Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation

by Richard Bauckham

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 1993

Overview

The Apocalypse of John is a work of immense importance and learning. Yet among the major works of early Christianity included in the New Testament it has received relatively little scholarly attention. This work is a significant contribution to remedying this neglect. The author examines the meticulous literary artistry, creative imagination, radical political critique and profound theology of the Apocalypse of John. It is a sustained enterprise to understand both the form and the message of the Apocalypse in its literary and historical contexts. An invaluable and illuminating work for students, scholars and ministers.

Key Features

• Focuses on the literary composition of Revelation
• Explores John’s use of Old Testament Scriptures
• Examines Revelation’s place among Jewish and Christian apocolyptic literature

Contents

• Structure and Composition
• The Use of Apocalyptic Traditions
• Synoptic Parousia Parables and the Apocalypse
• The Worship of Jesus
• The Role of the Spirit
• The Lion the Lamb and the Dragon
• The Eschatological Earthquake
• The Apocalypse as a Christian War Scroll
• The Conversion of the Nations
• The Economic Critique of Rome in Revelation 18
• Nero and the Beast

Top Highlights

“Fourthly, if Revelation’s meaning is intertextual (in relation to the Old Testament) it is also contextual (in relation to its contemporary world).” (Page xii)

“The most significant numbers in Revelation are seven, four, three and twelve (and in some cases, multiples of these)” (Page 30)

“This structure is intimately connected with the meaning his work conveys, but we must expect it to be signalled by linguistic markers. John, it is important to remember, was writing in the first place for hearers (1:3), even though he must also have expected some readers who would study his work at leisure. In a text intended for oral performance⁶ the structure must be indicated by clear linguistic markers.” (Page 3)

“The whole of the book between prologue and epilogue is recounted as a single visionary experience which took place on Patmos on the Lord’s Day (1:9). The technical phrase ἐγενόμην ἐν πνεύματι (1:10)⁸ indicates the beginning of this whole visionary experience. The words ἐν πνεύματι recur three times later in the book (4:2; 17:3; 21:10), indicating three major transitions within the whole vision.” (Page 3)

“Thus the formula indicates that it is the same final judgment which is reached in the seventh of each of the three series. With each of the first two sevenths we attain a preliminary glimpse of the final judgment, which the following series then approaches again from closer range, as it were. The expansion of the formula corresponds to the intensification of the judgments in each series.” (Page 8)

Endorsements

I strongly recommend Bauckhams masterful studies on Revelation in its historical context

—Thomas Renna, Utopian Studies

Product Details

• Title: The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation
• Author: Richard Bauckham
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Print Publication Date: 1993
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 570
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Revelation › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Christianity Scriptures
• ISBNs: 0567086259, 9780567086259
• Resource ID: LLS:CLMXPRPHCYRVLTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:45:55Z

About Richard Bauckham

Richard Bauckham (1946– ) was professor of New Testament studies at St Mary's College, University of St Andrews. He retired in 2007 from this position in order to concentrate on research and writing. He currently is the senior scholar at Ridley Hall in Cambridge and visiting professor at St. Mellitus College.

Bauckham earned a PhD at the University of Cambridge and was a fellow of St John's College. He taught theology for one year at the University of Leeds and for 15 years at the University of Manchester before teaching at the University of St Andrews. He is a fellow of the British Academy and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Bauckham is known for his commentary on Jude and 2 Peter in the Word Biblical Commentary and his book Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church.