All Things New: Revelation as Canonical Capstone (Volume 48)

New Studies in Biblical Theology #48

by Brian J. Tabb

For many readers of the Bible, the book of Revelation is a riddle that fascinates and frustrates. Scholars and teachers have proposed different keys to its interpretation, including the "futurist" and historical-critical approaches. However, none of these adequately demonstrates the continuing, vital relevance of the Apocalypse to the contemporary church. Brian Tabb stresses the importance of the canonical context of the book of Revelation and argues that it presents itself as the climax of biblical prophecy. He shows how various Old Testament prophecies and patterns find their consummation in the present and future reign of Jesus Christ, who decisively defeats his foes, saves his people, and restores all things. Tabb considers key biblical-theological themes: the triune God; Christ's followers and foes; God's plan for salvation, judgment, and restoration; and God's word. He also explores how the book's symbolic visions shape believers' worldviews in accordance with what is true, good, and beautiful according to God's revealed standards. These visions motivate them to live obediently and counter-culturally in the world as faithful witnesses to Jesus. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian, Religion, Scripture, New Testament, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2019

About the author

Brian Tabb (PhD, London School of Theology) is Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Bethlehem College & Seminary.

Brian Tabb has been a full-time faculty member since 2009. He oversees academic programs at Bethlehem College & Seminary and teaches courses in hermeneutics, biblical languages, exegesis, and research. His research interests include suffering, the use of the OT in the NT, Acts, and Revelation. He also serves as managing editor for Themelios, published by The Gospel Coalition.

Brian is married to Kristin, has four children, and serves as an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church’s downtown campus. He enjoys reading good books, playing baseball and sledding with his kids, and cheering for the Minnesota Twins.

Reviews

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is outstanding. An excellent example of why we have all grown to trust this series of monographs.

Tabb is not long winded, but still thorough. He does a great job of showing how just about every major biblical theological theme is consummated in the book of Revelation. It’s the capstone of the whole Bible; where all “loose ends ends” are tied up.

[Steve Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5–5 stars. One of my favorite reads of 2019. Here's seven reasons Tabb wrote the book: https://bcsmn.edu/why-i-wrote-a-book-....

Interviews:
https://www.booksataglance.com/author...
https://podcast.cbs.mbts.edu/e/revela...

Reviews:
https://spoiledmilks.com/2019/09/23/r...
https://wyattgraham.com/review-brian-...

[Zach Hollifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressively comprehensive and Tabb successfully demonstrates his thesis that Revelation is the capstone of the biblical canon. Just a tad dry.

[Spencer R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine book, one where Tabb does well in showing how the OT influences so much of Revelation and its depictions of the members of the trinity, the Lamb's followers vs. the world's followers, the Lamb's wrath, the depiction of the city of Babylon vs. the New Jerusalem, and Revelation as the word of God. There is plenty of information here and many connections. This book is solid, though not mind-blowing.

[Mitchell Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one the best works on Revelation I have read. Tabb is very well read in modern scholarship concerning the apocalyptic book. He takes a widely amillenial stance but engages with many other perspectives.

One shortcoming is he doesn’t engage much with older commentary or traditional Christian interpretations.

I highly recommend.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great resource has been added to the NSBT a series that belongs on every pastor and Bible teacher's shelf. In this newest addition to the always growing series Brian Tabb, academic dean and professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary, provides an examination of the biblical theology of Revelation in light of the whole canon of Scripture.

In eleven chapter divided into four major sections Tabb addresses the most important theological developments in Revelation. In the first section Tabb addresses the development of the Trinity as seen in Revelation. In the second section the worship and witness of the church as reflected in Revelation is traced out. In the third section attention is given to the final judgment and the restoration seen in the new heavens and new earth. In the final chapter addresses the doctrine of the word of God. 

Revelation is probably the most daunting book of the Bible and Tabb has provided readers a resource that will help better grasp its significance and relation to the broader canon of Scripture. 

Disclosure: I received a review copy of the book from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and convincing argument that Revelation functions as the "canonical capstone," bringing "clarity and closure" to numerous themes and threads from the OT.

[Collin Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The apocalypse is the capstone of canonical prophecy: it discloses divine mysteries and brings decisive clarity and closure to the biblical story in the already-not-yet reign of Christ and the glorious new creation.”

Tabb was able to defend and prove this throughout the book. I found it helpful as an overview of revelation conveying its rightful place within the canon of displaying the fulfillment of all things.

I did however think the writing was quite choppy and often felt like I was looking at the “it’s always sunny in Philadelphia” meme with the conspiracy board. This made it hard to follow and a bit unclear at times, but did get better towards the end.


Overall I would recommend this book! 3.5 stars

[Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is currently my favorite book on Revelation. Tabb does an excellent job unpacking how Revelation contributes to our understanding of the Trinity, the people of God, the mission of the church, good vs. evil, salvation and judgment, the New Heavens and Earth, and the nature of Scripture. The introductory chapter on how to interpret Revelation and the helpful charts found throughout the book are themselves worth the price of the volume.

[Kyle Grindberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good! I didn't agree with many conclusions, but it was nevertheless helpful!

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took almost a year, but I finally finished this book! I made it through the bulk of it in the spring when I was co-leading a women's Bible study through Revelation, but somehow never finished the last two chapters.

This book is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone reading through Revelation. I bought an ESV Scripture journal and took copious notes in it based on this book. I think it's a treasure and greatly enhanced my understanding of Revelation.

[Jonathan Ginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like an updated version of Bauckham's classic treatment, but with a stronger emphasis on biblical theology. I'd say read Bauckham's work first, and then tackle this one. Both are very helpful reads for students of the book of Revelation.

[Kirk Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic survey of Revelation’s themes. I plan to utilize its index and return to this book — and Bauckham’s — as a reference as I preach through the book.

[Gwilym Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

What this book does well is to act as an index on Revelation, summarising lots of the best of the insight of others and drawing some of the key themes together in biblical theological context. For the most part, I think it's a good index: he has read and appreciated lots of the same scholars I've read and appreciated, and in my view gives them about the right amount of weighting - although one or two are either under or over appreciated (so lots learnt from Koester, Bauckham and Beale; appreciative shout outs to Paul, Aune, Hendricks; useful insight gleaned from Osborne, Leithart, Thomas; occasional reference to Chilton). He's judicious in his weighing of arguments for the import of different images, and this is therefore both a good glossary for the book and introduction to the scholarship.

But for me, it's not worth more than 3 stars. That's because:
1. It's not really arguing for anything very much. Sure, it's arguing that Revelation functions as a canonical capstone, the climax of prophecy. But it mostly does that just by pointing out connections between the different themes and the rest of the Bible.
2. More than that, the individual chapters don't really feel like they're arguing for anything either. Of course, he occasionally argues for one interpretation over another, but mostly this is just a summary of what Revelation says on a bunch of key topics. A huge chunk of the book is just quoting verses.
3. I'm not sure there's much new here. Mostly, it's a judicious drawing together of things I'd already read in Koester, Bauckham, Beale, Osborne, Chilton and Fee. Of course, had I not read them, I would have found this more exciting. Having read them (and they're not especially inaccessible) I'm left thinking 'what did this book really add, other than to open up access to this scholarship to those who read NSBTs but haven't really done much work on Revelation?' That sounds harsh, but I don't think it's wildly unfair.
4. It suffers from the same problem that Beale does: having bought into an 'intensifying parallelism' approach to Revelation, it's really not very good on the plot. It fails to treat the interludes as interruptions between the sixth and seventh of their sequences (and therefore fails to take them seriously enough full stop), it fails to think hard enough about the relationship between the bowls and trumpets, it fails to notice the approach of the throne (why is the earthquake intensifying??), or the story of the scroll. Each image is isolated as a biblical-theological riddle, and interpreted from the Old Testament with an occasional tip of the hat to the first century context. This means it never goes far wrong. But there's no real sense that Revelation might have an argument, that it might be going from somewhere to somewhere.
5. And what that means is that I think it ultimately fails to grasp the actual argument of the book of Revelation.

This sounds stinging. In a way, it is: if you want to think really hard about Revelation and read about the same number of pages, cut out the middle man and read Richard Bauckham's The Theology of Revelation. But if you want an orientation first, or a good summary on some key themes, or a decent bibliography on the book, and you're just starting out, this is worth a look. And if you want Beale's conclusions without having to wade through hundreds and hundreds of badly formatted pages to get them, this is definitely worth a shot. Especially because I think that for the most part, he's right.

Then again, Revelation is well served with commentaries, and so you might think your time is better spent elsewhere. 3 stars.

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are like me, you know what to expect when you pick up the latest entry in the New Studies in Biblical Theology (NSBT): perceptive theology, careful scholarship, in-depth coverage that even exceeds many commentary introductions, and a work that goes beyond anything you already have on your shelves. That consistency is as steady as the unchanging gray covers that adorn every volume. On the one hand, some credit must go to D. A. Carson for his editorial work. On the other hand, somebody must have done their homework in choosing authors as well.

This latest release by Brian J. A Tabb looks at the book of Revelation “as canonical capstone”. As heady as that sounds, the author knew how to make a strong case for his thesis. As I read, I thought this author is great at digging. He brought out so many things that are easily missed and made so many connections between Scriptures that we rarely see. Mr. Tabb takes an “eclectic” approach to Revelation. In fact, he much reminds me of Gregory Beale. (He cited 19 of Beale’s works in his bibliography!) Still, it’s clear he did his own work and made his own conclusions. Further, as one who is a futurist rather than following his eclectic approach, I felt he was gracious throughout. Even better, the type of information he mined for us can be taken and shone back into Revelation no matter which approach to prophecy you take.

His introduction was outstanding and contained all kinds of wonderful information. I did much underlining there. From there he divides his book into four parts: the triune God, worship and witness, judgment, salvation and restoration, and the word of God. Part one contained, you guessed it, three chapters on the Sovereign on the throne, Jesus as the Lion and the Lamb, and the Spirit of prophecy. These were some of my favorite chapters in the book with particular success in the chapter on the Holy Spirit. Part two looked at followers of the Lamb and discussed things like a priestly kingdom and a new Israel while another chapter talked about the battle for universal worship. I felt that viewpoint was well worth digging into. Part three considered the wrath of the Lamb and made several insights on things like the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls of wrath, as well as a new Exodus. There was a chapter on Babylon the harlot and Jerusalem the bride as well as another on all things new. Part four only had one chapter on the Word of God but it was well done and followed by a conclusion for the book. There’s a lengthy bibliography for those wanting further study.

This book even contains some charts that summarize important information for the reader and that I was blessed by. This book is fully up to the high standards set by the NSBT series and I recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As David deSilva has written, “More than seeking to be interpreted, [the book of] Revelation seeks to interpret the reality of the audience.” Given the contested interpretive history of the book, a biblical-theological approach offers a fruitful way forward.

Instead of getting tangled in arcane schemes and unfounded speculations about the future, Tabb keeps his eyes and ours focused on what Revelation tells us about the triune God, true and false worship, and the ways of God in the world.

As is required for understanding Revelation, Tabb deeply mines the Old Testament at every point since “Revelation includes more Old Testament references than any other New Testament book” (p. 12). By doing this, what often seems confusing and weird becomes clear and wise.

Another virtue is how Tabb highlights that Revelation is not structured in a chronologically linear way. Rather, John comes back two, three, or more times to the same events, expanding and intensifying as he does each time.

Revelation reminds us that the troubles and spiritual opposition we face now are not our ultimate reality. Rather, rejecting the temptations and deceptions, we worship the one, true God who alone is worthy of our trust for our present and our future.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of helpful themes of Revelation unpacked- particularly enjoyed Pt 2 [worship and witness], and chp 8 on Babylon Vs. Jerusalem, which seemed to draw out more obviously his stated purpose of Revelation: p8- to challenge believers to resist worldly compromise, complacency, and false teaching, and to encourage embattled believers to persevere in faithful witness.

Going through lots of themes made it feel a bit scattered, so that it wasn't clear whether one particular theme was more central to Revelation than the others. Also there was a lot of leaning on Bauckham, which I haven't yet read....but overall a helpful and heartwarming read!

'Readers of Revelation thus face a crucial choice of allegiance and adoration. Who is worthy to rule: the Lamb or the beast? Who speaks for God: John or Jezebel? The climax of prophecy discloses that the world's great city is a glorious house of cards that will collapse in ruin. The new Jerusalem may seem like a distant dream for believers hounded by hardships, but its glory will never fade.....those with ears to hear must hold fast to the trustworthy and true words of this prophecy and align with the host of heaven by offering true worship to God alone!' [p229]

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read a single book in the New Studies In Biblical Theology (NSBT) series that was not a delight to read, exceptionally relevant, and theologically sound. All Things New by Brian Tabb is no exception. There are two major hinderances to our understanding the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 1. Our lack of understanding of the Old Testament, and 2. Our lack of understanding the genre of Jewish apocalyptic literature. The author makes sure that we grasp the relevance and intent of John's writing by giving us a clear understanding of Old Testament references, themes and types and a crystal clear analogy of faith. He also emphasizes the central theme of the Revelation is Jesus Christ Himself. This book is written from an amillennial perspective but Tabb is very fair with other eschatological views. Short, clear, and concise. This is an excellent read!

[Liam Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and distinct book on the Canonical interpretation of Revelation. Brian J. Tabb's book should be on the shelf of anyone seeking to understand the book of Revelation. Without being bogged down in explaining every symbol, Tabb simple outlines the echoes of how the Johanne Apocalypse is heavily Trinitarian, focusing on the suffering Church, the eschatological Exodus, and the Prophetic voice. One of the major theme Tabb brings forth that helped me studies in Revelation is how the Seven Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls de-create as echoed in Genesis 1-2 (although I would place the correspond to different days then Tabb does, i.e. seeing the sixth trumpet as as corresponding to Day 4 of the star falling while the fifth trumpet corresponds to Day 6). Yet, I believe Tabb meant this book to be a guide and introduction of how Canonical exegesis acts within Revelation.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid interpretation of Revelation, firmly in the style of the NSBT "biblical theology" series. I found it practically very helpful, but a bit drier, more workman-like, in terms of readability than some others in the series. There are some great chapters, though, which very illuminating connections to books like Daniel and Exodus. It really grounds Revelation in the broader biblical body of writings, which is what I love about this series in general.

A good book on Revelation, that's quite helpful for preaching and teaching.

[Micah Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly states many key points of theology in Revelation. Despite “canonical” in the subtitle, the book takes a much more receptive historical approach to Biblical Theology. While there’s nothing wrong with this per se it was a disappointment. I would have loved to see discussions about John’s/Revelation’s canon consciousness as the canon closer. Very little of that here.
Also he rejects the Tree of Life having anything to do with cross out of hand. Typical NT guy - and I’m only halfway kidding.
Good, just not what I was hoping for or expecting from it.

[Liam Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource to understand so much of the imagery that is in the book of Revelation. It is a dense read and some of the points I did not entirely agree. Most of the things I did disagree with were small details. He states the 7 spirits in Revelation 1:4 is the Holy Spirit and I think it is the fullness of the angels that are then later mentioned in the chapter. This is a minor thing in a book that is helpful. Hard read though so not for the faint of hearts to read and that is why I gave it 4 stars.

[Brad Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 // Read for seminary. While I didn’t read every chapter, I did read the majority and it was all incredibly helpful. Revelation has always been an intimidating book of the Bible for me, and Tabb does a fantastic job of highlighting Revelation’s role in capturing the fulfillment of Christ’s work. And it did so without settling on a “this is exactly what every detail means” kind of approach. It deepened my love for God and His Word, and for that I am grateful.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most readable books I have found in the series. It looks at Revelation primarily through the lens of biblical themes. Each chapter traces a different theme through the Bible and how it culminates in Revelation. It is a different way to look at the book and it was an immensely helpful way to study the book. I'm starting to preach through Revelation and it was one I will have to refer to again and again.

[Gan Jia Jiat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

Dr Brian Tabb summarizes key themes throughout the book of Revelation. His familiarity to Revelation and the Old Testament, helps us to understand the book of Revelation as the capstone of biblical prophecy.

Dr Brian helpfully emphasizes how our present life is shaped by this consummate reality.

[Sara Litten · Rating 5 out of 5]

About the book of revelation: “While this book of prophecy discloses “the things that must soon take place’ (1:1), it promises favor not to the one who decodes its predictions but who does what it says (1:3). Revelation this has ‘an ultimate ethical aim’ and, in keeping with the biblical prophetic tradition, summons God’s covennat people to hear and heed the divine Word.” 224

[Will O'kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful commentary from an amil perspective. Focuses mostly on Biblical theological themes that find their fulfillment in Revelation. I was particularly helped by chapter 9, which focuses on Revelation as the word of God.

[Lucas Bradburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent. One of the best books in the NSBT series and one of the best books on eschatology I have read in a long time.

[Tim Liddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lot of good thoughts on Revelation. I'd like to go back and review it

[Rocky Woolery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book showing how Revelation is the last book of Scripture. Also how it ties many pages together to make a final prophetic earning and a glorious promise.