itself. To use the Scriptures themselves to tell what symbols mean (as in Revelation 17) is spoken of as decoding. The symbolism may seem strange, but the fact that human governments can become beastly is certainly clear in the light of twentieth-century experience. Revelation is also known as the “Apocalypse of John.” Apocalyptic writing was a form of literature produced by Jewish and early Christian writers between about 200 BC and AD 300, depicting symbolically the power of evil, the dark chaos