The book of revelations

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traillius

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what is the proper way to interpret it. I never took it to be literal, that would to too many logical and factual absurdities. I always understood it to be a ‘disguised,’ for lack of a better word, way of encouraging people while condemning the pagan roman emperors and society during the persecutions taking place at the time it was written. Is this the correct way to look at it?
 
traillius said:
what is the proper way to interpret it. I never took it to be literal, that would to too many logical and factual absurdities. I always understood it to be a ‘disguised,’ for lack of a better word, way of encouraging people while condemning the pagan roman emperors and society during the persecutions taking place at the time it was written. Is this the correct way to look at it?
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:yup: Scott Hahn’s book The Lamb’s Supper might be of interest to you as he delves into Revelation and how it relates to the Mass. He also has an audio study series on Revelation that is excellent:

getfed.com/end-study-book-revelation-p3961/
 
I’ve been trying to better understand it myself over the last couple of years. Don’t misunderstand, it has not been a focused effort. I have many responsibilities working two jobs, kids, etc. However, my research says that you are indeed looking at it right. It is written in a sort of code of symbolism that the people to whom he directed his writings would have understood fairly easily. I was surprised and releived to also find out that most Catholic scholars believe that most of the so called predicitions contained in the book have already taken place. I say so called because predicting the past is an oxymoron. They would have been predicitions perhaps at the time it was written but from our perspective a done deal. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll draw many more and better informed repsonses. I look forward to furtthering my understanding as well so thanks for the thread.
 
There is more than one correct way to look at the Book of Revelation. It has many layers and is a complex work.

First of all, it has to be read in the context of the rest of the Bible. It’s at the end of the Bible for a reason, because it is the end of the story. One really can’t expect to get a reasonably full unerstanding of the Book unless one has a basic understanding of the rest of the Bible. It’s like reading the last chapter of a novel and trying to understand the whole story. As an example:

Then he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life. I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army. Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel…(Ezekial 37:9-10)

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on land or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the Israelites: (Revelation 7:1-4)

Unless one had an understanding of the writings of the prophet Ezekial, one would not know that what the heck john was talking about and, as is true today, would be more likelty to think that an explicitly literal intepretation is the most correct. Even the locust in Revelation 9reference back to Moses and the first chapter of the prophet Joel.

Revelation is about many things.

One of the big themes throughout Revelation is the Mass. The first half of the book is about reading scrolls (Liturgy of the Word) and the second half of the book is about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Liturgy of the Eucharist). All throughout there are elders and apostles, prostrating, angels singing the Holy, Holy, Holy (The Sanctus), incense, and a lamb slain whome all worship, just like at Mass.

Its about the very real power to overcome sin (the devil in chains in Rev 20) which is given to us by Jesus.

It’s about the Kingdom of God at the end of time but it is also the Kingdom of God now, today, which is Christ’s bride, his Church.

I’m sure your perception of Revelation has some truth in it but I havn’t looked at it that way. It is a good throught and I’ll certainly look into it.

I would suggest, as other’s have, the book “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn. Dr. Hahn addresses your question directly in this book.

-Tim-
 
Here are some resources to help you develop a well-balanced Catholic understanding of the Book of Revelation, biblical prophecy, and eschatology. All of these are HIGHLY recommended:

The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Book of Revelation
The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Major Prophets
The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Minor Prophets
amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/102-2381711-9848916?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=navarre+bible
*
The End: The Book of Revelation*, tape/CD series and Study Guide by Dr. Scott Hahn.
getfed.com/end-study-book-revelation-p3961/

*Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? by Carl Olsen
ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&Product_ID=260&AFID=12&
*
The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to “End Times” Fever, by Paul Thigpen
amazon.com/Rapture-Trap-Catholic-Response-Times/dp/0965922820

The Lamb’s Supper, by Dr. Scott Hahn.
amazon.com/gp/product/0385496591/sr=8-1/qid=1148926012/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2381711-9848916?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Rapture: The End Times Fiction that Leaves Truth Behind, by David Curie
amazon.com/Rapture-End-Times-Error-Leaves-Behind/dp/1928832725/ref=sr_1_1/105-8298365-5498833?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188139548&sr=1-1

Revelation Revealed, tapes/CD series by Michael Barber
saintjoe.com/prodinfo.asp?number=5551

Coming Soon, a book on this same topic by Michael Barber
amazon.com/Coming-Soon-Unlocking-Revelation-Applying/dp/193101826X

Introduction To Prophecy, CD set by Steve Wood
familylifecenterstore.net/Store-Items/Apologetics/An-Introduction-to-Biblical-Prophecy

Here also are free talks available for download in mp3:

Dr. Peter Williamson
catholicmentoday.org/categories/Bible%20Study%20with%20Peter%20Williamson.aspx

Fr. John Corapi
alabamacatholicresources.com/Fr_John_Corapi.html
 
traillius said:
what is the proper way to interpret it. I never took it to be literal, that would to too many logical and factual absurdities. I always understood it to be a ‘disguised,’ for lack of a better word, way of encouraging people while condemning the pagan roman emperors and society during the persecutions taking place at the time it was written. Is this the correct way to look at it?
Click to expand...
  1. It’s the Book of Revelation, not revelations.
  2. It should be interpreted as an example of the literary genre known as “apocalyptic:” Here’s a good Catholic link for more info: catholic-resources.org/Bible/Apocalyptic.htm
 
Interpretations of Revelation usually follow one of five approaches.
  1. The critical view held by many scholars situates the book in the cultural and historical context of its original readers. It tends to see the struggle between Church and State at the end of the first century.
  2. The preterist view concerns events in the lifetime of the readers. It describes both the beginning of the New Covenant and the dramatic end of the Old Covenant.
  3. The historicist view sees it as a panorama of the Church’s life as she marches through history. It looks at all of salvation history instead of a particular point in history.
  4. The idealist view uses signs and symbols to dramatize the never ending struggles of the spiritual life. Some allow that Revelation refers to events in the author’s day, but these are to typify the spiritual struggles between the church and the world more generally. It is a timeless message.
  5. The futurist view is a preview of the end of history, the return of Christ, the Last Judgment, and the final demise of evil. It claims some or all of ch 4-22 is waiting future fulfillment.
All of these views have something to offer. An integrative view recognizes the multiple themes and perspectives that compliment one another in the book.
 
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