Conversations with Scripture: Revelation

As the first in a series of everyday commentaries on Scripture, Dr. Schmidt's work on Revelation is a wonderful place to start. With the huge popularity of the Left Behind series and other similar books, a true, in-depth study of Scripture is refreshing. When you read this work, you are able to unpack what The Revelation of St. John is actually saying, not what "scholars" tell you it says. A man with unparalleled credentials as an Anglican priest and Biblical scholar, Dr. Schmidt is a wonderful storyteller who has an amazing ability to clarify one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible.

It was refreshing to read a text on Revelation that did not contain a blow by blow description of earth's final days, the judgment of all humankind and the transformation of heaven and earth. This book is based on the whole of the Scripture and not just the parts of it that suit us. At one point, the author quotes William Sloan Coffin who once observed that the problem with Americans and the Bible is that we read it like a drunk uses a lamppost. We lean on it; we don't use it for illumination. I found the clarity of this book to be helpful for adult study groups and the depth of the book as a possible use for seminary classrooms. It politely but ruthlessly demolishes the "Left Behind" approach and outlines an alternative to reading the Book of Revelation, informed by historical and literary criticism. I was made aware of such important, complex topics as the character of Revelation as oral communication; the performative nature of various genres, and the inescapable presence of violent, vengeful themes in apocalyptic literature. As I completed the book I sensed that I had been on a journey that honored complexity and brought me to a degree of clarity.