INTERPRETING THE REVELATION OF JOHN

Due to the obscurity of the imagery in the Book of Revelation it was not universally acknowledged as Sacred Scripture in the first few hundred years of Christianity. However, the conviction that it was written by the apostle John eventually overcame opposition to its inclusion in the New Testament. Anyone reading Revelation today can understand why there was a controversy, and why there are so many divergent interpretations. There are basically four ways to interpret it: the futurist, which sees the book as a prophesy regarding the end of the world; the preterist (from Latin meaning “last”) which interprets the Book of Revelation as using apocalyptic imagery to describe first century conflicts; the historicist, which sees the work as presenting different stages in the history of the Church; and the idealist, which considers it as colorfully portraying aspects of the spiritual life and providing encouragement for the persecuted followers of Christ

I believe that edifying results can be gained by prudently applying all of these approaches. To see how this might be done let us consider the account of the struggle between the woman and the dragon at the center of the work. The woman is “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” She gives birth to a male child, which the dragon tries to devour, but he is “caught up to God and to his throne” (Rev 12:1,5). The Fathers see the woman as a personification of the Church; later commentators also view her as the Mother of Jesus. The twelve stars in her crown are the apostles. Clearly, the child is Jesus. St. John writes that after the child and the woman are saved the dragon “went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev 12:17).

I believe that all four of the interpretive approaches mentioned above can provide insight for our understanding. For example, the futurist approach sees the battle between the woman and the dragon as symbolic of the struggle against evil which Christians will face in every age, until the end of time. The preterist approach might view the dragon’s attempt to kill the child as an allusion to Herod’s attempt to murder the Christ Child, as related in the Gospel of Matthew. The dragon’s persecution of the woman’s many offspring alludes to the persecution that is taking place at the time of John’s writing of Revelation. In fact, John mentions that he is in exile on Patmos, a Greek island where the Romans sent convicts, as a result of preaching the gospel. He writes, “I share with you the distress” (Rev 1:9). The historicist approach sees the various divine interventions to save the child and the woman as representing various times in the Church’s rocky history. Nevertheless, it is impossible to discern which moments in history might be symbolized. The idealist sees the purpose of the account in Revelation 12 as providing encouragement to persecuted Christians. Consider the angels’ song of celebration: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed” (Rev 12:10). Knowing the outcome, the angels sing, even though the dragon moves to fight more battles: “It took its position on the sand of the sea” (Rev 12:18).

Revelation “has as many mysteries as words” according to Saint Jerome, the greatest biblical scholar of the early Church. It seems to me that modern impositions on the text – as if current events can be interpreted by it! – are both prideful and imprudent. This is not attempted or recognized as legitimate by the Fathers of the Church or the Popes. Groups and individuals, throughout history and into the present, who ignore the Tradition and treat their own interpretations or visions as infallible have caused great damage to people’s faith, and in the eyes of many diminished the credibility of the gospel.

The resurrected Jesus said to the apostles, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Instead of trying to discover the undiscoverable it is best to focus on what has been clearly revealed for the sake of our salvation. St. John himself tells us how we defeat the enemies of God. It is not by figuring out the future or even the present. Rather, “The victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:4b-5). In the end, that is all that matters.

FATHER SCOTT