive models for the book of revelation as a whole. Traditionally, interpreters have approached revelation in four primary ways. The fervor in ages past for the historicist approach, in my opinion, is actually support for the idealist position. Methods of interpreting the book of revelation part 4. It takes gods word at face value when it claims to be about things which must shortly be done when it was first written in the first century. In our last presentation on this topic, i had said that none of the preterists had produced an exegetical commentary proving their position. Approaches to interpreting the book of revelation scholars have approached interpreting the book of revelation through four major methods. The historicist view teaches that the book of revelation is a symbolic presentation of church history beginning in the first century a. Interpreting revelation by cornelis venema though it is little more than a piece of scholarly gossip, some have even suggested that the reformer john calvin, one of the best interpreters of the scriptures the church has known, shied away from writing a commentary on the book of revelation for this very reason. The interpreters of revelation are divided into three main schools. This interpretive method robs revelation of any meaning for those to whom it was written. The preterist approach interprets revelation as a description of first century events in the roman. Few biblical topics have captured the imagination of contemporary evangelicals like the book of revelation. Wesleyanholiness methods of interpreting revelation.
This view uses the allegorical method to interpret the book of revelation. Preterists view the book as almost exclusively to first century events historicists view the book as referring to the unfolding church history until christs second coming idealists see the book as symbolizing the eternal conflict between good and evil. Though it is little more than a piece of scholarly gossip, some have even suggested that the reformer john calvin, one of the best interpreters of the scriptures the church has known, shied away from writing a commentary on the book of revelation for this very reason. It is helpful to know what these are so that one can understand the origin of various trains of thought on particular passages. The first view of revelation is the idealist view, or the spiritual view.
Preterism sees daniel as focusing on the reign of antiochus iv epiphanes, and. Interpreting revelation is a sane, thorough, scholarly, and sensible approach to studying and understanding the book of revelation. Futurist occurs in the future the futurist school holds that everything after chapter 4 is yet to happen in the future. The futurist interpretation of the book of revelation is one of four approaches to understanding the prophecies of revelation. The preterist approach to revelation the unfolding of. When interpreting the book of revelation there are two important elements to remember. Methods of interpreting the book of revelation part 5.