Question Time

I don't watch Question Time as a rule but did watch last night to see the BNP in action and hopefully to see them for what they really are, even if that meant that they are misrepresented by the media.

The fascinating thing for me is that an audience member mentioned the Book of Revelation. The gentleman was having a go at Nick Griffin for being anti-Islam. Griffin basically said that Islam conquers to get converts and if Muslims want to stay in Britain then they have to respect the fact that Britain is a Christian country. The audience member pointed out that the Book of Revelation says that Jesus will come back an rule with a rod of iron. So, what is the difference?

I don't know enough about Islam to know if they conquer for conversion. Certainly the Muslim panel member said that most Muslims regard the extremists as not representative of the faith. But I can comment on Revelation and Jesus and the iron rod.

It's in Revelation 12 where a woman gives birth in great pain to a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron rod while a battle takes place between heavenly beings. In chapter 12 the defeat of Satan takes place and there is 'rejoicing' although Satan will have one last hurrah on earth before he is destroyed.

The rod of iron is a Jewish symbol with many meanings. In Revelation it appears in chapter two so is probably used in the context of complete control. In other words, the enemies of Christ will be defeated and peace will reign. In the context of Revelation that means the Roman Empire that persecutes the believers will be destroyed. Which it was.

Christ will come in peace. All lovers of peace will rejoice.

Incidentally, watching Question Time I kept thinking about the Book of Genesis. There was one nation at the time of Noah and he and his family were commanded to go forth and multiply on the earth. By the time of Babel this hadn't happened so it is forced upon humanity. It seems to me that religious and cultural diversity are part of the divine will and should be a cause of celebration, not division.

Son of Man

The link below goes to my talk this morning on the Son of Man vision in Revelation 1. I was wondering if it is necessary, desirable or not to try and understand the Jewish meaning of the symbols. Can Revelation be understood without reference to Judaism?

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhb3kbsd_3cngq7hg8

Further Reading

Next week we're looking at the vision of the Son of Man in Revelation 1. Before that I thought I would recommend a couple of books for anyone who is interested in reading deeper into the text and theology of Revelation. I mentioned Richard Bauckham last week. His book, The Climax of Prophecy, is the most important book on Revelation in the twentieth century. Unfortunately it is now out of print and it is like goldust. Expect to pay upwards of £200 if you can find it online!
Fortunately Bauckham had another book published on Revelation in 1993 and it contains all the important bits of Climax of Prophecy. It is in the Cambridge New Testament Theology series called The Theology of the Book of Revelation. It is available from Amazon or even Wesley Owen if you are that way inclined and want to go to an actual bookshop...

If you are looking for a simple introduction to the book and its background I can heartily recommend the New International Biblical Commentary by Robert Wall published in 1995. It should be no more than £15, probably less than £10 second hand and will serve as a useful conversation partner for the journey we're going on.

If you don't want to buy a book then the Wikipedia entry on Revelation is, um, alright. The first sentence is factually incorrect but it does contain some good background. As I said in the talk, anyone who claims to get it doesn't get it. I thought about it, and I thought I got it but now realise I don't.

So, I look forward to the vision of the Son of Man on Sunday. Please do spare a thought for poor Jeni Rankin who has to fit praise and worship around that theme!

Introduction

So we got started this morning. I know there was a lot of information and some of it was quite confusing. I realise that when I say that no-one gets the book it can make us all think 'why bother?' It isn't that we can't understand it, we can if we remember the context, it's more a wariness of certainty. We're not the original audience so there will always be some uncertaintly.

The beauty of having this blog is that we can discern meaning together and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can make sense of what is going on. I like the idea of learning as a discerning community of believers. I hope this blog is a safe place to air our views, I hope it will be blessed.

Anyway, below is the link that'll take you to the text for this morning.

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhb3kbsd_1fbfsp3cp