The Revelation to John in Christian theology and testimony (CT2032S)

Content

Revelation (apokalypsis) is central to Christian theology. The Revelation to John is a specific expression of Christian writing that makes explicit many aspects of revelation that are tacit within gospels and epistles. Some of these aspects include hyperbolic textures in expression of biblical eschatology and the seeming surrealism of futurity with the signature ears to hear for the response of faith. This unit will explore within The Revelation to John, its peculiar interface between literary style and theological overture, which is cast for specific reception of Christian promise and testimony within difficult contexts of human life.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Introduction to Systematic Theology; Interpreting the New Testament or equivalent and Introduction to Systematic Theology when cross-listed to New Testament Studies

Pedagogy

Lecture/discussion/group work

Indicative Bibliography

• Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Cambridge: CUP, 1993.
• Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jenson eds. The Last Things: Biblical Perspectives on Eschatology, Grand Rapids & Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2002.
• Sergius Bulgakov, The Bride of the Lamb, trans. Boris Jakim, Grand Rapids & Edinburgh: Eerdmans & T&T Clark, 2002.
• Rudolph Bultmann, History and Eschatology: The Gifford Lectures 1955, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1957.
• Jacques Derrida, “On a Newly Arisen Apocalyptic Tone in Philosophy,” trans. John Leavey Jr. ed. Peter Fenves, Raising the Tone of Philosophy: Late Essays by Immanuel Kant, Transformative Critique by Jacques Derrida, Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993.
• Wilfrid J. Harrington OP, Revelation (Sacra Pagina), Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1993, 2008.
• Frank Kermode, The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, Oxford et al.: OUP, 2000.
• Ulrich H.J. Körtner, The End of the World: A Theological Interpretation, trans. Douglas W. Stott, Louisville: WJKP, 1995.
• Joseph L. Mangina, Revelation, Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2010.
• Bruce M. Metzger, Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
• Paul Ricoeur, Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative and Imagination, trans. D. Pellauer, ed. M. Wallace, Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1995.
• Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World, Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.
• Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John, Louisville: WJKP, 1994.

Assessment