A significant book for all students of New Testament ethics is the book of Revelation. But 'Ethics' or a 'model for living' are not ideas that often spring immediately to mind for most readers of the book.
At THEOS this month as we conclude our year of considering subversive ethics we will discuss how the book of Revelation helps us to understand this issue.
However, one of the main reasons we often don't know what to do with Revelation is because of how we read it, or rather, what type of book it is. So as we prepare for our discussion consider this:
Richard Hays identifies that there have been three principle approaches to Revelation over the years.
1. Predictive – the text is a literal transcript of future historical events.
2. Historical – the text is a commentary on events contemporary to the author written in the apocalyptic genre. Revelation becomes a resistance text like Daniel.
3. Theopoetic – the text is a visionary and poetic representation of the spiritual environment within which the church perennially finds itself living and struggling. It is a theo-ethical rhetoric that disclose God’s truth about the human situation, relevant to any first-century church.
Which approach to Revelation are you most familiar with, and with which do you most agree?
THEOS, Tuesday 14th July 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Saturday, 11 July 2009
THEOS July
As it's the end of our year considering subversive ethics we wanted to bring the various subjects of the year together. In July we will briefly consider the message of the book of Revelation, one of the most ethically subversive books in the New Testament, then we will have an open discussion of all the subjects we've covered this year.
So if you've still got any thoughts or questions from any of the THEOS sessions you've attended this year, then this will be the time ti discuss them. If you want to help us out, feel free to post your questions as a comment here.
THEOS, Tuesday 14th July 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.
So if you've still got any thoughts or questions from any of the THEOS sessions you've attended this year, then this will be the time ti discuss them. If you want to help us out, feel free to post your questions as a comment here.
THEOS, Tuesday 14th July 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.
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