Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation

John's apocalyptic revelation tends to be read either as an esoteric mystery or a breathless blueprint for the future. Missing, though, is how Revelation is the most visually stunning and politically salient text in the canon.Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation explores the ways in which Revelation, when read as the last book in the Christian Bible, is in actuality a crafted and contentious word. Senior scholars, including N.T. Wright, Richard Hays, Marianne Meye Thompson, and Stefan Alkier, reveal the intricate intertextual interplay between this apocalyptically charged book, its resonances with the Old Testament, and its political implications. In so doing, the authors show how the church today can read Revelation as both promise and critique.

Richard B. Hays is George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He lives near Durham, North Carolina. His publications include Reading the Bible Intertextually (edited with Stefan Alkier and Leroy A. Huizenga, 2009) and Reading Backwards (2014).

Stefan Alkier is Professor for New Testament and History of the Early Church at Fachbereich Evangelische Theologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.