The Mother of Theology
Apocalypse, a review.
Pablo Richards (Orbis Books, 1995). 184 pp.
The Revelation to John is a hard book to swallow. Constructed of a symbolic language and presenting an arcane cosmology, it seems to belong to another world entirely. Indeed, many Christians today are left wondering what to do with this final book of the New Testament. For some, it is an interpretive oddity, offering nothing of value for contemporary Christians struggling to live their faith in a post-modern world. For other Christians, it is a blueprint for God’s plan for the end of time, and its language is decoded to understand what signs and symbols will usher in Christ’s Second Coming. There is, of course, a range of interpretive possibility with Revelation, and Pablo Richard’s Apocalypse: A People’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation offers an uncommon way of examining Revelation through liberation hermeneutics. It is a compelling interpretation, though one not likely to be endorsed by many fundamentalist or literalist interpreters. For Richard, though, Revelation is neither futuristic doom-saying or ancient oddity; instead, apocalyptic is so foundational to understanding the Christian revelation, that it is the mother of theology. It is through this lens that he reads and interprets Revelation, and Apocalypse offers a radically different, and hopeful, way of reading Revelation and understanding the future.
If you're interested in the review (5 pages, written for a class), send me a note.
Pablo Richards (Orbis Books, 1995). 184 pp.
The Revelation to John is a hard book to swallow. Constructed of a symbolic language and presenting an arcane cosmology, it seems to belong to another world entirely. Indeed, many Christians today are left wondering what to do with this final book of the New Testament. For some, it is an interpretive oddity, offering nothing of value for contemporary Christians struggling to live their faith in a post-modern world. For other Christians, it is a blueprint for God’s plan for the end of time, and its language is decoded to understand what signs and symbols will usher in Christ’s Second Coming. There is, of course, a range of interpretive possibility with Revelation, and Pablo Richard’s Apocalypse: A People’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation offers an uncommon way of examining Revelation through liberation hermeneutics. It is a compelling interpretation, though one not likely to be endorsed by many fundamentalist or literalist interpreters. For Richard, though, Revelation is neither futuristic doom-saying or ancient oddity; instead, apocalyptic is so foundational to understanding the Christian revelation, that it is the mother of theology. It is through this lens that he reads and interprets Revelation, and Apocalypse offers a radically different, and hopeful, way of reading Revelation and understanding the future.
If you're interested in the review (5 pages, written for a class), send me a note.
posted by Peregrinato at 5/01/2004 11:13:00 pm
<< Home