Beyond Vengeance and Protest: A Reflection on the Macarisms in Revelation (Studies in Biblical Literature) - Hardcover

Nwachukwu, Rev. Oliver O.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820471313 ISBN 13: 9780820471310

Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2004

Synopsis

Beyond Vengeance and Protest takes a fresh look at the Book of Revelation from the point of view of blessing. If John wrote Revelation to tell the Christian communities that he had seen the Lord and to encourage them to persevere, the macarisms underscore his conviction of God’s vindication of the righteous who suffer now. With the sevenfold macarisms expressing hope in God’s grace, John lays grounds for action by positing the good for which the contrary must be rejected.

About this title

About the Author

The Author: Oliver O. Nwachukwu is a Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Okigwe in Nigeria. After lecturing in the seminary of his diocese for many years, Nwachukwu attended Central Connecticut State University to study mathematics and then Harvard University to earn his M.A. in New Testament and early Christianity. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament studies and early Christianity from Loyola University Chicago. In addition to some articles in scholarly journals, he is the author of Crisis in Sunday Celebration.

From the Back Cover

Father Oliver has made important historical, literary and theological contributions to our understanding of the neglected seven beatitudes which punctuate the Revelation of John, as well as to our understanding of beatitudes generally. Both scholars and students will find this book an enormously helpful and challenging guide in working through the many problems and issues found in these enigmatical texts in what is perhaps the most enigmatic of all Biblical books.

[I]David E. Aune Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity [/I] University of Notre Dame [/I]

Beyond Vengeance and Protest is the most thorough study of this literary form to date. His detailed analysis provides a useful new perspective on the macarisms. It is a perspective that refuses to force them into artificial categories but allows them to speak with all of their individuality. By stressing the necessity of interpreting them within their apocalyptic context, he makes clear that what could appear to some to be disjointed additions in fact form an integral part of the message of Revelation.

Fr. Nwachukwu's book will be of interest, first, to specialists in the study of the Book of Revelation but also to scholars who study macarisms in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the sectarian documents from Qumran, and in the remainder of the New Testament.

[I]Urban C. von Wahlde Dept of Theology [/I] Loyola University of Chicago

Edition details

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820471313
• ISBN 13: 9780820471310
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 292