Views on Revelation- Part two

In this Chapter, I will spell out in common-sense language what I believe about Revelation.  As I said in the earlier chapter, Much of what I currently believe about this work stems from Dr. Scott Hahn.  I have read two of his books now, but the one that is important here is The Lamb's Supper.

Caveat again: Dr. Hahn is a Catholic convert.  His views, and my own, are colored by the Catholic Church.  If I thought these view were totally without merit for non-Catholic readers, I wouldn't publish this in the way I have.  Still, you'll see how my Catholic faith impacts my view, and that's fine by me.

THE IMPORTANT PARTS

I first of all want to stress that most people who espouse the three views I illustrated in the last post miss out a bit on the important parts of Revelation:

A) The promise of salvation - see a lot of this book, but specifically Chapter 7: verses 9 through 17;  Chapter 21, verses 1 through 5, Chapter 22, verses 4 and 5

B) Descriptions of the Worship that goes on in Heaven - again, this is all over the book, but here's a few spots: Chapter 4, verses 7 though 11; Chapter 5, verses 11 through 14; Chapter 7, verses 9 through 14; Chapter 19: verses 4 through 9

C) Final equality of all in Heaven - One very telling passage (note: this does not say that Saints can't intercede for people on Earth, only that, in Heaven, God is the ONLY subject of adoration) - Chapter 19, verse 10 - "At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."("him" in the passage is the angel showing him the vision).

MY VIEW, BASICALLY 

My view is simply that the book of Revelation is both forward-looking (t0 the final coming of Jesus) and fulfilled in ancient times.  These are not contradictory, because many things in history are cyclical, but Jesus has not yet returned in manifest glory.

Right in the Beginning of the book, Saint John tells you that Jesus' coming will be obvious.  We WILL know when the Second Coming Happens. - Ch 1, Verse 7 - 

"Look, he is coming with the clouds, 
  and every eye will see him, 
  even those who pierced him; 
  and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen."

We need to understand that there is still something unfulfilled in our time from this vision.  

We need also to understand that much of the book was really a commentary on the times John lived in.  Because he could not explicitly critique Rome from captivity, he used coded language educated Jews could understand.

Examples:

The number of the beast:  Note what Saint John says - "This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."  (Ch 13, verse 18)

1) "This calls for wisdom" - This is a CODE

2) "If anyone has insight, let me calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number." - This code is calling out a SPECIFIC PERSON, and it's something you the reader in the know (familiar with the Hebrew system of correspondence between numbers and letters, as well as how that would translate to Greek, the language this book is written in) can figure out

3) "His number is 666" - Scholars a lot smarter than me believe that Emperor Nero's name is the coded person.  

I will also point out the double meaning here.  6 is the number before 7.  Seven is a complete number in the Old Testament (again, pointing to the fact that the people who are referenced as the audience here should know SOMETHING about the Old Testament).  There are seven days in a week, and the Seventh Day (The Sabbath) is the Holy Day.  Six is incomplete.  Tripling some value is a kind of hyperbole that is common in the Bible; if you want to make something REALLY one way, you make the number large.  So, the Beast is REALLY incomplete, REALLY far from God.  In Saint John of Patmos'  world, the farthest thing from God, the thing that stands in God's way the most, is the Roman Empire.

The Beast of the Sea - (CH 13) - A military power, with control of the Sea (the Mediterranean WAS the Sea for the Hebrews) - Guess who?  Yep, Rome.  Note the message of perseverance and the warning to NOT try and resist militarily (remember the terrible suffering of the Jews who made their last stand at Masada?).  See verses 9 and 10.

The obvious, big tell that Saint John means Rome - (CH 17) verse 9, describing the woman who consorts with the Beast - "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits."  

Again, "This calls for wisdom" - I am writing in code

"The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits."  The Beast's seven heads, where the woman sits, is, yep, Rome.  Rome is famous for sitting in ancient times on seven hills.

 

BACK TO THE IMPORTANT PARTS

All that aside, the important parts of Revelation that most gloss over in their haste to interpret signs are REALLY important.  These are not only the reflections of our future, not just a historical glimpse into early Christianity, but they are also guides to our worship NOW.  

In The Lamb's Supper, Dr. Hahn explicitly lays out how the practice of the Catholic Mass mirrors the worship in Revelation.  While I understand non-Catholics will not be familiar with the Mass, trust me, a lot of the passages above are directly incorporated or referenced in ceremony in the Mass.

Now, if you're not Catholic, how does all this part about the worship in Heaven apply to you?   To be frank, the SAME WAY.  While you may not agree, I believe we Christians are ALL called to mirror the vision of Heavenly worship.  I go so far as to think that the mirror of Heavenly worship is the real revealed thing in Revelation.

Do you have to use the same words?  No. In my next post, about literalism in Biblical interpretation, I'll lay out why.  What is important is that you capture the SPIRIT of Revelation in your worship.  Biblical scholars can spell that out far better than I ever could.  

Views on Revelation- Part one

Preamble

No book in the Bible is more misinterpreted than Revelation.  It is a great barrier to some in understanding faith.  I myself have stumbled more than once in my faith because of my misunderstandings of this book.  

May what I write here not lead others astray, but rather point to a true understanding of this great work.

Revelations, to paraphrase Martin Luther, "should be revealing."  In fact,the Book of Revelation is revealing, but what it often reveals is the reader's predisposed notions.  

I propose that we read Revelation with eyes and hearts open.  In that way, the true message will be instilled within us, and we will stray from the errors I am about to elucidate.

There are, of course, proper theological names for this views I will describe.  Because I am myself rather ignorant of proper theological naming conventions, and I also imagine my interested readers to be, I will simply characterize errors in a common-sense form of speech designed for ease of reading.  

Caveat now: I am not a great scholar.  In fact, I am a profound sinner, and this work of mine is only my own attempt at a kind of penance.  You see, I have interpreted Revelation in ways convenient to my own life at different times, a sin of trying to make the divine message of God work for me.  As I grow in faith, it is obvious to me that I in fact work for God.

With that, I illustrate errors in interpretation and how to avoid them.

Errors

THE LITERAL VIEW - I think it would be almost impossible to imagine anyone in modern times expecting the events of Revelation to literally come to pass, except that many well-meaning people espouse a view of this work that is either explicitly literal (They say they believe in the book literally) or de facto literal.  I hope I do not seem smug when I say I don't understand what this view of the Revelation is supposed to be, how it can be coherent.

THE HISTORICAL VIEW - This view presupposes that the signs and visions illustrated in Revelation have come to pass.  The generally accepted version of this view is that the symbolism associated with the Beast has to do with the Roman Empire, but there are other readings.  The key to understanding this view is that believers in our era should not be looking forward to the signs described, but rather they should look back to what was going on in the time that Saint John of Patmos was writing.

I find this interpretation has more than a grain of truth in it.  Perhaps this is why it is very widely adopted by scholars.  The issues I have with this view are  simple man's questions: Why include this book now in the Bible when everything is fulfilled?  more importantly, what about the parts of the book in which the return of Christ is illustrated?

THE FUTURE VIEW - The current 21st century world world is rife with doom-and -gloom visions.  Into this environment, a reader of Revelation can find all kinds of ways in which one news event or person of note fits a certain reading of the texts.  There are all varieties of this interpretation going around now, all united by the idea that Saint John of Patmos was writing Revelation primarily as an illustration of future events that would unfold.

I find this view very compelling as well, but the details always create problems.  One person says that a sign is completed in the restoration of Babylon that Saddam Hussein was attempting (seriously), while another group waits for the United Nations to take over and become the agent of the Beast (also, seriously).  

In the next installment, I will illustrate a more syncretic view that also has a wholly different interpretation of the great book, one that Catholic theologian Scott Hahn writes about better than I.  In fact, where Dr. Hahn and I differ, you can probably assume Dr. Hahn is right.