The Pith of the Apocalypse: Essential Message and Principles for Interpretation - Softcover

Rainbow, Paul A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556359144 ISBN 13: 9781556359149

Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2008

Synopsis

To serve God and Christ faithfully in the midst of a pagan society that exalts power, wealth, and pleasure is the tenor of the prophetic summons to the church in the book of Revelation. Unfortunately, this simple message, as potent today as it was at the end of the first century, is often obscured by misguided, if sincere, interpreters. The present book explores the background issues and lays out the principles that inform a sound approach to this enigmatic writing: its historical and cultural setting, its literary structure, its symbolic code, its core theological concepts, its scheme of last things, and its preachable and teachable points. In dialogue with dispensationalism on the one hand and with the skeptical criticism of it on the other, The Pith of the Apocalypse derives clues for cracking the Apocalypse from the book itself, viewed against the sweep of the biblical prophetic tradition that flowed into it, through the lens of methods widely accepted in mainstream New Testament scholarship. Readers will return to the book of Revelation itself with enhanced confidence, penetration, and understanding.

About this title

About the Author

Paul A. Rainbow is Professor of New Testament at Sioux Falls Seminary in South Dakota. He studied theology at Oxford University, Harvard University, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

From the Back Cover

To serve God and Christ faithfully in the midst of a pagan society that exalts power, wealth, and pleasure is the tenor of the prophetic summons to the church in the book of Revelation. Unfortunately this simple message, as potent today as it was at the end of the first century, is often obscured by misguided, if sincere, interpreters. The present book goes into the background issues and lays out the principles that inform a sound approach to this enigmatic writing: its historical and cultural setting, literary structure, symbolic code, core theological concepts, scheme of last things, and preachable and teachable points. In dialogue with dispensationalism on the one hand and sceptical criticism of it on the other, The Pith of the Apocalypse derives clues for cracking the Apocalypse from the book itself, viewed against the sweep of the biblical prophetic tradition that flowed into it, through the lens of methods widely accepted in mainstream New Testament scholarship. Readers will return to the book of Revelation itself with enhanced confidence, penetration and understanding.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1556359144
• ISBN 13: 9781556359149
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180