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119 - The Book of Revelation
& The Revelation of Jesus Christ & The Last Book of the Bible &
Interpreting Revelation |
The Book of Revelation
By Thomas S. Kepler
232 pp. New York, Oxford University Press, 1957. $4.50;
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
By Donald W. Richardson
Fourth Edition. 195 pp. Richmond, John Knox Press, 1957. Paper, $1.50;
The Last Book of the Bible
By Hanns Lilje
Translated by Olive Wyon
286 pp. Philadelphia, Muhlenberg Press, 1957. $4.50;
Interpreting Revelation
By Merrill C. Tenney
220 pp. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957. $3.50.
On the whole, the Apocalypse of John has not fared too well in the history of
exegesis. Except for the Letters to the Seven Churches in chapters 1-3 and a few
verses referring to the heavenly Jerusalem in the two concluding chapters, the
book was deemed to be devoid of devotional value. While it has been used frequently
as a time-table of history, and especially of its final phase, or as a collection
of proof-texts for the contention that one's theological opponents were of the
Devil, not much edification will be found in that type of commentary. No wonder,
therefore, that time and again the attempt has been made to rid the canon of the
New Testament of this "Jewish book." In recent times a great deal of learning
has been deployed by Bousset, Charles, Allo, and Lohmeyer to explain the origin
of the imagery of the book of Revelation and to throw light upon its language
and style. But with their purely historical interest in the book, those outstanding
scholarly commentaries have hardly contributed to a deeper spiritual understanding
of John's visions. Specimens of a "spiritual" interpretation, on the other hand,
such as Raymond Calkins or Christina Rossetti's, are equally unsatisfactory, because
they practically ignore the many references to the history of the Church and Christianity,
with which the Apocalypse abounds.
Things have changed amazingly, however, in that field. For various reasons the
Apocalypse has become a popular book in the Protestant churches, and its devotional
values have been rediscovered. In many respects closest to the older approach
of historical criticism comes Thomas S. Kepler. Based upon the great works of
his predecessors, the author explains the imagery of the visions, points to the
inner connection of the sections of the book, and illumines the numerous historical
allusions scattered over the Apocalypse. Dr. Kepler is anxious, however, apart
from a few hints, not to go into the devotional interpretation of the book. With
reference to 12: 6, for example, he states that as "the woman fled into the wilderness,
so will the members of the Christian Church find it necessary to detach themselves
from the world before they inherit the 'New Jerusalem' with its rewards" (p. 133).
It is left to the probably somewhat bewildered lay-readers to make out what is
meant by "world," "detachment," "New Jerusalem" and "inherit." In the reviewer's
opin-
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120 - The Book of Revelation &
The Revelation of Jesus Christ & The Last Book of the Bible & Interpreting
Revelation |
ion this commentary, in its simplicity and conciseness, is a very helpful book
for the minister who has already made a careful study of the Apocalypse, but hardly
an introduction to its study.
Another work, born out of a wide pastoral experience, has been offered by Professor
D. W. Richardson of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. To him the Revelation
is destined to reveal Jesus Christ to the Church in a period of persecution and
great evil (p. 19). Thus we find in John's work a picture of the history of Christianity,
which is dominated by the constant conflict between Christ and the Devil and is
oriented towards the final return of the Lord. Dr. Richardson does not espouse
any particular one of the traditional approaches to the interpretation of the
Apocalypse. Though the book was written for a definite period of church history,
the Lord who manifests himself in the visions is above time, and thus the principles
revealed are essentially ageless (p. 44). With such a perspective the author succeeds
in writing a commentary in which eschatology, exhortation, and comfort are ideally
blended. The brevity of presentation requires a summary treatment of the Apocalypse,
yet one which discloses the author's careful exegesis. Particularly valuable is
the emphasis which lie places upon the theological implications of the visions.
It is interesting to confront this work of a Presbyterian theologian with that
of a Lutheran bishop, Dr. Hanns Lilje. To one's great surprise and satisfaction,
one discovers that notwithstanding the advocacy of confessional standards in both
works, their exposition hardly differs on points of theological principles. This
fact is by itself re-assuring because it bears witness to the willingness of the
modern theologian to place himself under the authority of the Word of God. They
are both convinced that the reader must wrestle with the text of the Apocalypse,
no matter how difficult and even abstruse it seems to be, because it is God himself
who sends us his message through John. Bishop Lilje's book is born out of the
conflict of the German churches with Hitler, and thus all he has to say about
Christ's struggle with Satan has a particularly true ring. At the same time, however,
he reflects the specific situation of German Protestant theology. Only by wrestling
with Bousset and Form Criticism and by discovering the element of truth in them,
is it possible for him to attain to a satisfactory interpretation of this mysterious
book. According to Bishop Lilje, the visions of the Apocalypse describe in the
first place the perennial struggle of the Church and its members with the forces
of this world. The historico-eschatological perspective is relegated to a secondary
rank, so that the millennium, for example, may refer merely to "a final spiritual
possibility of the Church on earth" (p. 253). On the whole the book stresses the
comforting fact that God is all the time with his Church, while the author refrains
from speculations on
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121 - The Book of Revelation &
The Revelation of Jesus Christ & The Last Book of the Bible & Interpreting
Revelation |
the manner in which God executes the successive stages of his plan of redemption.
Dr. M. C. Tenney has made himself a name as one of our ablest and careful interpreters
of the New Testament, and thus it is with great expectation that his commentary
on Revelation has been greeted. As in other works, Dean Tenney has here succeeded
again in condensing a deal of learning into a relatively small compass. He is
able to present difficult and complicated issues in a simple and intelligent manner,
and with all fairness to his predecessors to chart his own original approach to
the problems. Familiar both with the critical literature and with the "prophetic"
and dispensationalist interpretations, Dr. Tenney contends that the respect for
the inspired character of the book demands that its original meaning and message
should be taken seriously. But when the conditions in Asia are seen in the light
of the eventual return of the Lord, they acquire a direct significance for us
too. In his exposition Dr. Tenney emphasizes especially the picture of church
history given in Revelation. He is to point out, however, that it would be a grave
mistake to identify any of the plagues with a definite event in history. While
for the most part the author is fully aware of the vagaries and groundless dreams
of modern dispensationalists, he strangely enough embraces with them the modern
concept of progress as a means to show that the return of the Lord must be imminent.
The commentary itself is supplemented by a number of dissertations dealing with
general aspects of the Apocalypse. Readers will find the two chapters on "The
Old Testament Background of Revelation" and on "The Christology of Revelation"
particularly rewarding.
In conclusion we can say that the few books reviewed are an indication of the
fact that the Protestant churches are regaining the last book of the Bible. The
agreement reached is amazingly great. It is evident that any satisfactory exposition
must attempt to combine the view of history given in the Apocalypse with the adoption
of the attitude of faith required by Christ's work in history.
Otto A. Piper
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, New Jersey