Modern
Interpretation
Revelation in the modern social imaginary
People today look at the Book of Revelation and think of doomsday, judgment day, and the apocalypse. While most of these basic thoughts of the book are not wrong it can be very exaggerated. This literal interpretation of eternal suffering affects how Catholics and other religious followers view the bible as a whole.
With the power of social media and the massive influence that entertainment movies have from Hollywood, the Book of Revelation seems to carry the label of the end of the world. Certain Hollywood movies such as “This is the End” a comedy genre depicting actual apocalyptic events similar to the Book of Revelation. This kind of publicity makes people from other ideologies actually believe this will happen to the world one day. While it shows a clear message about the book it leaves out very important details that scholars and other bible studies profess, which clarify the true intentions of the books messages to it’s readers.
The scholarly and closely read interpretation from the academic article called The Triumph of the Kingdom by Laurie Guy talks about how chapter 7 of the book talks about 144,000 people souls will be saved saying “Effectively the narrative is indicating a sealing of the people of God, the 144,000 elsewhere being indicated as followers of the lamb.” (Guy pg. 17) This quote from the article shows how followers of the lamb will be saved means that those who are pure of sin are the ones that will receive salvation. This modern interpretation of reading this chapter makes the reader feel that only heavily devoted catholic followers are the ones whose souls shall be saved. Not only can this cause controversy from followers of other religions and beliefs but also even within the Catholic Church itself this can be seen as controversial because many modern Catholics today don’t practice the catholic religion as diligently as the book of Revelation and bible in general demands.
Going more into depth in Chapter 7, the number 144,000 referring to those who are chosen of the 12 tribes of Israel that enter the kingdom of God, there is more meaning behind it that certain scholars and readers today try interpret. In the academic article titled The List of the Tribes in Revelation 7 Again written by Richard Bauckham, his main discussion point is trying to figure out whether these 144,000 people chosen to be in God’s kingdom are of direct descent from the Israelite tribes mentioned in the book, or if it appeals to the “multitude of nations” as he describes people beyond the 12 tribes of Israel in the world throughout the article. His other point brought up also begs the question if John wrote about these 144,000 Israelites being chosen for the purpose of being military force for the messianic war occurring in the Book of Revelation. Bauckam writes in his article about this claim saying, “Less obvious than the contrast between the fixed number of Israelites and the innumerable multitude from all nations is the contrast between the 144,000 as an army called to military service in the messianic war.” (Bauckham pg. 4) The discussion really changes how someone can view who is it exactly that is being chosen to enter God’s kingdom and for what reason. Most people would assume through oral tradition or stories about the book that being chosen to God’s kingdom means living in eternal peace and happiness. This claim that Bauckham makes, drastically changes that view because it ties more into the book’s simple notion of God’s armies are battling the evil forces of Satin and that there is really no telling who can be chosen if it is not direct ancestors of the original 12 tribes mentioned. This new interpretation of Chapter 7 in the Book of Revelations pretty much leaves a bigger state of anxiety for readers of the book and followers of the Catholic religion, asserting the claim the website is presenting on why the Book of Revelations is such a controversial text in the Bible.
Sources:
With the power of social media and the massive influence that entertainment movies have from Hollywood, the Book of Revelation seems to carry the label of the end of the world. Certain Hollywood movies such as “This is the End” a comedy genre depicting actual apocalyptic events similar to the Book of Revelation. This kind of publicity makes people from other ideologies actually believe this will happen to the world one day. While it shows a clear message about the book it leaves out very important details that scholars and other bible studies profess, which clarify the true intentions of the books messages to it’s readers.
The scholarly and closely read interpretation from the academic article called The Triumph of the Kingdom by Laurie Guy talks about how chapter 7 of the book talks about 144,000 people souls will be saved saying “Effectively the narrative is indicating a sealing of the people of God, the 144,000 elsewhere being indicated as followers of the lamb.” (Guy pg. 17) This quote from the article shows how followers of the lamb will be saved means that those who are pure of sin are the ones that will receive salvation. This modern interpretation of reading this chapter makes the reader feel that only heavily devoted catholic followers are the ones whose souls shall be saved. Not only can this cause controversy from followers of other religions and beliefs but also even within the Catholic Church itself this can be seen as controversial because many modern Catholics today don’t practice the catholic religion as diligently as the book of Revelation and bible in general demands.
Going more into depth in Chapter 7, the number 144,000 referring to those who are chosen of the 12 tribes of Israel that enter the kingdom of God, there is more meaning behind it that certain scholars and readers today try interpret. In the academic article titled The List of the Tribes in Revelation 7 Again written by Richard Bauckham, his main discussion point is trying to figure out whether these 144,000 people chosen to be in God’s kingdom are of direct descent from the Israelite tribes mentioned in the book, or if it appeals to the “multitude of nations” as he describes people beyond the 12 tribes of Israel in the world throughout the article. His other point brought up also begs the question if John wrote about these 144,000 Israelites being chosen for the purpose of being military force for the messianic war occurring in the Book of Revelation. Bauckam writes in his article about this claim saying, “Less obvious than the contrast between the fixed number of Israelites and the innumerable multitude from all nations is the contrast between the 144,000 as an army called to military service in the messianic war.” (Bauckham pg. 4) The discussion really changes how someone can view who is it exactly that is being chosen to enter God’s kingdom and for what reason. Most people would assume through oral tradition or stories about the book that being chosen to God’s kingdom means living in eternal peace and happiness. This claim that Bauckham makes, drastically changes that view because it ties more into the book’s simple notion of God’s armies are battling the evil forces of Satin and that there is really no telling who can be chosen if it is not direct ancestors of the original 12 tribes mentioned. This new interpretation of Chapter 7 in the Book of Revelations pretty much leaves a bigger state of anxiety for readers of the book and followers of the Catholic religion, asserting the claim the website is presenting on why the Book of Revelations is such a controversial text in the Bible.
Sources:
- Bauckham, Richard. 1991. "The list of the tribes in Revelation 7 again." Journal For The Study Of The New Testament 42, 99-115. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed April 20, 2017).
- Guy, Laurie. 2015. "The triumph of the kingdom: interpreting Revelation 6-16." Evangelical Quarterly 87, no. 1: 36-44. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 16, 2017).
- "Saint John the Evangelist Receiving His Visions on the Island of Patmos (Wash on Paper)". 2014. In Bridgeman Images: The Bridgeman Art Library, edited by Bridgeman Images. London: Bridgeman. https://providence.idm.oclc.org/login?