Why is Revelation in the Bible?

[godshapedhole]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew. The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.
Why is this in the Bible? How do we know, and how did those who originally compiled the books of the Bible, know that John wasn't a false prophet?
When I read it, all I see is a grotesque ancient horror story. If it is to be taken symbolically, I don't see that it has much of a point, beyond being an interesting piece of apocalyptic writing. If it is to be taken literally, I think I would have to consider it an entirely evil piece of literature, something sinister which inspires nothing of goodness, only fear.

 

[graceandpeace]

Well, it's definetly not meant to be taken literally. The text is apocalyptic, & the early Church did debate whether to canonize the book.

The actual purpose of the text, as frightening as some of the imagery is to us, was to give hope to Christians suffering persecution & loss. By the time this text was written, Jerusalem had been destroyed, & Jesus was gone. At the end of the text, we see the hope of our faith - for the Christians then & for us now - that God is going to set everything right. Tears, pain, & death all cease, as the fullness of the Kingdom of God is realized. Jesus is not actually gone, He is risen, & He is coming "soon."

 

[1watchman]

Many people who are not yet "children of God" will be confused when looking here and there at verses; and then they begin to accuse God of all manner of things, which will be a great hindrance of bowing to the Creator-God and getting saved. First one NEEDS to be humble before the Creator, seek His great salvation in His beloved Son, then pray God will teach them His Word, His ways, and His mercies and love for all mankind. One needs to be fearful of condemning God by their ignorance, and start seeking the Savior. I urge such ones to begin reading John 1; John 3; John 14, then humbly asking God to help their understanding and learn to know Him. Then they can read the Word with real "light".

 

[Aelred of Rievaulx]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew. The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.
Why is this in the Bible? How do we know, and how did those who originally compiled the books of the Bible, know that John wasn't a false prophet?
When I read it, all I see is a grotesque ancient horror story. If it is to be taken symbolically, I don't see that it has much of a point, beyond being an interesting piece of apocalyptic writing. If it is to be taken literally, I think I would have to consider it an entirely evil piece of literature, something sinister which inspires nothing of goodness, only fear.

By the same token then, why would the Old Testament be in the Bible?

What a text means to a religious body has a lot more to do with what the religion brings to the text. Clement of Alexandria believed that the Apocalypse of Peter was Scripture, a much more violent and sickening text, yet he also believed in universalism. The frameworks we approach the Bible are how the texts come to take meaning.

 

[paul1149]

The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.
Why is this in the Bible?

The world is a very brutal place. We in the modern West have been shielded from much of its reality, but the headlines of the past couple of years have brought it home to anyone paying attention. Man's heart has not changed, and evil is rampant and is increasing.

The church at the time of the writing of Revelation had experienced brutal persecution. Its homeland, Israel, had shed Christian blood. The Jews had been expelled from Rome, and Nero had turned Christians into human torches for his garden parties.

Evil is very real, and we are warned in the Word that the punishment for choosing it is equally real. God's judgments, we can be sure, are and will be altogether righteous. There is no iniquity in Him at all. He is pure Light without even a shadow of variation. He looks at the heart, not the outer appearance. Try to see the judgments in Revelation in that light.

The book also happens to hold perhaps the most lavishly beautiful passages in all of scripture, at least equaling the best writing of Isaiah.

Ultimately the book is given to us to strengthen and encourage. God is saying in it, "brace yourself, because it is going to be a rough ride. You are going to see and experience things you will wish you hadn't. But hold onto faith and do not give up hope, because I am Faithful and True, and I will not fail you, no matter what you go through in this life. And I bring my rewards with Me. That is my solemn promise to you."

 

[orangeness365]

Revelations says it was written to show the servants of what is to come Revelation 1:1.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew. The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.
Why is this in the Bible? How do we know, and how did those who originally compiled the books of the Bible, know that John wasn't a false prophet?
When I read it, all I see is a grotesque ancient horror story. If it is to be taken symbolically, I don't see that it has much of a point, beyond being an interesting piece of apocalyptic writing. If it is to be taken literally, I think I would have to consider it an entirely evil piece of literature, something sinister which inspires nothing of goodness, only fear.

Hi godshaped hole,

From what you've said above, it seems you feel repulsion at the imagery of Revelation. I think you're supposed too. The ugliness of sin is...well, ugly. And God will do away with it. The Revelation is simply telling us that there is a finality to the manifestation of human sin; it won't last forever. If you've read the Gospels completely, I think you'll see traces of Revelation sown throughout their chapters as well.

Peace
2PhiloVoid

 

[throughfiierytrial]

Revelation is a Book of the Bible which contains a profoundly spun riddle which is solved using a summary knowledge of the Bible as well as some in-depth details. Christians can gain much satisfaction from working on and solving the riddle as one finds a new sense of working hand-in-hand with God while reading through it and trying to piece it together. Once you solve a few parts one learns the nature of the reading and it becomes easier to solve the rest.

The big danger I see all around with Revelation is that people lock in on their own pet solution before they put it to rigorous testing against the rest of Scripture and yet run ahead and proclaim it as Truth. Their own minds become an idol to them in that they are unwilling to admit they contradict Scripture. If they aren't seeing it as presented in riddle fashion they aren't getting it and they are polluting Christianity by contradicting the pure Gospel with their concoctions. Its interpretation requires prayer, waiting upon the Lord, a deep respect for the rule of not contradicting Scripture, listening before speaking and not to be too certain they are ready to teach...no one should want to be responsible for spreading false doctrine nor to leading others astray. There are all kinds of wild ideas out there about Revelation.

 

[Steven Wood]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew. The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.
Why is this in the Bible? How do we know, and how did those who originally compiled the books of the Bible, know that John wasn't a false prophet?
When I read it, all I see is a grotesque ancient horror story. If it is to be taken symbolically, I don't see that it has much of a point, beyond being an interesting piece of apocalyptic writing. If it is to be taken literally, I think I would have to consider it an entirely evil piece of literature, something sinister which inspires nothing of goodness, only fear.

Like everything in God's word there is a purpose for it. God wants us to be prepared for what's to come. He wants us to know and not be fooled by the antichrist, he doesn't want us to be scared when everything starts to happen and the world falls into disarray. Imagine if we weren't warned and all these things started going on without warning not to mention someone was on Earth before Christ performing all these miracles that we've never seen anybody do in real life before, anyone (especially Christians) would be fooled. Now throw all of this devastation and destruction like the world has never seen before in the mix. The world is still going to be scared to death even though we've been warned but atleast we know what's coming and what to look for to be a little prepared.

 

[Job8]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew.

Revelation is in the Bible to clearly present the fact that God is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works. His righteousness demands that He should judge sin and evil, and sinners and evildoers, and be wrathful against sin. His grace offers pardon and eternal life to all, but those who will not accept grace must face wrath.

For human beings to sit in judgement over God is at best laughable, and at worst blasphemous. God is God, and not man, therefore His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Did you notice what is offered at the end of Revelation, or were you too busy criticising this book?

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev 22:17)

 

[GracetotheHumble]

The Revelation was written by the apostle John, he was the disciple that Jesus loved. It is an authentic book of scripture.

 

[JackRT]

When the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are read in their chronological order of composition we can detect a slow evolution in the way the human authors thought of God. It proceeds from polytheism into henotheism into monotheism with a tribal god who is thought of in very human terms as jealous, vincictive, violent and wrathful. Moving into the gospels and epistles we begin to glimpse a God of love, compassion and forgiveness. Sad to say, scripture ends in Revelation with a god who appears to be insane.

Earl Doherty wrote --- "Despite the apologetic efforts of those seeking to rehabilitate this document for the modern mind, it is difficult to see Revelation as anything more than a paroxysm of hate created by a mind bordering on the psychotic. The early church long resisted placing it in the developing canon of inspired writings. John the prophet has cast his spiritual Christ in his own joyless and vengeful image. The voice of this Messiah is his own, ready to punish for every slight, every rejection the prophet has suffered in his missionary work."

 

[aiki]

I've been going over the Book of Revelation, and all I can see in it is antithetical to what Jesus taught in the Gospels, especially to something like the sermon on the mount in Matthew. The God of Revelation seems more like the Old Testament God, vengeful, petty, and full of wrath.

God has divine prerogatives which none of us possess. Judging the wicked is one of those prerogatives. The Revelation of John is a depiction of God exercising this divine prerogative. God's judgment isn't petty, but it is properly vengeful and expresses His holy and just wrath upon the evil of mankind.

Why is this in the Bible? How do we know, and how did those who originally compiled the books of the Bible, know that John wasn't a false prophet?

John was one of the Twelve disciples, an established apostle, and the greatest contributor to the New Testament. His credentials are above reproach. The New Testament canon wasn't compiled so much as it was formally recognized. The Early Church decided through its acceptance and use of the books constituting the New Testament canon what the canon was. Later Church councils merely confirmed and precisely articulated what the list of canonical books included. The heretic Marcion helped to provoke this formal canonization of the New Testament.

When I read it, all I see is a grotesque ancient horror story. If it is to be taken symbolically, I don't see that it has much of a point, beyond being an interesting piece of apocalyptic writing. If it is to be taken literally, I think I would have to consider it an entirely evil piece of literature, something sinister which inspires nothing of goodness, only fear.

I guess how it seems to you may be the consequence of which side of God's wrathful judgment you stand on.

Psalms 1:5-6
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

I can't imagine any person standing outside of the family of God finding the terrible judgment of God described in the Revelation as a pleasing prospect.

To me, as a disciple of Christ, the Revelation is a very hopeful and comforting bit of writing. It prompts me to take an eternal view of my life and reminds me of the holiness and justice, glory and power, and the total sovereignty of my Heavenly Father. Far from being an "evil piece of literature" I find it a strong provocation to walk rightly with my Creator.

Selah.

 

[Hammster]

MOD HAT ON


Thread cleaned and moved from Struggles by Non-Christians. Please remember that this is a non-debate forum and you are to address the OP only.


MOD HAT OFF

 

[aiki]

Hey, I did address the OP and you "cleaned" my remarks to him completely! Going rather too far here, Hammster.

 

[Hammster]

Hey, I did address the OP and you "cleaned" my remarks to him completely! Going rather too far here, Hammster.

Restored. All you needed to do was ask.

 

[aiki]

Thank you, Hammster.