Apocalypse: A People's Commentary on the Book of Revelation

by Pablo Richard, Phillip Berryman (Translator)

The Book of Revelation has always been a mysterious and intriguing book, describing in symbolic terms the confrontation between the Disciples of Christ and the powers - political and supernatural - that hold sway over the current age. Fundamentalists have been attracted to the book and have sought to decipher its strange symbols as coded prophecy of future events. But as Pablo Richard shows in Apocalypse, the most powerful readings of the Book of Revelation are through the eyes of the oppressed, living out their Christian faith in the context of the modern empire. It is they who identify most strongly with Revelation's ultimate message of hope and life in the midst of death and persecution. Apocalypse first provides a general introduction to the reading of Revelation by examining three keys for its the historical, he sociological, and the literary-structural. The book then goes on to explore the whole of the Book of Revelation, following the book's own structure. Each section provides a line-by-line reading of the text, establishing the literal meaning before applying the interpretive keys already established.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Don Harton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apocalypse, A People’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation works to challenge short-sighted assumptions about the last book of the Bible.

Two exceptional tools which Pablo Richard offers:
1) an intriguing organizational structure - briefly presented on p33 and elaborated throughout the book; and
2) the conclusion summarizing the central message of Revelation and its meaning for our time, starting on p170.

And here may be my favorite line from that conclusion:
“…what constitutes [the] main axis [of Revelation] is the eschatological reality, here and now, of the resurrection of Jesus.”