First off, here’s some articles from Catholic Answers that may help you:
catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9510ntg.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0209fea5.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0009bite.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9812chap.asp
There are, as you probably know, a number of perspectives from which Revelation has been interpreted. Without going into what each of these are (you can see the articles for more info):
- Preterist (already fulfilled in the 1st century)
- Futurist (will be fulfilled in the future)
- Historicist (is repeatedly fulfilled throughout Church history)
- Analogical (entirely symbolic and spiritual)
My own view (and –
arguably – the primary view of the Church) is that the proper interpretation of Revelation is a combination of all of these. In this view most of the book (the first 20 chapters or so) is symbolically (in a type of writing called "apocalyptic) talking about events that took place in the 1st century – primarily the persecution of Christians by the pagan Romans and Jewish leaders, and the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple. The last three chapters or so are talking about the last days, the General Judgment by God, and the consumation of all things, resulting in a new heaven and a new earth. Spiritually, throughout, the book is meant to give us encouragement and hope in times of trial.
Some real good books for getting a handle on Revelation are:
The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Book of Revelation
"Coming Soon’, by Michael Barber
“The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn
(Any minute now we’ll have spauline sail in and take over the thread, so I’m glad to get my :twocents: in early. Luv ya, spauline!
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