“Like Jonah’s word, Revelation as prophecy seeks mainly to stimulate faithful response among John’s audience, not to provide an absolute blueprint for an uncertain future.” — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“The cities of Asia Minor were as enthusiastic and as invested in hosting the imperial cult as modern cities are about convincing a major… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“The greatest threat the hearers face is to be found unprepared to encounter God or God’s Christ at his coming (6:12–17), thus being exposed… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“This tenet, however, ignores the primary purpose of prophecy, which is not to give hard and fast statements about an unchangeable future, but to… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“While such prophecy could include a predictive element, it was also—and perhaps primarily—a declaration of God’s action in the present or an announcement of… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“The title “Lord of lords,” for example, was ascribed to the emperor; the acclamations of God and Christ as “worthy” (4:11; 5:9) echo the… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“John exposes Pax Romana and Pax Augusta to be bald-faced lies. He does not allow his hearers to ignore the fact that a great… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“John would have disciples in every age understand—and live like they understand—that they exist to do God’s bidding, because God created all things for… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“A grounded and responsible reading of Revelation begins with reading it first as we would read Paul’s Letters to the Galatians or Philippians or… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“In John’s vision of the cosmos, there is no room for gathering around God’s throne at one time as one’s cosmic center and at… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“Thus apocalypses set an audience’s space within the context of a larger, invisible world, and they set the audience’s time in the context of… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“We have sought to read Revelation less as a coded text to be interpreted, and more as a text that imposed a Christ-centered interpretation… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
“In many instances, however, I would expect such instances of discomfort to draw our attention to the ways in which we have drunk deep… — David A. Desilva Copy Share Image
