The Message of the Book of Revelation

Reverend Chapman reminds us that Revelation was not written as a prediction of 21th century events. It was one Apocalyptic story among many and barely made it into the canon of New Testament scripture. It was attributed to a man named John who was very unlikely to have been John the Apostle. Revelation is filled with bizarre dreams and symbolism which are best interpreted within the context of the time and place. In the first couple of centuries CE when apocalyptic literature alluded to the enemy of God - that enemy was Rome. The anti-Christ was Rome's emperor. The whole of Revelation (translation - "New American Bible") is provided, and after each few paragraphs of verse, Chapman gives detailed explanations of the strange language and mysterious symbols that make up Revelation. He shows that if it is interpreted within the context of the day, it is not nearly so unclear. He assists the reader further with a helpful "Thinking Aloud" segment each few pages. To modern day Christians, Chapman gives this overall interpretation: Christians who suffer can be assured that God is in control over the forces of evil and believers can be confident that he will prevail. Interestingly, Chapman is an Episcopalean minister and his book came to me through the Catholic Church my wife attends. I recommend it highly for those faithful Christians who desire a scholarly interpretation of Revelation as opposed to the common belief that the book predicts impending doom in the modern world.