On interpreting Revelation non-violently

I saw this link come through my Twitter feed today. The piece is from 2010, so it’s been around a while but I hadn’t seen it until today.

Revelation and the Violent “Prize Fighting” Jesus

In an interview several years ago for Relevant Magazine, Mark Driscoll (well known pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle) said,

“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up…”

I frankly have trouble understanding how a follower of Jesus could find himself unable to worship a guy he could “beat up” when he already crucified him. I also fail to see what is so worshipful about someone carrying a sword with “a commitment make someone bleed.”  But this aside, I’m not at all surprised Driscoll believes the book of Revelation portrays Jesus as a “prize fighter.”  This violent picture of Jesus, rooted in a literalistic interpretation of Revelation, is very common among conservative Christians, made especially popular by the remarkably violent Left Behind series…

Read the rest of the article at the original site.

Reblog: I Used to be a Futurist

I came across a start of a new blog series written by Gary Wallin at The Cosmic Cathedral. Today’s entry is Apocalypse Then Pt 1: Saying Farewell to Futurism.

He ends this post by writing,

“So I hope you join me in the coming weeks as we attempt to read Revelation through the eyes of John the Seer and endeavor to uncover the meaning of the “Apocalypse Then.””

As you can see, this fits well with where the studies recorded in this blog have been. I look forward to seeing where Mr. Wallin’s journey takes him.

Another Look at Revelation

I found a blog that is looking at some of the symbolism in Revelation and what it might mean in today’s world. Take a look and see how it compares with other interpretations of the book.

• Book of Revelation | The Cosmic Cathedral

As with blogs, earlier entries are at the bottom. The series is still in progress.

Reblog: He Threw the Dragon Down

I came across the following Lenten sermon on Revelation 12:7-12.

He Threw the Dragon Down

“Revelation is filled with bizarre, crazy images: dragons and horsemen named Death, lions that look like lambs, robes dipped in blood, pregnant women and numbers pregnant with meaning and above it all this image of a boot-stomping, butt-kicking Jesus Christ.

“And my assumption is that, like those evangelists on Washington and King, you assume Revelation is about the future. That it’s like a visual Morse code, warning us of what’s to come.

“But when we treat the Book of Revelation like a Ouija Board that predicts the future, we miss the fact that St John writes down this vision God gives him, sneaks it out of the prison Rome has locked him in, and he sends it out to his churches not not to warn them of what’s to come one day but to remind them of what has already come to pass, once and for all, in Jesus Christ.

“The Book of Revelation is not primarily about the future.

“It is instead in scene after scene, in image after image, in symbol after symbol, about the cross. It’s about the cross.”

Reblog: Fear, Flight, Fight, and Fancy--A Revelation

I saw this blog piece today. It echoes the method of study I’ve been using here, and unsurprisingly, the truths that are listed in the piece overlap quite a bit with what we’ve found in our study.

Fear, Flight, Fight, and Fancy--A Revelation