We’ve discussed the hermeneutical and theological issues found in the Left Behind novel series. Today, I’d like to briefly address the political issues found in the novels.  Michael J. Gorman…

Revelation 14.1-5 This is my favorite line in the passage: “nobody can learn the song except for the 144,000…” As before, the 144,000 are meant as a symbol—not a statistic—of…

Yesterday, I briefly discussed the hermeneutical issues found in the popular Left Behind novels. Today, I’d like to bring up another set of issues Gorman addresses in his book, Reading…

Revelation 13.11-18 Suppose I owe you $700USD, but when it comes time to pay up I only give you $600. That would be frustrating. If I gave you $600pesos that…

I’ve had several people ask me about the popular Left Behind novels, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The series fictionalizes the book of Revelation into a fantastical end-times…

Revelation 13.1-10Things are starting to get interesting! After being cast down from heaven (12.9), the dragon calls up reinforcements from the sea. In the old stories, the sea was the…

Revelation 12.7-18Though NT Wright doesn’t translate it this way, nearly every other biblical scholar renders verses 10-12 as a song. The words are italicized and meant to be heard “from…

Revelation 12.1-6Famed pastor and translator of The Message, Eugene Peterson, once remarked that “the gospel is more political than anyone imagines, but in ways that no one guesses.” And here…

Revelation 11.15-19There’s a moment at the end of Return of the King, after Sauron’s tower falls and the ring is destroyed, when all his forces are reduced to ash and…

Revelation 11.1-14I agree with Tom Wright that it’s best not to take these two witnesses as either allegorical or literal people. Chapter 11 is something like a parable, or a…