The Book of Revelation has inspired controversy ever since it was written in the first century. It was the last book to be accepted into the New Testament canon, and today a myriad of mutually contradictory end-times speculations claim to be based on its teachings. Fr. Lawrence Farley provides a sober, patristic interpretation that reads Revelation in its proper context of Jewish apocalyptic literature. He demonstrates that the most important lesson we can learn from Revelation today is the need to remain faithful in a time of widespread hostility to the Christian faith.About the Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series This commentary series was written for the average layperson. Working from a literal translation of the original Greek, the commentary examines the text section by section, explaining its meaning in everyday language. Written from an Orthodox and patristic perspective, it maintains a balance between the devotional and the exegetical, feeding both the heart and the mind.
The Revelation of St. John, the last book of the canonical Bible, has been a mystery since it first appeared. No other part of the Bible has caused more controversy. Traditional interpretations of the book fall into one of three categories: the major prophecies that are supposed to have been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.; the historical view that Revelation predicts the course of human events from the founding of Christianity to the end of the world; or the futurist view that Revelation predicts events that will occur at the end of the world.It's actually none of the above, writes Zachary F. Lansdowne, a leading expert in the field of spiritual initiation. In the Introduction to this rich and complex interpretation, he writes, "According to its own verses, the Revelation is concerned with the present time, which is whatever time we happen to be reading it, and contains information that we can apply immediately to become blessed."This is not a book about "end times" or Armageddon and when it might come. This is a book written entirely in symbols, concealing a path for early Christians, and for the contemporary reader. Lansdowne has applied a unique psychological method of interpretation that takes each symbol as depicting some aspect of human consciousness rather than an eternal event, thus showing that the Revelation is actually a detailed instruction for the spiritual journey--a map to the wakening of higher consciousness. Moreover, while the Revelation appears in the great lineage of Judeo-Christian tradition, Lansdowne shows that its instruction can be appreciated and applied to seekers from any tradition.Lansdowne's line-by-line and verse-by-verse interpretation--presented here in an easy-to-read side-by-side format--is a manual for the true seeker who would follow teachings of Jesus as they were and are laid out, rather than as they have been interpreted by theologians and biblical historians. The Revelation of St. John, when unlocked by the key of psychological methodology, is revealed to contain ideas from many diverse wisdom traditions and philosophies--archangels in Judaism, chakras and kundalini in Hinduism, Buddhist mindfulness, the redemptive power of love in Christianity, and absolute standards of comparison in Platonic philosophy. Zachary Lansdowne's revelatory text makes these teachings of the path to true soul initiation available to seekers from every spiritual tradition.
Excerpt from The Divine Authority of the Old and New Testament Asserted Pretenfion to this Charaéter. I would be one Of the lafl to charge any Man with a Want of Honefiy and Sincerity: but there are ma ny Things in his Book that look like a wilful Perverfion and Mifreprefentation of Faéts, as well as Arguments and fometimes fo circum fianced, that it is fcarce pofiible for the molt extenfive Charity to fuppofe that it'was owing to mere Ignorance. Perhaps the Author him felf would not be willing to accept of this A pology. I cannot help looking upon it as an Honour to Chrifiianity, that its Adveifaries find themfelves obliged to take fuch Methods as thefe, in order to carry on their Defigns a gainft it. Does not this argue a fecret Con fcioufnefs that they can never prevail by a fair Attack upon the Scriptures For furely he muf't be either very wicked or very foolilh, that would have recourfe to fuch bafe Arts as thefe to ferve his Caufe, if he thought his End could be anfwered without it, and that fair and juft Reafoning, and an equal candid Ma nagement would do as well. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Excerpt from A Book of Cambridge Verse Nevertheless, after all deductions have been made, how much true poetry is yet left! He must be hard to please who cannot find intense enjoyment in the Eclogues of Phineas Fletcher, in Cowley's epitaph on Harvey, in the Miltonic stanzas of Gray's Installation Ode, in a score of other pieces, grave, quaint, or classical in their allusive ness of phrasing. Especially grateful must we be to the number of poets, of exquisite feeling and easy mastery of form, who during the last fifty or sixty years have enriched the language with delicate and elegant verse, from which it has been only too difficult to choose because its quantity is so great and its merit so even. Of this we trust we have given a tolerably adequate selection but it would have been easy to multiply it fourfold. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Excerpt from The Faith of a Quaker There arise also the insistent questions which beset all mystics, and which in Quakerism demanded a corporate, instead of an individual, answer. Was the light infallible? Was the claim to it an assumption of spiritual exaltation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Lost in antiquity, rediscovered in 1896, and only recently accessible for study, The Secret Revelation of John offers a firsthand look into the diversity of Christianity before the establishment of canon and creed. Karen L. King offers an illuminating reading of this ancient text--a narrative of the creation of the universe and humanity and a guide to justice and salvation, said to be Christ's revelation to his disciple John. Freeing the Revelation from the category of "Gnosticism" to which such accounts were relegated, King shows how the Biblical text could be read by early Christians in radical and revisionary ways. By placing the Revelation in its social and intellectual milieu, she revises our understanding of early Christianity and, more generally, religious thought in the ancient Mediterranean world. Her work helps the modern reader through many intriguing--but confusing--ideas in the text: for example, that the creator god of Genesis, a self-described jealous and exclusive god, is not the true Deity but a kind of fallen angel; or, in an overt critique of patriarchy unique in ancient literature, the declaration that the subordination of woman to man was an ignorant act in direct violation of the "holy height." In King's analysis, the Revelation becomes not strange but a comprehensible religious vision--and a window on the religious culture of the Roman Empire. A translation of the complete Secret Revelation of John is included.
New in the Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries collection In this now-classic exposition of Revelation, first published in 1972, George Eldon Ladd offers a clear, engaging, and insightful reading of the Apocalypse that is ideal for the pulpit, classroom, or personal study. In a brief introduction Ladd discusses the subject of authorship, the date and historical setting of Revelation, and the various methods of interpretation (preterist, historical, idealist, and futurist) that have been applied to the book throughout history. He then offers an analytical outline of Revelation’s structure and his verse-by-verse commentary, which reflects a historic premillennial perspective. The entire work is marked by Ladd’s sensitivity to the needs of both scholars and general readers and by his concern for proclaiming the message of Revelation for our time.
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