Courses

Revelation is considered to be one of the most difficult and controversial books in the Bible. The sometime bizarre and often repetitive imagery and narrative has generated a wide variety of interpretations of the various characters and events. The interpretations have sometimes had a dramatic impact on the Christian community, though the outcome has not necessarily been godliness. This course particularly focuses on the overall impact and message of Revelation within its socio-historical and apocalyptic context, with responsible and effective contextualization in the 21^st century. We will discover a book that leads us into a direct encounter with God and which transforms our lives in the present.

This class is an exegetical and interpretative study of the Book of Revelation in English translation. It involves an acquaintance with structure, content, message, context and other interpretive issues of Revelation as well as its meaning for today in discipleship, community and ministry.

Knowing

• Grasp the message and structure of Revelation as a whole and in terms of its component parts
• Understand Revelation in its social, historical, literary and religious Jewish Hellenistic context
• Become familiar with critical views concerning introductory questions (i.e. authorship, date, settings, etc.)and identify the features in the text that illuminate the option

Doing

• Highlight the message and themes, exegete significant passages, and understand the major issues in the text and its interpretive problems
• Apply the text to discipleship, community and ministry formation and consider strategies for its re-presentation in contemporary contexts

Being

• Appreciate the distinctive theology and goal(s) of the author
• Allow the text to motivate, form and transform righteousness, hope and worship