Although the word “apocalypse” in contemporary popular imagination connotes “the end of the world,” the word in biblical and theological literature means an “unveiling” or a “revelation.” In apocalyptic literature, the truth about reality is not always what it seems. In the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ that concludes Holy Scripture, readers are given a heaven’s-eye-view of the ultimate conflict unfolding across cosmic history. What appears wise, powerful, prestigious, noble, or successful can be exposed as not only weak and foolish or lacking integrity, but ultimately destined to collapse. This vision exhorts listeners to lives of faithful witness in the present amidst great suffering and on the basis of an indestructible hope, namely, the secured but presently hidden victory of the lamb who was slain and conquered death, who is coming again in glory.
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Joshua Heavin
Rev. Dr. Joshua Heavin (PhD, Aberdeen) serves as Curate for Pastoral Care at Christ Church Cathedral in Plano, Texas; he is the book reviews editor for Pro Ecclesia, the journal of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology; and he is an adjunct professor in the School of Christian Thought at Houston Christian University and West Texas A&M University.
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