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Title: Revelation: Four Views, a Parallel Commentary

Author: Gregg, Steve, ed.

Format: Hardcover: 608 pages

Publisher: Nelson Reference; May, 1997

ISBN: 0840721285

Review Date: August 25, 2004

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Book Description: An even-handed summary of the four traditional views of Revelation in parallel columns. This convenient presentation not only gives you the information you need on these key views, but also informs you about outstanding commentators on the book of Revelation throughout much of church history. A wonderful addition to any Bible study resource library.

Reviw:

What is this you speak of? A magical book that clearly lays out the four main views on Revelation. Why yes, a very magical book indeed.

Does the subject of Eschatology (that's the study of end times) make your head spin? Do you feel left out of the conversation when your friends discuss these matters? Have you read all the Left Behind series and are shocked to find out that there are other, more reliable interpretations of Revelation? Well then, this book is for you.

I first heard about this book late in the spring semester of 2004. When summer hit I did some foot work and tracked the book down. When it finally came in the mail I was very excited. My hands may or may not have been trembling as I opened the cover of this magical tome. That's when my heart sank. I read the dedication... It was dedicated to Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel. Then I read further, "and my first mentor in ministry." "Ah hell," I thought, "might as well burn the book now." For those of you that do not know, Calvary Chapel holds to a certain view that is similar to the one expressed in the Left Behind series. Chuck Smith himself got involved with all the date setting during that turbulent decade known as the 80's. Ahem, excuse me, I think his exact words were, "I almost feel into the trap..." At any rate, a laugh for those of you who know, a tidbit to wet the appetite of those who do not.

I read further into the introduction. It was titled, "Why This Commentary?" To quote:

Like many other open-minded Bible students, I looked for the book that you are holding for many years. Since it did not exist, I wrote it.

Hey hey hey, not bad. But it even gets better:

I once believed that there were two types of prophecy enthusiasts--those who shared my views on Revelation and those who had not yet heard them convincingly presented.

Sweet, he has a good sense of humor, too.

In 1970, when I first began teaching, my training had equipped me with factory-installed explanations for almost every detail of this enigmatic book. I was able to teach Revelation with confidence, since my teachers before me had assigned plausible and defensible meanings to each of its visions. I had not been made aware of any responsible alternatives to my own view (out of charity to my teachers, I will assume that they were likewise unaware). I was aware only that some Christians were so unfortunate as to set the Rapture of the church at a time different from that in my system.

A pretty good description of the cesspool of "scholarship" the Church has "educated" itself into these days. All this and we are only on the first page of the introduction! The book had quickly redeemed itself. (Queue the Hallelujah chorus and we are now set.)

For those of you who are not familiar with the four different views here they are in brief:

Historicist: The Historic interpretation of classic Protestantism. Views Revelation as an outline of history since the beginning of the Church. Usually involves a lot of Roman Catholic bashing.

Preterist: The Preterist view maintains that much of the prophecies of the New (and Old) Testament have already been fulfilled in the past. (Usually fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem).

Important Note: A reader should be informed, however, that there is a group of commentators who call themselves Preterists (more like have recently hijacked the term), but believe that all New Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. That's right folks, the final judgment, final resurrection, new heavens and new earth. The whole shebang, we are in it right now. (So how does the new earth feel? I do not like it much, to much like the old one with all the war and famine and stuff. Idiots). These commentators are obviously heretics who deny many orthodox Christian beliefs. Unfortunately, this book does not make the distinction between the Heretical form of Preterism and the Orthodox form of Preterism. (The heretical Preterism has been dubbed Pantelism by a certain Pastor Seraiah. It means that all is finished. I find this label to be fitting as it clears up a lot of misunderstanding by separating the wheat from the chaff.)

Futurist: The theology behind the Left Behind series fits into the Futurist interpretation. They believe that almost all of Biblical prophecy has not taken place yet. Many people of this persuasion are usually apocalyptic types, believing that Jesus is going to return in the next few years (or days or minutes), much like the author of a famous book titled Late Great Planet Earth. (We could say that these people have taken over the Futurist interpretation and have confused the theological differences between a soon and immanent return of the late and risen again Jesus Christ.)

Spiritualist: (also called idealist or symbolic): This view asserts that much of what we call prophecy is really a symbolic way of representing what every generation of the Church goes through. That is, instead of taking the stance that many Futurists do by saying there will be one Anti-Christ at the end of times, spiritualists see it as every generation of Christians will have do deal with their own Anti-Christ.

So that is a quick overview of what this book covers. On to the technical details of format.

There is a three page Selective Bibliography for those who wish to read more. What is helpful here however, is that the editor has listed which persuasion of interpretation that the author of each book adhered to. Excellent starting point for further research.

A short and sweet summary of Revelation is next. Covering authorship, apocalyptic literature in general, dating and historical setting, Revelations use of other scripture, reoccurring motifs in Revelation, historic interpretations of the book of Revelation by the Church Fathers, Medieval Theologians, etc.

After the introduction it is on to the actual commentary. The commentary is broken into three different parts: the Letters, the Visions, and the Millennium. The Letters section is setup like a standard commentary, citing passages of scripture and then commenting of them. When we get to the Visions, however, is where this book really shines. We are given a section of scripture and then in four parallel columns we are presented with the commentary from each different interpretation method. This will give you a pretty good idea what each school of thought is. (As an add exercise, after you become more familiar with each interpretation, try to figure out what school of thought people are from when you listen to them talk. Not only is it fun, but you can also see how well you are understanding the material.) When the book reaches the Millennium section, it switches over to post-, pre- and a- millennial views. This is a wise choice because ones understanding of the rest of Revelation does not dictate what camp you are in as far as the millennium goes.

To top it all off there is a subject, author and scripture index.

I can not really say enough good about this book. The author has kept his views hidden fairly well, and each time I thought that I had pinned down his theology, I continued reading and found something else that made me change my mind. My only complaint so far is that Gregg did not discriminate between the Preterist and Pantelist views (which is something that can easily be over come by an informed and critical reader).

All in all, this book is a must have for those interested in studying Eschatology.