Interpreting Revelation
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
For centuries the book of Revelation has been both an inspiration and a mystery to the Christian church. In hours of darkness it has given courage to its readers; but in periods of ease and prosperity it has become the subject of a bewildering assortment of approaches and interpretations. Merrill C. Tenney has built his study on the thesis that Revelation had a definite message for those to whom it was first written, a meaning they could comprehend because they understood the structure, imagery, and contemporary allusions in the text in ways lost to modern readers. Tenney’s Interpreting Revelation attempts to recover how the book as a whole would have spoken to the ancient Christian world. In so doing, Tenney applies broad interpretive principles that will enable readers to think through the book for themselves and to formulate their own conclusions.
Top Highlights
“This study is built on the thesis that Revelation had a definite message for those to whom it was first written, and that the meaning which they found should be the initial clue to its interpretation. Their comprehension would have been shaped by several factors: the structure of the book, which would declare the progress of the thought; the imagery, which would have to be interpreted in terms of the concepts and literature familiar to them, particularly the Old Testament; and the phenomena of the contemporary social, political, and religious scene which are reflected in allusions and prophecies.” (Page vii)
“In Ephesus they are outside the church, known by their works; in Pergamum they are still an alien sect, but a few hold their teachings; in Thyatira their doctrines are propagated by a person within the group who is at least tolerated as one of them.” (Page 61)
“The eternal God, whose presence fills all time, is the answer to the shifting fortunes of” (Page 105)
“The first church of the series is Ephesus, which was located in the largest city of the Roman province of Asia, and which was at the end of the first century a thriving metropolis. It had been originally a prosperous seaport, but the silt brought down from the mountains by the Cayster river was gradually filling the harbor. Careful engineering had kept some channels open, but the port was accessible only with difficulty, and was slowly losing its importance.” (Page 55)
“Rome was the immediate parallel to the harlot, regardless of whether or not a more exact counterpart should appear in the future.” (Page 18)