Revelations

I was wondering if I could gain some insight here as to the book of revelations as seen by Christians...

Now yes, I have read the bible including revelations; and in doing so I could not help but come to one conclusion about the final book of the new testament - it changes the meanings of many of the things in the bible (Angelology with its understanding of the nature of the devil for example) often dramatically; in particular (for you Eschatology buffs) its examination of the 'end times' .



So the purpose of this discussion is to identify what Chrisitians think of:

Whether the book of Revelation changes either interpretations or outright challenges the other books within the bible.

The Book of Revelations' legitimacy and how it weighs up against the other books, be they epistles, the acts, the gospels and whichever books of the old testament that your particular denomination of Christianity acknowledges along with the Biblical apocrypha. Sort of like a legitimacy ranking I suppose.

Official Christian legitimacy ranking, from most to least legitimacy:

The direct words of God
The words of the prophets
The alleged words of God the prophets, found in scripture (Tanakh and Gospels)
Everything else

Where does the Book of Revelation fit here? Who knows?

A lot of people say it's meant to be a coded anti-Roman tract. I'm inclined to agree, actually.

InformedIgnorance said:

I was wondering if I could gain some insight here as to the book of revelations as seen by Christians...

Now yes, I have read the bible including revelations; and in doing so I could not help but come to one conclusion about the final book of the new testament - it changes the meanings of many of the things in the bible (Angelology with its understanding of the nature of the devil for example) often dramatically; in particular (for you Eschatology buffs) its examination of the 'end times' .



So the purpose of this discussion is to identify what Chrisitians think of:

Whether the book of Revelation changes either interpretations or outright challenges the other books within the bible.

The Book of Revelations' legitimacy and how it weighs up against the other books, be they epistles, the acts, the gospels and whichever books of the old testament that your particular denomination of Christianity acknowledges along with the Biblical apocrypha. Sort of like a legitimacy ranking I suppose.

Click to expand...

We would say that the book of Revelation actually makes a lot the bible more understandable. Without Revelation, who would have known that the serpent in Eden was actually Satan the Devil? Even the hebrew scriptures do not reveal that the snake in Eden was actually a rebellious angel.

the book’s Greek name A·po·ka′ly·psis (Apocalypse) means “Uncovering” or “Unveiling” ... so it is a book which can be used to understand more fully the thing we find written in the rest of the scriptures.

There is much in Revelation which is associated with the hebrew prophecies....eg, Revelation 21:1-4 describes a new heaven and a new earth as prophesied also at Isaiah 65:17, 18; 66:22.

When the Serpent first appeared in the garden of Eden, God foretold the bruising of his head, and Revelation discloses how that original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, is finally hurled into destruction. (Gen. 3:1-5, 15; Rev. 20:10)

There is also a in Revelation of a vision seen by Ezekiel, and Jesus’ words about “a fountain of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.” (Rev. 22:1, 2; Ezek. 47:1-12; John 4:13, 14)

The prophet Daniel’s vision of a kingdom set up by God is also seen in Revelation: “The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.” (Dan. 2:44; Rev. 11:15)
Daniel described ‘someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven to receive a lasting rulership and dignity and kingdom,’ and Revelation aldo identifies Jesus Christ as “The Ruler of the kings of the earth” and as “coming with the clouds,” and says that “every eye will see him.” (Dan. 7:13, 14; Rev. 1:5, 7)

there are many more parallels with the rest of the bible... so i would say that revelation is really a finale and a compliment to the rest of the bible.