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resurrection

Revelation and the First Century

February 13, 2013 by Frank Leave a Comment

I am happy to announce the publication of my latest book entitled Revelation and the First Century: Preterist Interpretations of the Apocalypse in Ancient Christianity.

The Book of Revelation is a fascinating book filled with wonder, mystery, and triumph. In its visions one sees references to the coming of Antichrist, the last persecution, the last battle, the Second Coming of Christ and the general resurrection accompanying it, the Last Judgment, and everlasting life.

Many people today, however, believe that its visions contain prophecies about historical events that were going to take place shortly, that is, in the first century of Christian history. Those who oppose such a lens for interpreting the visions of the Apocalypse say that this “preterist” view of Revelation is a relatively recent phenomenon not found in early Christianity. Revelation and the First Century challenges that idea by showing that many writers in ancient and medieval Christianity indeed saw references to first century historical persons and events in John’s visions.

For example, some interpreted the “hour of testing” in Rev 3:10 as a time of trial that happened immediately after the death of the emperor Nero. Others saw in the four horsemen of the Apocalypse a description of the deeds of early Roman emperors. Some interpreted the 144,000 sealed in Rev 7 as a picture of Jewish believers in the first century. Others expressed the opinion that Nero was the beast of Rev 13, and that some of the prophecies of the Book of Revelation were fulfilled in the Roman-Judean war of 68-70 AD.

Revelation and the First Century provides citations in English translation from dozens of early commentaries showing just how they often interpreted the visions of the Apocalypse in light of first century historical events.

View the Table of Contents, PDF

To read a review by Jack Kettler, click here.

For those interested in ancient biblical interpretation, the Book of Revelation, eschatology, ancient history, and ecclesiastical history, I trust the book will be an interesting read and a valuable resource.

To order from the publisher, click here.

To order from Amazon, click here.

Filed Under: Biblical Commentaries, Early Christian Studies, Eschatology, Featured, Medieval theology, Patristics, Translated Texts Tagged With: ancient history, Antichrist, Apocalypse, beast, Book of Revelation, church history, First century, Nero, preterism, resurrection, Roman emperors, Roman-Judean War, Second Coming

Julian of Toledo on the World to Come

July 19, 2010 by Frank Leave a Comment

I am elated about the forthcoming translation of Julian of Toledo’s Prognosticum Futuri Saeculi (Foreknowledge of the World to Come) by Tommaso Stancati.

Julian of Toledo (d. 690), a seventh-century Spanish bishop, was the first theologian to compile a systematic treatise on Christian eschatology. Drawing upon the wisdom of the fathers, Julian treats life after death, the resurrection, Last Judgment, the eternal state and many related questions. Plowing through this sizable treatise in Latin, printed in the Patrologia Latina series and more recently in the Corpus Christianorum series, is no easy task. But thanks to Stancati, it will soon be available in English as Volume 63 in the Ancient Christian Writers series by Paulist Press. Its projected release date is September 2010.

Outlines of the chapters of Stancati’s book are found at www.prognosticum.info. The introduction by Stancati reveals that Prognosticum began as a dialogue between Julian and Idalius of Barcelona. He also comments upon the library of Julian and discusses Prognosticum as an anti-apocalyptic work.

The actual Prognosticum is divided like this:
Book 1: The Mystery of Death
Book 2: The Intermediate Eschatology
Book 3: Human corporeality has an eternal destiny

In Book 2, I look forward to reading about his distinction between the two paradises (presumably earthly and heavenly), what he has to say about apparitions of the dead, and his interpretation of Rev 20 that not only the martyrs but all the saints will reign with Christ.

In Book 3, I look forward to reading what he had to say about our ignorance of the date of the Parousia, and what he believed about the place and time of the Judgment. Other subheadings that interest me are “The Christological modalities of the Parousia,” “The great sign of the cross will precede Christ the judge,” The Parousia is one but diversified,” “The vision of glorious Christ will be ocular and bodily,” and “The ‘when’ of the Parousia.”

The book of 624 pages is listed in the Paulist Press catalog at $49.95. To me it will be well worth the money.

Filed Under: Early Christian Studies, Eschatology, Medieval theology, Millennialism, Translated Texts Tagged With: Ancient Christian Writers, Apocalypse, Corpus Christianorum, early middle ages, intermediate state, Julian of Toledo, Last Judgment, life after death, paradise, Parousia, Patrologia Latina, resurrection, Revelation 20, Spanish theology, Tommaso Stancati, Translated Texts

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