The book of revelation as comfort to persecuted early Christians
Upvote:1
[T]he Book of Revelation is not a book of esetoric information to give the curious something to do, it is a book filled with pastoral comfort - Kim Riddlebarger
When I read the book of Revelation in light that God will set things right, then I understood that this book comforts the saints, from the First Centiry Christians to Present Day ones.
Upvote:1
I too agree it was a first century letter, written before 70 a.d. most likely around 65-66 before Roman Armies invaded Jerusalem. It was more than likely written by John Eliezer (Lazarus) as internal evidence points to the only disciple mentioned that Jesus loved was Lazarus. (the 12 were not the only Disciples...) Therefore, it did predict things "soon to happen" as mentioned numerous times and does agree with the same time passages that other authors of the NT wrote of. The Churches of Christ have been the most open to this interpretation over the past century (I am not C of C) IMO this system of interpretation is the most accurate and complete and leaves the salvific work of Yeshua intact and credits it with the fullness it deserves.
Upvote:2
Great question!
It is a commonly held interpretation that parts of Revelation are to be understood in light of 1st century persecution. Often this interpretation is done by people who do not buy into dispensationalism and what might be seen as an overspiritualzed attempt to interpret a symbolic book literally instead of in the context in which it was written.
However, preterism does not fully do justice to the passages of Daniel and Revelation, the idea that all prophecy has already been fulfilled does not do justice to the fact that Daniel and Revelation talk about the full judgement of God and the complete vindication of the righteous.
For more information, feel free to consult these commentaries that pay a good amount of attention to the context of the book as well as the eschatological emphasis:
- The Book of Revelation by Craig Keener
- The NT Background Commentary by Craig Keener
- Revelation by Kenneth Maahs
I hope this helps!
Upvote:6
Sounds like you are talking about Preterism.
Essentially, this is that all the events described in Revelation have already happened, in the first century. Since Revelation was written towards the end of the first century, if this view is true then its readers would have been reading about events that had already happened.
More post
- 📝 How do Arminians understand the doctrine of Unlimited Atonement in a way that does not make God unjust?
- 📝 Does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints postulate a multi-verse?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis against the omnipresence of Satan?
- 📝 What exactly is the falsehood that St. Paul is referring to at Roman 3: 7?
- 📝 Which Bible verses support adult-only baptism?
- 📝 What is the proper term for performing the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on someone?
- 📝 Why do Orthodox Christians baptize infants?
- 📝 What is the most credited date for the birth (or calling) of Abraham?
- 📝 Origin of La Madonna Del Gatto
- 📝 Were the early Christians known by any other name?
- 📝 What do the Catholic Church consider constitutes intrinsically impossible things?
- 📝 Why is the Trinity a Trinity?
- 📝 Was the cave of Abraham in Shechem or Hebron?
- 📝 How far are priests and other religious allowed to go in terms of political endors*m*nts (or non-endors*m*nts)?
- 📝 What are some of the reasons for which Catholics are against gender-neutral secular marriage?
- 📝 Of what nature is Satan?
- 📝 Inheritance of original sin
- 📝 How do Unitarians interpret Zechariah 12:10?
- 📝 Did identifying various things as the Mark of the Beast only start in late 1900s?
- 📝 At what point is a person considered to be married to someone else?
- 📝 How have Christians dealt with "I prayed my way to moral behavior"?
- 📝 How can one judge how accurate a given Bible translation is?
- 📝 Hallelujah vs Alleluia
- 📝 Did the Early Church believe that Mary was the spouse of the Holy Spirit?
- 📝 Did Paul/Saul teach Christianity with Jewish traditions to Gentiles like what we see in Messianic Judaism today?
- 📝 Where did Aaron die?
- 📝 What is the Catholic view on EFT?
- 📝 At what age and how do young Catholics know or be notified that they have committed a mortal sin or a venial sin?
- 📝 The Glory Be prayer and consolation - Catholic Spirituality
- 📝 Do any Christian traditions permit suicide to avoid being dishonored (raped)?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 The book of revelation as comfort to persecuted early Christians
- 📝 What were the early Christians officially persecuted for?
- 📝 For how long did the early Christians share all their possessions?
- 📝 Why did early Christians in Acts still go to the Jewish temple every day?
- 📝 What is the significance of the four laws given to early Christians who were not ethnically Jews?
- 📝 How did Christians respond to abortion in the early Church?
- 📝 How did Christians of WW1/WW2 view the book of Revelation?
- 📝 Does Revelation 22:19 apply to the whole Biblical canon or only the Book of Revelation?
- 📝 Has the term "born again" always been synonymous with baptism with the Christians of the Early Church?
- 📝 Why does the Book of Revelation allocate such a subordinate role to the Holy Spirit?
- 📝 Magnitude of the earthquakes of the Book of Revelation
- 📝 When were the early Christians no longer considered a sect of Judaism?
- 📝 Why did early Christians believe in the Real Presence?
- 📝 Historical Apologetic used by 7th Century Christians towards Early Muslims Regarding the Hypostatic Union and Jesus' Title "Son of God"
- 📝 Is there any historical evidence of Early Church Christians denying the divinity of Jesus during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD?
- 📝 Was the 66 book Bible being used by early Christians?
- 📝 Were the early Christians known by any other name?
- 📝 How did the early Christians and Apostles Get into the temple? Shouldn't they have been stoned by the Jews for preaching Jesus as God?
- 📝 Were the early Christians an apocalyptic sect?
- 📝 Did early Christians believe the world was about to end?
- 📝 Which interpretation(s) of the book of Revelation did the church fathers who accepted it into the canon hold?
- 📝 Did any of the Early Church Fathers believe that Revelation 12:1-5 is about the Virgin Mary?
- 📝 Are the early followers of Christ considered Christians or Jews in today's context? If not, when was the religion created?
- 📝 Why have Christians often had in their possession the Book of John as opposed to other books of the Bible?
- 📝 How widespread was the observance of the Jewish Sabbath among Christians during Early Christianity (A.D. 30–324)?
- 📝 How do non-LDS Christians respond to the stylometry argument for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon?
- 📝 Information on how the early Christians prepared and/or fled from the destruction of Jerusalem?
- 📝 What did the Early Christians Believe About the Trinity Before the Gospel of John?
- 📝 Are there any extra-biblical writings that document what the early Christians believed about the second coming of Christ?
- 📝 Is the Book of Revelation the only place in Scripture teaching eternal torment?