reading

REVELATION

responsibly

Uncivil Worship and Witness:

Following the Lamb into the New Creation

MICHAEL J. GORMAN

cascade Books • Eugene, Oregon

READING REVELATION RESPONSIBLY

Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation

Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Gorman. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Cascade Books

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

isbn 13: 978-1-60608-560-8

Lyrics from Paul Manz’s “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come” copyright © 1954, renewed 1982 by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Copyright © assigned 1987 to Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP) a division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO. Reprinted with permission.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Gorman, Michael J.

Reading Revelation responsibly: uncivil worship and witness: following the lamb into the new creation / Michael J. Gorman.

xviii + 212 p.; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

isbn 13: 978-1-60608-560-8

1. Bible. N.T. Revelation—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

bs2825.52 g55 2010

To my students of Revelation

at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in the School of Theology

and the Ecumenical Institute of Theology,

Duke Divinity School,

Community United Methodist Church,

and many other churches

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prelude: Reading Revelation Responsibly

1 The Puzzle, Problem, and Promise of Revelation

2 What Are We Reading? The Form of Revelation

3 What Are We Reading? The Substance of Revelation

4 How Do We Read It? Interpreting Revelation

5 Seven Pastoral-Prophetic Messages from the Risen Lord (Revelation 1–3)

6 The Central and Centering Vision: God and the Lamb (Revelation 4–5)

7 Conflict and Characters: The Drama of Revelation

8 Visions of the Judgment of God (Revelation 6–20)

9 Final Vision, Hope Fulfilled: New Heaven, New Earth, New City (Revelation 21–22)

10 Following the Lamb: The Spirituality of Revelation

Postlude: Reading Revelation Responsibly (Reprise)

Bibliography

Subject and Name Index

Scripture Index

Acknowledgments

There are many people to thank for their contributions to this book. I am grateful to Chris Spinks and Jim Tedrick at Cascade Books of Wipf and Stock Publishers for the invitation to write it. They are good friends and theological conversation partners as well as editors and publishers. I am also thankful for the privilege, many years ago, of studying Revelation with Bruce Metzger, and then assisting him in teaching it. I am very grateful ...