(14 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
Loading...I’m excited to say that my book on the Apocalypse of John (a.k.a. the Book of Revelation) will be published and available on March 21. The End is Near!
Here is a brief synopsis of what it’s about:
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The Apocalypse of John (Book of Revelation) is the most mystifying and misunderstood book of the Bible, and possibly the most dangerous. Most readers simply refuse to dip into its pages – it is too bizarre, violent, and incomprehensible.
Those who do read it fall into two camps. Most are conservative Christians who believe the book is describing what is soon to happen in our future; evangelical “prophecy experts” provide detailed explanations to show that the end has now arrived.
Liberal historical scholars, on the other hand, argue that when the book is understood in its own historical context the book is instead a metaphorical expression of hope: the world may appear out of control, but in the end the goodness of God will prevail and those suffering now will be rewarded later.
Armageddon (my book) argues that both views are wrong.
It is certainly right, as the historical scholars argue, that
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But the liberal Christian understanding of Revelation as an expression of hope is also misguided. The word “hope” never appears in the books. Nor is it about about the love and mercy of God. The book itself repeatedly states that it is about God’s wrath and vengeance soon to be inflicted on the entire planet and most of those who have ever lived on it. The vast majority of the human race is soon to be tormented and, along with all those who have ever lived, be cast into a massive lake of burning sulfur.
In the end, Armageddon raises a question both vital and ironic, for believers and non-believers alike: Is the Apocalypse of John consistent with the Gospel of Jesus?
Why I Wrote the Book
In some ways this is a very personal book. When I was introduced to the Apocalypse of John as a teenager, I readily accepted the evangelical view that it predicted the end of the world soon to come, possibly within a decade.
As I progressed through my studies I began to approach the Bible from a more historical/scholarly perspective and soon realized that this “futuristic” reading of the book was seriously flawed. John of Patmos was not describing events to transpire in the 20th (now 21st) century; he wrote for a first-century audience with first-century concerns.
Moreover, I came to see just how damaging futuristic readings have been throughout the centuries, leading to emotional trauma and bloodshed.
I shifted then, in my graduate studies, to accept the alternative interpretation widely held among historical researchers: Revelation provided a message of hope for those who were suffering. God was sovereign and would “make right all that is wrong.”
When I returned to the book in later years, I realized that even this view is seriously flawed. Revelation never discusses a God who loves the people of earth and brings hope to the world of sufferers. It repeatedly emphasizes that it is about a God of wrath who wreaks vengeance on the planet and everyone on it who is (literally) not his “slave.” Christ himself (not, for example, the Devil or the Antichrist) sends horrendous catastrophes on the earth, leading to global torment, bloodshed, and disaster, and in the end everyone who has ever lived, except for a few of his closest followers, is cast alive into the fiery lake.
In the end *I* argue that the Apocalypse of John is not a blueprint for our future or a message of hope for those who are suffering. It is a violent book endorsing a form of Christian faith that stands at odds with the teachings of Jesus.
If you are interest in learning more, go to: https://bit.ly/armgddn and think about pre-ordering (also available, of course, on Amazon).
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Great! Will it be published in Italian?
I don’t believe a translation deal has been reached yet. Not sure if one is in the works or not. It may depend on how well it sells in English.
The Bible starts out with carnage in the form of a flood, and then massacre of Egyptians, and ends with carnage in revelation. Yet people carry the good book with them and are comforted by its message of love (from JC i suppose)
Wasn’t the foundation of Jesus message the first five books of the Bible?
How did Jesus (and Paul) morph into love and peaceniks? And why would John (?) regress into fire and brimstone? I guess I’ll have to read the book.
Hi, Dr E, Armageddon is pre-ordered. I’m looking forward to it.
I have a question for you. What do you think of Wayne Meeks and his book The First Urban Christians? I came across it in the discussion of your last Misquoting Jesus blog and it looks interesting. Apparently, Dr. Meeks recently died.
Tom
It is one of teh great books, and most influential in changing the field, of the second half of the twentieth century. He was one of the most impressive NT scholars on the planet, for my money.
Tom, at first glance I read your opening sentence as “Armageddon is pre-ordained…”
Also, I love your nom de blog. Watch out for Crabby Appleton!
Wasn’t the book considered heretical for a long time and by many early “church fathers”? And didn’t it get into the canon for reasons that were more expedient than anything else, sort of a propaganda piece to encourage loyalty to the church– scare them to death and then sell them protection. A kind of protection racket. And for that purpose it has certainly been useful.
Ah, that’s one of my chapters!
I can’t wait! And thanks so much for continuing to publish in ways that support independent bookstores, i.e. not via Amazon exclusively. I was able to pre-order through my local indie store (and am happy to pay full pop in order to support this store!)
Funny, I was listening to the podcast on this theme just yesterday. Look forward to the book . I just pre-ordered it.
Do you see Gospel passages such as those in Matthew ( also Luke) about the horrors of Hell as belonging with some of the themes of Revelation, after all?
Wouldn’t these passages affirm the claims of the first group, the conservative Christians?
A similar question could be asked exclusively from the Gospels’ viewpoint: do these sayings ,allegedly by Jesus, contradict his own message?
In my book Heaven and Hell I try to show that these passages, and the historical Jesus, are not describing “hell” in the sense of a place of eternal torment; but yes, a passage like Luke 16 (the rich man and lazurus) does contradict Jesus’ views. The book tries to show Jesus’ teaching on the afterlife and how the teaching came to be radically changed, already in the NT and yet more later.
And not just two categories, the two categories that I have also experienced in one way or another.
Another category is a book that has an inner spiritual development, where the first 11 chapters are about ourselves, our body, mental and spiritual. It’s elements described have many surprising parallels to the Easter worldview most people on earth were influenced by at the time, and yes, I do mean all of the first 11 chapters. The last half is still about ourselves, the influences, the applications the effect until an ascended state where we will “drink of the living water” in a brand new “heaven and earth”, a promised “oneness” perhaps similar as described in John 14:10.
In this context, the “Amageddon” (perhaps symbolized by the all important Maggido wars against rebellion) image/allegory, it would refer to a battle in our own mind between forces within the Self, which make up parts of the ego, an additive to the self.
This war in Amageddon is the war we to have to fight our own selfs rebellion, and it will happen within ourself.
I really don’t believe it anymore that this book is either futuristic, preteristic but is an inner symbolic-spiritual ascencion back to God.
As usual you will provide a sound Biblical basis for your explanations, and as usual people will think your ideas are controversial, even though it’s right there in the print! Looking forward to the release, and the reaction.
Thank you so much for writing this book. My parents, devout Catholics, continue to live in panic that they will wind up on the wrong side in the afterlife. It has caused a lot of trauma for them, and downstream in our family. I look forward to reading.
I can see how Rev. could be taken as a message of hope – hope for vengeance for persecutions real and mostly imagined. There is a strong strain in Christian writings that likes to gloat over the fates of those who wouldn’t listen. From that perspective, Rev. is one big expectation (hope) of being able to say “We told you so!”
i’m a rationalist accountant in real life. In relation to this theme, turn the theme inside out. I have studied the Book of Revelation from many perspectives, and disagree with Bart(who I highly respect) who sees the Book of Revelation from an external perspective. Study the revelation from an inner perspective, and its pattern, and it will give (at least for me) a much clearer and plausible perspective.
I”m not sure what you mean about external and internal. You can try to get inside a text, but you’re still an outsider, and the hardest thing to do is to realize that in fact you are not the text, even if you think you are.
I don’t think this book is futuristic predictions of the materialist world event, preteristic that these events happened, and I don’t think that was a word of trust for an audience that had no insight into, say, Nero/Rome geography text might be thought an allegory for.
At the moment, I no longer believe that it is a colorful fantasy of a person on the wrong side of the mental health scale either.
Applying following
• A world view which most people in the world when the book was written (eastern/hinduistic including the principles found in Kundalini yoga with its 7 spiritual centers/Chacras which have existed long before Jesus, and also Judaism. (it has so many paralells).
• Christian understanding, but «streatching» the fundamentalists concept of «going to heaven», streatching the concept of «the way», and also awakening the concept of reincarnation, but still (for me at least, considering it «christian»).
• Modern psycological theories, like for example elaborated by Carl Gustav Jung who touches these same principles, along with the elaboration of the Self, the Ego, and its conciousnesses.
When I then read the text line by line again, the similarities was for me as a layman much clearer, and even more when I divided the book from chapter 1-11 and 12-22.
Of course this challange the more fundamentalistic view of at least some theological principles and consepts, like for example «heaven», and «going to heaven» which at least is callanging concepts which you also adresses in your books.
The more closer I read the text the more it presents itself as a symbolic and allegorical work that contains spiritual teachings, messages about the spiritual journey of the soul and the ultimate destiny of humanity. It seems to me as a layman teachings on spiritual growth, personal transformation, and the nature of God and humanity role in the spiritual evolution of the world.
That is what I as a layman/non scholar mean by «inner understanding» of the text
,,over, I mean ,,,”words of hope and comfort”.
So,
* A futuristic fortune teller
* A preterist understanding
* A comforting text, and words of hope with the help of knowledge of persons, and geography that a likely audience would have no profound or proper knowledge of.
,,,,,doesn’t seem credible to me at all. For me, it’s just too unlikely.
* The spiritual and inner symbolic and allegorical journey of the soul, an understanding I will defend based on the above understandings and principles works for me. Surprisingly to me, I even think I understand what the book says and what many of the symbols means, That leads me to believe to an understanding that it is our owns Self/soul developement back to God whatever that might mean.
But again,,,,,,I am a layman and non-scholar, and like many who read this book, I could be wrong.
I’d say any close reading of the text trying to get to its real meaning is what you’re calling an “inner understanding.” But you do need to recognize that you are importing your own categories, views, experiences, and persepctives into the text. (You will not find anywhere *in* the text discussion of spiritual growth, spiritual evotuion, and so on: these are notions you are importing in, not finding in)
First, thank you for your answer.
Who does not import views on this text, a text bombarded with highly symbolic and metaphorical language that contains a complex mixture of images, including visions of heavenly kingdoms, judgments and the end of the world?
The preterist view or the attempt to send a “coded” letter of comfort to the intended audience is making less and less sense to me.
I am not sure if I have added more after I have changed my mind about the interpretation, understanding the book “spiritually”, or as a spiritual process, rather than of external worldly events, either happened or to come.
In extention to this,,
I am well aware that the book of Revelation is not within the big “Gnostic” umbrella, although in my non-scholarly view have some elements that go in those directions, like chapter 12, and later the marriage, and this “New Jerusalem and some few others.
It is worth mentioning, the founder of analytical psychology and in my mind one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, Carl Gustav Jung considered Gnosticism as a mirror of the “Self” (as a divine spark within the human soul, which is separate from the material world and needs to be re-united with the divine) in his analytical psychology, he saw the Gnostic concept of “The Self ” as a metaphor for the integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche. He believed that the process of individuation in analytical psychology mirrored the process of reuniting the divine spark in the human soul in Gnosticism.
The “neo” Gnostic bishop Stephan A Hoeller, former Catholic priest, and an author and scholar of Gnosticism and Jungian psychology has written extensively on this. He believes that Gnosticism has had a significant influence on Jung’s work and that Jung’s work can be understood in the context of Gnosticism.
Carl Jung even reflected on the Hindu concepts, thereby of it as the archetypal Self, and also their symbols in relation to his view of the “Self”
When I put the same “glasses” on the Book of Revelation, the context gives a completely different meaning and becomes much more comprehensible to me
I realize this is not the main focus of your book but I am curious about the Christology displayed in Revelation. From Chapter 22 –
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city… But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (NRSVue)
Are God and the Lamb being differentiated here as they seem to be earlier in the book? Or are they being identified? The translation makes this seem a bit ambiguous. Are there two thrones or are they sharing one throne? Worship “him”; see “his” face; “his” name on their foreheads. Not worship “them” or see “them”. What is your take on this passage?
Thanks
I do deal with Xgy a bit in the book and do point out something similar, that some of the epithets and “functions” of Christ and God overlap in teh book.
What did the devout Christian say to God when he got to Heaven? Where is everybody? lol
Do you have an opinion on the thesis that the Apocalypse was originally a Jewish text, that was later lightly and superficially Christianized, by tacking on a few references to Jesus?
I think it’s completely wrong. Christ is central to the text, not peripheral, from beginning to end.
Well, at least the author avoided using the name Jesus everywhere, but often replaced Jesus with a whole bunch of other names and name-attributes.
If it had its origion in a Jewish apocalyptic movement, an obviously Jewish concept would have been the “son of man” as in Daniel 7:13-14, which is perhaps more open to interpretation as to who (or what?) it might be, and its attributes. If so, it would at least explain why all the different (attribute) names are used and not only Christ and in particular Jesus, which would perhaps have been expected at the time when the book was supposedly written where and when the Jewish Jesus movement was fighting for its recognition.
I through out the 2 views back in the mid 70s after Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa California in the Circus Tent held nightly vigilance services expecting the 2nd return. “Soon” which bookends the Revelation of John can no way be 2000 years (and continuing) later. Like you, my view is that the God portrayed in the Revelation is not the “Father” Jesus spoke of and represented, and that none of the disciples who followed Jesus could have written such garbage. Thus then what was the point/goal of such garbage?
I think it was written between destruction of Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt as a call to holy war and join other Jews (the lion of Judah) in a “righteous” fight against the Roman Empire. The earliest “believers” were pacifists thus the call had to be believed to be directly (through the dreams) a call from God. The wars had to happen and the Jews (Sealed) along with the believers would join God in eternal Life. Obviously the wars did not turn out as promised.
The Church today is using the book the same way, but calling it Spiritual Warfare.
Very much looking forward to reading this. Will it be available on Kindle?
Yup, I’m sure it will.
I like your short title with the word *the* italicized.
Hi Bart. I’ve heard you recommend reading the Gospels horizontally. Do you have a recommended book to do it so one does not need to match chapters?
Thanks!
I’d suggest Kurt Aland, the Synopsis of the Four Gospels. (Get the one with *that* title; Aland has other similar books that give the Greek text instad of the English!)
Hey Bart, as usual, I’m very excited about ordering your book. In one of your presentations, you were questioned about which books a lay person could trust. You answered that readers should know the scholarly credentials of the authors, as opposed to just being taken in by an attractive book cover. At your recommendation, I read the five volume “A Marginal Jew.” Question: What would be the top ten books you would recommend to us on anything early Christianity-related (not written by you)?
That would be hard to do. So let’s try this: tell me specifically what you’d like to read a book on and I’ll see if there’s a title I can recommend.
How about your most recommended books on:
1. Paul
2. James the brother of Jesus
3. Peter
4. The Catholic Church in antiquity
5. The early fathers (doctors) of the church.
Thanks!
OK, we’re getting there. 🙂 Let’s do a couple at a ltime. Pick two of these and tell me what *kind* of book youre looking for: biography? talking abuot their teachings? history of them? later legedns of them? something else? more scholarly? Less scholarly? (I started to answer for Paul, and then couldnt figure out what sort of thing youwanted: basic introduction to life and teachings? something specific?)
OK, so let’s do the first two: Paul and James the brother of Jesus. I guess I would say I’m interested in what you would consider an accurate history of these guys (similar to your bio on Jesus). What is the truth about them historically? I certainly don’t mind scholarly, but perhaps more geared toward a well-read lay person. Thanks.
Paul. Maybe start with E. P. Sanders a Short INtroduction to Paul and Albert Harrill, Paul the Apostle. For James, maybe John Painter’s book.
Paul. Maybe start with E. P. Sanders a Short INtroduction to Paul and Albert Harrill, Paul the Apostle. For James, maybe John Painter’s book.
Got it! Thanks.
I have ordered the book and am eagerly looking forward to reading it and absorbing your learning, when it is published.
Another NT historian makes a pretty convincing case that the Revelation of John is simply a reworked Jewish apocalypse. Indeed, if you remove the early chapters that discuss individual churches, and then go through and remove references to Jesus, you are left with a stand-alone Jewish apocalypse. His assertion is that the author simply took such a text and edited it to make it “christianized”. Do you think this is a possibility? If not, what specifics would rule that out?
That was a view people used to have, and some very few do still today. But I completely disagree with it. Christ permeates the book. The ideas are certainly rooted in Jewish apocalyptic views, but that doesn’t mean it is a Jewish writing later edited by Christians.
I look forward to the new book Bart. I thought that you might be interested in the following discussion between Catholics and Evangelical Christians on the DNA of Jesus. I don’t always agree with biologist Jerry Coyne, especially on religious matters, but some of his posts are very interesting. He mentions you in the post (but apparently disagrees with you as he seems to agree with the mythicists regarding the existence of Jesus). But the post is interesting.
https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2023/01/16/where-did-jesus-get-his-dna-a-dispute-between-catholics-and-evangelical-christians/
Decades ago, upon reading Rev., I thought it was simply one of the earliest recorded LSD trips, or the results of a meal of strange mushrooms native to Patmos!
Will you be talking about the motivations of the author of Revelation in writing such a violent and pessimistic book?
We obviously can’t get into his head to find out, but I do delve a bit into some of the options.
will this be available on Kindle?
Yup.
Ordered it yesterday!!!!
I’m currently reading “ Memphis wrestling History, The War for Memphis 1977” and it’s great.
I’ve read at least 3 or 4 of your other books and will be ready when it arrives!
“Is the Apocalypse of John consistent with the Gospel of Jesus?”
“It is a violent book endorsing a form of Christian faith that stands at odds with the teachings of Jesus.”
Well, I don’t know what is meant by the ” Gospel of Jesus” , moreover I think what we call “the teachings of Jesus” are in fact the teachings of others but in Matthew’s Gospel we have Matthew 11:20-24:
“Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades.
But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Worse than Sodom !!!
I think Revelation is not far from Jesus’ promised punishment to those who did not repent.
Yup, I’m speaking in short hand. But you’ll know what I mean when you read my book!
I will certainly do it!
btw, doing my searching for this post I failed to find a passage in the ESV version of Mark that I remember was in the spanish Reina Valera and is also found in the KJV .
Mark 6:11 (King James)
“And whosoever SHALL NOT RECEIVE YOU, NOR HEAR YOU, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”
The consequences for me are very hard because I don’t have any problem about repenting from my sins as Matthew’s Jesus asks but , do I have to open when a Jheova Witness is knocking at my door ? If I kept silent as if nobody was at home ,am I condemned to an everlasting punishment in hell?
What Mark version is correct?
I know you are probably the most indicated person in the world to answer me !!!
I’m not sure where the KJV gets “nor hear you” — it’s not in any mss I’m aware of. Odd…. But what it’s saying is that anyone who does not receive/accept the message of Jesus will not enter the kingdom of God, but will be destroyed (not eternally punished).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206%3A11&version=KJV
“And whosoever shall not receive you, NOR HERE YOU, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206%3A11&version=ESV
“And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
The main difference is the lack of “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” in the ESV
AH, that’s what you were asking. OK. The deal there is pretty easy. The majority of mauscripts from the Middle Ages, including the ones behind the KJV, ahve that line. It is not found though in the oldest and best manuscripts and in lots of the early versions. It appears that later scribes added it to Mark under the influence of Matthew 10:15.
Revelation 20:10 says the devil, beast, and false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire and sulphur where “they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Does this mean there will be sunrises and sunsets at the lake of fire?
Just for them.
I have spent the last month or so in a deep dive into Daniel, so I am very interested in what you have to say here.
I feel that Christianity is too often an enormous game of ‘good cop, bad cop’. Churches hide the bad cop stuff of eternal torment and apocalyptic thinking, when in reality it is very central to the message in the gospels, NT, and church doctrine. The implications of this lead to a troubling split personality, where the dark scary stuff is hidden away, and only the bright sunny stuff is on display. Much like the human psyche.
The hard work of bringing this out into the open can be painful but is so important!
It looks like a very heavy read, but I am looking forward to it!
And in my experience, some Christians who figure out the bad cop part begin to drift away from the faith, while others become ever more fervent fundamentalists to the concern of friends and family as they join (or even start) smaller and smaller communities of intensely like minded believers. At least the ones that go the radical pacifist route don’t accumulate weapons!
I haven’t yet ordered your new book but Armageddon ready to any day now.
Hello Bart.
I’d like to make 2 points, one completely unrelated to the other :
1. It’s been three years (almost to the day) since your revelatory moment about God. I hope this is still your view. It is my favorite post on here, because you used very basic, persuasive logic to help me understand myself better, as I had wrestled with these ideas for a while, but your post crystallized my own brain mess into something coherent. Thanks.
https://ehrmanblog.org/a-revelatory-moment-about-god/
2. When I was in first year university (studying architecture), one of our projects was to design an entertainment dance venue. The name ?
The Armageddon Happy Nightclub.
I’ll show myself out.
Ah, right, my aha moment! Maybe I”ll repost it. As to your Nightclub: ha!disabledupes{d57475a51c01dad0e1ac67740185803a}disabledupes
Any plans for a Portuguese translation?
Not yet!