If you’re looking for good, accessible resources for understanding Revelation, Michael Gorman’s book would be among them. Its title captures our calling as Christians: We are to be responsible interpreters of the Bible. This is especially true for Revelation. Through the years, Revelation has often been subject to careless and irresponsible interpretations. (Some of the more outlandish interpretations have been, quite frankly, weird and even dangerous.) But as you embark on your own study of John’s Apocalypse, do so with the guidance of this highly-respected New Testament scholar. Gorman’s book, Reading Revelation Responsibly, is one you need on your bookshelf. I highly recommend you check it out.
Here’s the blurb from the Amazon description:
Reading Revelation Responsibly is for those who are confused by, afraid of, and/or preoccupied with the book of Revelation. In rescuing the Apocalypse from those who either completely misinterpret it or completely ignore it, Michael Gorman has given us both a guide to reading Revelation in a responsible way and a theological engagement with the text itself. He takes interpreting the book as a serious and sacred responsibility, believing how one reads, teaches, and preaches Revelation can have a powerful impact on one’s own–and other people’s–well-being. Gorman pays careful attention to the book’s original historical and literary contexts, its connections to the rest of Scripture, its relationship to Christian doctrine and practice, and its potential to help or harm people in their life of faith. Rather than a script for the end times, Gorman demonstrates how Revelation is a script for Christian worship, witness, and mission that runs counter to culturally embedded civil religion.