Revelation for the Rest of Us Review by the Hobbit. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple
Author: Scot McKnight with Cody Matchett
Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Genres: Biblical Interpretation and Commentary
Pages: 336
Reading Age: 18 and up
Warnings: If you do not want to seriously consider what Revelation says to Christians today, this book is not for you.
Brief Summary of Revelation for the Rest of Us
Hoping to help the many who are confused by Revelation (or who simply ignore it), the authors take a fresh approach to looking at Revelation. Using the latest scholarship, they address many of the popular misconceptions about the book. Their goal is to show that Revelation is just as pertinent and meaningful today as it was 2,000 years ago – and how its purpose, to discern “Babylon”, is as important today as it was then.
Revelation for the Rest of Us Review
McKnight and Matchett open with a description of the major alternatives to interpreting Revelation. They discuss who the intended audience is – was it primarily intended for its original listeners, or was it primarily intended for a future audience? They then take a novel approach to explaining Revelation.
Before we get to that, one thing needs to be clear: the authors (and the vast majority of current New Testament scholarship) believe Revelation was directed at its original audience – the seven churches of Asia. The authors see “pop” premillennialism as being bad theology and inhibiting discipleship.
McKnight and Matchett are not going to do a verse-by-verse commentary. Instead, they start by giving us the “Playbill of Revelation”. Who are the major characters? What did the original audience see and what should we see? They first look at Babylon, then the servants of Babylon, the dragon and the wild things (beasts). They then turn to the Lamb and the faithful witnesses. Having introduced the characters, they turn to the structure of Revelation. They look at the structure of the interludes and of the various hymns. What is the impact of the New Jerusalem?
The intent of the letter was to help the seven churches understand how to live in a world controlled by “Babylon” (which at that time was Rome but manifests itself in various ways through time). Having considered this, they present their thoughts on how we can discern Babylon today, and how we need to live as disciples in Babylon.
The book concludes with several short, useful appendices that address several common questions and concepts associated with Revelation.
Related Content: Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet Review
I agree with many of the concepts presented, but, as with any work of Biblical interpretation, there are things I believe could be presented or stressed differently. No reader of a book such as this will agree with everything – but it is a very readable, concise, and informative look at Revelation. It would be a great tool for individual or group use to spark further thought and discussion.
Please note that the book takes on both Christian Nationalism and the religious right (for selling out to Babylon) and the far left (for believing that something like New Jerusalem will arrive solely by human effort). Because more Christians subscribe to the first, and it definitely fits into discerning Babylon, the first gets more space. This is NOT due to political leaning; the second tends to leave faith behind and is somewhat less in the scope of the book.
Revelation for the Rest of Us Quotes
There are a significant number of quotes I highlighted (141!!) Some of the main ones are:
“Many Christians in the West have shut out the book of Revelation after seeing it exploited by cult leaders, pop eschatologists, and end-time fiction writers.”
“As Nelson Kraybill, in his exceptional study of this book, says it, “The last book of the Bible is not a catalog of predictions about events that would take place two thousand years later. Rather, it is a projector that casts archetypal images of good and evil onto a cosmic screen.” Wow, that line leads us to a fresh reading of Revelation.”
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“Revelation records a timeless battle between two cities: Babylon and new Jerusalem. It’s a battle between two lords: The Lord of lords, Jesus, and the lord of the empire, the emperors of Rome. It’s a battle between hidden forces: angels and those in heaven against the dragon and his many-headed beasts (or wild things), and armies on both sides.”
“Michael Gorman is right: Revelation “is not about a rapture out of this world but about faithful discipleship in this world.””
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