Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy

by Patrick Henry Reardon

This is no book for biblical beginners, and one suspects it is a work more often misinterpreted than correctly understood. Unless a person is extraordinarily familiar with all the rest of Holy Scripture, understanding very much of the Book of Revelation will be an extremely arduous task. Since the book’s arcane symbolism is so rich and subtle, Christian humility will especially prompt the devout reader to be more than usually careful and tentative in his study of it, bearing in mind that the book’s purpose is not to satisfy our curiosity about the final times (inasmuch as not even the angels in heaven—and therefore certainly no one on earth—truly know the day and hour, as our Lord insisted in the Gospels) but to summon our ongoing repentance. Fr Patrick Henry Reardon argues that the Book of Revelation is “liturgical prophecy.” Like the prophets of old, it is not a work of theological abstraction, but grounded in particular historical it is only timeless by being timely. Revelation conveys the call to repentance in all times with equal immediacy. Likewise, the Apocalypse is liturgical. The vision begins during the Sunday liturgy, and it conveys the profound meaning of Christian worship. When Christians gather together in the liturgy, they do not escape from the painful history of the world. On the contrary, they go to the very source of that history, the eternal throne of God. Surrounded by the seeming chaos of the world and the events of men, threatened by social and political forces dominated by the direction of hell, Christians are strengthened by John’s vision of their worship being assumed into the very worship that takes place before God’s throne.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian, Christianity

77 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2019

About the author

Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor of All Saints' Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and a senior editor of Touchstone magazine.

Father Patrick was educated at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), St. Anselm's College (Rome), The Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome), and St. Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary (South Canaan, PA).

He has authored many books including: Christ in the Psalms, Christ in His Saints, The Trial of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Job, Chronicles of History and Worship: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Books of Chronicles, and Creation and the Patriarchal Histories: Orthodox Reflections on the Book of Genesis.

In addition, Father Patrick has published over a thousand articles, editorials, and reviews, in "Books and Culture", "Touchstone", "The Scottish Journal of Theology", "The Catholic Biblical Quarterly", "Pro Ecclesia", "St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly", and other journals on three continents over the past forty-plus years.

Reviews

[Kevin Godinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short commentary. The author doesn't hit every jot and tittle, more like broad strokes through each passage. I appreciate his "both and" approach.

The book of Revelation had a direct application for the people it was written to, and they weren't confused by it. And, also, has much application for us today.

If you're in the mood for a devotional-esque commentary through various themes in the book of Revelation, give this one a shot.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In contrast to Romans, Revelation is rather concise yet equally thought-provoking. If you could visually represent the content of this book alongside popular evangelical commentaries like it in a sort of Venn diagram, it would be interesting to see the overlap. Reading it feels like pulling back a curtain to see all the underlying theological mass that is assumed and not taught (or just confused) in protestant environments.

[Ryan Laferney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr. Patrick Reardon shows that Revelation has to be understood in the terms of the Early Church’s understanding. In essence, Revelation describes the world we exist in now and the world that is to come. It is foremost, a liturgical prophecy and spoke directly the the early Christians regarding their trials. Yet, there is still much wisdom to be gained about the nature of worship and the Kingdom of God from reading Revelation. It's a common sense, non-fear based approach to interpretation and I appreciate it.

[John Coatney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very biased, but Fr. Pat's commentaries are pure gold. If I have one complaint, it's that they're too brief. Having been blessed to sit through years of his Sunday school classes, I've heard much of this content at length and in great detail. It's a gift, though, to have what I tend to think of as his notes to refer to at my leisure and to consult.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a common sense approach to Revelation

Fr. Parick Reardon shows that Revelation has to be undertood in the terms of the Early Church’s understanding. As such, the message of the book in best understood within the liturgy of the Church and the Old Testament Truth.