"The Book of Revelation is the strangest book in the Bible - and the
most controversial. Instead of stories and moral teaching, it offers only
visions - dreams and nightmares. ... Exploring how this book has fascinated
readers for two thousand years tells us much about ourselves and about
how religion evokes such powerful responses - for better and for worse
- to this day.." p 1
Videos The first video "God's Love Letter" was used as an opening.
It is a rather nice collection of bible verses that are transliterated
into short little notions.
The next 2 are a pre-service discussion between Dr. Elaine Pagels and Rabbi
Daniel Weiner on "Revelations" that give you an idea of the authors
gentle and confident style.
The last 3 are an interesting illustration of the popularity and endurance
of the Revelation message of hope. An evolution of the black spiritual
"John the Revelator". First by Blind Willie Johnson,
in the traditional manner of question and response. Like other spirituals,
the black peoples found stories and images of hope in the white folks religion,
and made it their own. Stringing story elements together like pearls. And
the theme is always justice. Slaves singing songs of justice back at the
oppressor. Next a current blues version with a really funky black brass
band - Govt Mule & the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The same images, but
now verse, not conversation. Then the current "gospel" version
by the Gaither Vocal Band. Now the song includes the images of heaven that
dominate gospel music - the new Jerusalem.
It was observed that the fundamentalists that have strong literal beliefs in Revelation as prophesy, are very familiar with the Bible, especially compared to United Church people. Brenda recollected that Stan Errett wanted St Davids to be a Bible church, and so she and others took the Bethel Bible Studies at that time so to ground themselves in the Bible as teachers at St Davids. This study of Revelations presents a learning opportunity. Bonnae commented that "fire and brimstone" are another contrast between churches. Ian wondered over this literalism, and considered a large part to be familiarity with the bible, and connected to the presence or removal of Bible reading from schools. Pagels makes the point. Brenda added much of that Bible exposure was just listening without talking. Deb experienced (as a Catholic), prayer in schools. Wishes for a middle ground. Revelations seems full of doom and gloom. Nehru wondered about measuring our understanding of Revelations before and after this course.
Janice and Jock ended the discussion with a short review of the sort of training given in seminaries on Revelations. That apocolyptic literature abounded at the time of Jesus. This was a literature of complaint to God about justice. And since clearly the Roman oppressors were unjust, and martyrs were dying all over, there had to be a re-balance if God was just. That's where the idea of final judgement came from. Else we suffer in vain. It was further fueled by the experience 300 years earlier when the Romans brutally suppressed the Maccabean revolt. It was believed in apocalyptic theology that all men would be "resurrected" on the day of judgement in order to face judegment. The evil ones would be properly judged and thrown into a lake of fire. Note, not enduring but final judgement.
In Matthew 27 there is such a fragment of this apocalyptic thinking, "51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.'
There was no tradition of "heaven" in Jewish tradition. In apocalypse, the purpose of resurrection for the good folks and martyrs was to observe divine judgement being applied. This did morph into "heaven" especially due to a growing Greek influence. The Talmud had been translated into Greek (the Septuigent) and more Jews read Greek than Hebrew, especially as they lived in widespread communities the empire over. The early Christsians too were more Greek than Jew due to the missionary work of Paul, and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Closing Poem by Bruce Sanguin, from "If Darwin Prayed - Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics"
Book Review by Dwight Garner in the New York Times
Book Review by our own Wayne Holst.
Reflection - "Revelation - the Poetry of Hope" by our own
Peggy McDonagh.
Excerpt from the "Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels
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your comments to us. Comments are welcome and will be posted with usual
editorial courtesies. St. David's United Church.Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jan 2008
