Weekly Recommendation: "The Theology of the Book of Revelation"

The book of Revelation is one of the most complicated and contraversial books in the Bible primarily because it is a difficult book to interpret. There are several major ways of interpreting it and it doesn't seem like Christians will be coming to a consensus anytime soon. But as Christians, we must not let the difficult parts to distract us from the purpose and deep theology of the book. Many of the theological themes, such as what it says about the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of God, salvation, etc., are clear to see regardless how one interprets the book.

Richard Baukham's book, "The Theology of the Book of Revelation" is a good example of this (Part 1, Part 2). Although I disagree with many of Baukham's interpratations, I found his book extremely important as we struggle with this book. Bauckham interprets much of Revlation as not being literal. I tend to take things as literal unless otherwise stated (for example, whenever John says "like" or "as").

Nonetheless, Bauckham's theology of Revelation is quit important. He introduces us to issues such as the doctrine of Christ, the Spirit, etc. through the lens of Revelation. Bauckham takes Scripture seriously and uses Scripture to interpret Scripture, especially with Revelations frequent references to the Old Testament.

I recommend this book, though let the reader be warned, this is not the easiest books. I recommend someone knowing what is in Revelation and understand the book somewhat before venturing into this book. Though it is fairly short and written for the average student of Scripture, it is still a book about Revelation. Add in the deep theology, and at times, it could have your head spinning.

I have reviewed this book in a 2 part series. I had to write a book review for it in class one semester and have posted that review online. To read the review, click Part 1 and Part 2.