How should we read the book of Revelation?
Interpreting Scripture faithfully is a challenge with regard to any text and for any reader of the Bible. But perhaps no text confronts and confuses readers as much as the book of Revelation. With its vivid imagery and rich prophetic language, John's Apocalypse provokes and stirs our imaginations. Some have viewed it primarily as a first-century anti-imperial document. Others have read it as a book of prophecies or eschatological promises. Still others wonder why it is in the biblical canon at all.
Theologian and biblical scholar Brandon Smith brings clarity to this question by reading the book of Revelation primarily as John's vision of the triune God. In conversation with early church theologians, including Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, and the Cappadocians, as well as modern biblical scholarship, Smith shows how John's vision can help us worship the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture, edited by Daniel J. Treier and Kevin J. Vanhoozer, promotes evangelical contributions to systematic theology, seeking fresh understanding of Christian doctrine through creatively faithful engagement with Scripture in dialogue with church tradition.
Reviews
"Brandon Smith has written a bold, brilliant, and beautiful theological interpretation of John's Apocalypse. Smith reads with a mixture of attention to the text and the various pressures that the text exerts upon the reader to think of God in triune terms. Smith's reading of the Apocalypse is historically sensitive and theologically attuned to John's story of God Almighty, the Lamb, and the Spirit who speaks to the churches. This book sets a new bar in the theological interpretation of Scripture." - Michael F. Bird, academic dean and lecturer in theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, and author of Introducing Paul: The Man, His Mission and His Message
"Remarkably, no significant work on the Trinity in the Apocalypse has been written, and Brandon Smith has remedied that deficiency in this astute book. Smith's study represents theological interpretation of Scripture at its best as he investigates the trinitarian contours in the Apocalypse. Still, we don't have an example of an author imposing his construct onto the biblical text; instead, Smith demonstrates persuasively that the Trinity informs and pervades the Apocalypse. Biblical exegesis and theological retrieval in this instance are illuminating dialogical partners, and we can be grateful to Smith both for providing a model for theological and exegetical work and for deepening our understanding of the Apocalypse." - Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Brandon D. Smith (PhD, Ridley College, Melbourne) is assistant professor of theology and New Testament at Cedarville University. He is also a cofounder of the Center for Baptist Renewal and host of the Church Grammar podcast.
