Course Objectives

• Really? Another seminar on Revelation? God spare us. Normally, that’s how I would feel about this topic. The fixation on the Revelation in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism is a manic money-making machine. However, this live-stream will be unlike anything I experienced growing up in Evangelicalism: we will not be trying to predict the future! Rather, we will endeavor to look at the Revelation through the lens of first century, Second Temple era metaphors and cosmology. What would a Mediterranean-basin, Jew/Gentile audience understand from the imagery in a letter full of Jewish apocalyptic themes?

   

  In the debates about whether or not the Revelation should even be considered canonical, St. Augustine cast a “yes” vote as long as it was understood that the book would not be used to predict the future. I find it beyond ironic how those whose entire theology (Evangelical Fundamentalism) is based on Augustine’s doctrines, ignore their founder’s point of view on Revelation! 

  Also, we will not talk about the various schools of interpretation and try to convince you of one or the other.  Neither will we  talk about modern geopolitical Israel/Zionism, the rapture, the last days, Armageddon, the tribulation, the anti-Christ and on and on–as is so tediously common.