Revelation and the Big Questions of Spiritual Life

John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, raises the big questions of spiritual life. He doesn't settle for simple, glib answers. Instead he probes deeply, offering more and more satisfying answers as the Revelation progresses. He expects you to bring your mind along, not to leave it outside the church door. He even expects you to question what he himself says.

The messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation (Rev. chapters 2 and 3) are part of the introductory material that precedes the “action part” of the main body of Revelation. These seven messages introduce the main themes of Revelation, the big questions of spiritual life.

The seven messages are all different but they all have some common elements. Each message includes the following:

• • The phrase, “These things saith he that...” followed by a description of the Son of Man .
• • A statement of what the Son of Man knows about the particular church, its people, and its situation .
• • Statements of praise for good qualities and actions, criticisms of bad qualities and actions, and expectations of future behavior, sometimes accompanied by threats or promises of what will happen if they do or do not follow the instructions. We could characterize this part of the messages as what God expects or requires of people or, more generally, the proper relationship between God and people .
• • Promises of some future benefit for those who overcome.

Each of these elements is different for each church’s message. The four common elements introduce the four predominant themes of Revelation, the four big questions of spiritual life:

• • The description of the Son of Man says something about the nature of God . What is God really like? Is He aloof and separated from people, living in the sky? Is He full of wrath, which He vents on the earth and its people? Is He a loving God who heals and nurtures His people? What is the nature of God?
• • The statements about the churches, their people, and their situation address the questions of the nature of humans and the human situation on earth. What is the human situation?
• • The statements about the relationship between God and people address the question: How should people interact with God and what can we expect God’s response to be?
• • The promises are about our future and destiny . What is our future? What is our destiny?

The main body of Revelation has all sorts of answers to those questions, just as our typical religious beliefs have all sorts of answers. However, Revelation organizes the answers into a logical sequence and progression. The main themes that the Revelation story develops are the changing and evolving answers to these big questions of spiritual life, from ancient Bronze Age belief systems through the development of Judaism and the founding of Christianity until far into our future. The whole book From Fear To Love: Transforming Revelation explains the development of these themes through the whole Revelation story.

From Fear To Love: Transforming Revelation by David Brubaker   Download and read a free excerpt. (PDF - requires Adobe Reader) Buy the book: Ebook or paperback directly from the publisher: Booklocker   Paperback from major online bookstores: Amazon Barnes & Noble BooksAMillion Also available from many other booksellers.

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