Revelation

We worship a baffling God

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There are two twin themes that wind around one another all through the Scriptures. The first is that God communicates—he speaks to us, reveals who he is, and makes himself comprehensible. The other is that he hides himself, keeps himself at a distance, and remains incomprehensible. These two ideas depend on each other, a bit … Continue Reading

Is Revelation a unity or a composite?

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One of the most striking things about the text of Revelation is its literary variability—changes in style, vocabulary, narrative shape and characters from section to section. This is evidenced in its first chapter, most notably at the level of genre. Whilst it is generally recognised that Revelation is a mix of three major genres—of epistle, … Continue Reading

Revelation and generosity

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I have just finished writing some notes for the Bible Reading Fellowship. (You can subscribe to Guidelines here.) This is how I ended the series: Goodness—we have reached the end of our whistle-stop tour of the most exciting, influential, complex and engaging book of the New Testament, and perhaps of all human literature. If you … Continue Reading

What is the mark of the beast?

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The ‘mark of the beast’ in Rev 13.18 is the most notorious and talked-about aspect of the book. [The beast from the land] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or … Continue Reading

Reading Revelation 4–9

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If you make use of Scripture Union’s Encounter with God Bible reading notes, then you will be reading through Revelation 4–9 this week. (If you don’t, why not subscribe?) Here are the comments I wrote on these chapters; for more detailed comment, see my Grove booklet How to Read the Book of Revelation. For my notes on chapters 1 to 3, see my previous post.

Reading Revelation 1–3

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If you make use of Scripture Union’s Encounter with God Bible reading notes, then you will have been reading through Revelation 1–3 this week. (If you don’t, why not subscribe?) Here are the comments I wrote on these chapters; for more detailed comment, see my Grove booklet How to Read the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:1-20: A kaleidoscopic … Continue Reading

Kenji Goto: faithful witness

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I like ideas, and (as you might have gathered if you have read this blog at all) find them fascinating and motivating. But the most significant changes in my life have usually come not because of ideas, but because of the examples of others. When I find a notion concretely expressed in the life and … Continue Reading

Will Jesus come ‘soon’ like a taxi?

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I recently had a very interesting debate with Ben Witherington about whether the English word ‘taxi’ is derived from the Greek word tachus meaning ‘quickly’. (Depending on where you live, you might be wondering what the connection is.) Witherington is a leading biblical scholar amongst evangelicals in the States, and has written commentaries on every book of … Continue Reading