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
"So teach us to number our days..."
2 years ago
Ronnie, thanks for your talk this morning. The strangest bit was the cartoon of the vision which was really odd (double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth!?) - but was very useful in understanding the Jewish tradition and symbolism used by John.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the keys to unlocking the mysteries of Revelation is to understand the Jewish meaning of these symbols, as only then will we have any chance of understanding what this book meant to the original hearers.
On your serious point about solidarity about the suffering church in the rest of the world, two questions:
(1) How do we find out more about the suffering and persecution of Christians around the world? What are the reliable (propoganda-free) sources bearing in mind that there are some on the right who would spin any ethnic or territorial dispute as religious persecution?
(2) How should we practically support people who are undergoing persecution because of their Christian faith?
Finally, you showed a picture of George Osborne (I don't know who was scarier, Domitian or Osborne). My friend Owen has written an interesting response to his "we're all in this together" speech.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I think Owen is spot on. Sadly, comfort often brings numbness, Roger Waters was at least right about that...
On point (1) I quite like the Christian Monitor website. It's a good starting point but it is on its own fairly comprehensive.
On point (2) prayer is the old cliche but it is the one thing they would ask for. The other option is to write to your MP, the Foreign Secretary or the International Development Secretary. Highlighting an issue in public may be helpful but does call for discretion, particularly in individual cases. Another option is to write to the embassy of a particular country and ask for comment.
As far as the suffering church goes, look at the two mentions of wearing white in the letters to the seven churches. We'll be talking a lot about martyrdom unfortunately.