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"[The Book of] Revelation has served as a "language arsenal" in a great many of the social, cultural, and political conflicts in Western history. Again and again, Revelation has stirred some dangerous men and women to act out their own private apocalypses. Above all, the moral calculus of Revelation—the demonization of one's enemies, the sanctification of revenge taking, and the notion that history must end in catastrophe—can be detected in some of the worst atrocities and excesses of every age, including our own. For all of these reasons, the rest of us ignore the book of Revelation only at our impoverishment and, more to the point, at our own peril."
The mysterious author of the Book of Revelation (or the Apocalypse, as the last book of the New Testament is also known) never considered that his sermon on the impending end times would last beyond his own life. In fact, he predicted that the destruction of the earth would be witnessed by his contemporaries. Yet Revelation not only outlived its creator; this vivid and violent revenge fantasy has played a significant role in the march of Western civilization.
Ever since Revelation was first preached as the revealed word of Jesus Christ, it has haunted and inspired hearers and readers alike. The mark of the beast, the Antichrist, 666, the Whore of Babylon, Armageddon, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are just a few of the images, phrases, and codes that have burned their way into the fabric of our culture. The questions raised go straight to the heart of the human fear of death and obsession with the afterlife. Will we, individually or collectively, ride off to glory, or will we drown in hellfire for all eternity? As those who best manipulate this dark vision learned, which side we fall on is often a matter of life or death. Honed into a weapon in the ongoing culture wars between states, religions, and citizenry, Revelation has significantly altered the course of history.
Kirsch, whom the Washington Post calls "a fine storyteller with a flair for rendering ancient tales relevant and appealing to modern audiences," delivers a far-ranging, entertaining, and shocking history of this scandalous book, which was nearly cut from the New Testament. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Black Death, the Inquisition to the Protestant Reformation, the New World to the rise of the Religious Right, this chronicle of the use and abuse of the Book of Revelation tells the tale of the unfolding of history and the hopes, fears, dreams, and nightmares of all humanity.
- Sales Rank: #401843 in Books
- Published on: 2007-09-18
- Released on: 2007-09-18
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .82" w x 5.31" l, .65 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
From Publishers Weekly
The question of how and when the world will end has captivated thinkers for centuries. Wars, natural disasters, social upheaval and personal suffering often send believers back to the writings of their prophets and seers, whose gift is to bring satisfying answers to such questions. The book most studied in the Western tradition is Revelation, the last entry in the Christian canon. Kirsch, an attorney and book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, takes the reader on a delightful 2,000-year journey as he explores a text he describes as "a romantic tale, full of intrigue and suspense" and shows how churches, philosophers, clergy and armchair interpreters have promoted their political, social and religious agendas based on their belief that the end was imminent. Some of this history can be quite sobering, as the powerful have waged wars and built societies based on their varying perceptions of Revelation's message. However, consistent with Kirsch's earlier literary efforts, in particular The Harlot by the Side of the Road, the author exercises great care while treating his material with both sobriety and a healthy sense of the ironic. Written clearly and for a general audience, this is a fine book that merits wide readership. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Kirsch has written an important study of the "little book" that almost didn't make it into the New Testament: the book of Revelations. For many, Revelations is a pastiche of symbolism impossible to wade through, so difficult that even scholarly St. Jerome threw up his hands. Christians have often been advised to read it symbolically, but throughout history, it has been read very literally indeed, with adherents calculating dates for the last days and condemning others to a lake of fire. Today it has a massive effect on politics, popular culture, and even foreign policy, evident especially in Lehaye and Jenkins' popular Left Behind series. Kirsch, author of the best-selling The Harlot by the Side of the Road (1997), does a masterful job of leading readers through the labyrinth of Revelations, exploring why it was written (and with sound speculation on who wrote it), what it means, and how it has affected history. Kirsch is like a tour guide, making stops in Florence, to show how Savonarola used Revelations as he stoked the bonfire of the vanities; in America, to explore how Protestants used the book's imagery; and in Israel, to elucidate how the predictions in Revelations have formed the basis of an unlikely alliance between Jews and the Christian Religious Right. Throughout, in highly readable style, Kirsch highlights how Revelations has been used as a justification for culture wars from the earliest times to the present. Fascinating--and sure to provoke heated discussion. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“A learned, lively, … literary tour of the life and the improbable afterlife of the greatest apocalypse of them all.” (Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God)
“[A]n important book that is essential reading in our torn, conflicted world: it is articulate, learned and balanced.” (Karen Armstrong, New York Times bestselling author of A History of God and The Spiral Staircase)
“This book does what history is supposed to do…A truly fine book.” (John M. Barry, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Influenza)
“[A] delightful, 2,000 year journey…. a fine book that merits wide readership.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Fascinating - and sure to provoke heated discussion.” (Booklist)
“Kirsch’s splendid examination of this dark corner of religious resentment holds out a new perspective and, mercifully, some solace.” (Los Angeles Times)
“A thorough account of the intellectual and spiritual mischief that Revelation has spawned.” (Washington Post)
“Kirsch traces Revelation’s 2,000-year history --- a “romantic tale, full of intrigue and suspense” --- in lucid, captivating prose.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
A thorough and scholarly work
By Blue Spruce
The author does an excellent job showing the world John, the author of Revelations, inhabited. The author brings to the table the works of various scholars, ancient and new, from various points of view and weaves all the information into an interesting and intriguing book that has changed my views on Revelation.
35 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Entertaining, but neither helpful nor scholarly
By Miranda Bailey
I found this book to be highly entertaining. It was replete with adjectives like "weird," "creepy," and "nightmarish," and his (overzealous) descriptions of the imagery in Revelation were hair raising.
This being said, I had a few problems with the book. Primarily, I wanted the author to eventually cut the mysterious, creepy language and get to the historical point. After awhile, I grew tired of hearing about how revelation was written "like a fever dream." Rather than actually spend the book pursuing what I thought was the point, tracing apocalyptic thought in western civilization, he instead discussed how the book would make people crazy. It sounds like I'm being facetious, but that is actually what he argues.
Furthermore, I'm not entirely certain that the author is qualified to make the kind of commentaries on Revelation that he makes. For instance, when he describes to the reader (whom he assumes has not actually read the apocalyptic work) the contents of Revelation, he relies more ont he fantastic imagery of the book than on what that imagery means. He decries attempts to interpret the images, but then turns around and interprets them himself. He uses a dispensational, pre-tribulation rapture model to interpret the book in a very Tim LaHaye style, completely disregarding other, more commonly held interpretations of the book like the amillenialism found among Presbyterians. (Is he aware that so many conservative Bible scholars intrepret Revelation in this manner?)
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the work was how Kirsch would state things as fact without really explaining why he believed them. His points may have been valid, but the reader has no way of knowing how he came to his conclusions. Many times he would state Christian doctrines derived from Revelation, when in fact they actually came from the letters to the Thessalonians or even Old Testament books like Daniel. Uninformed readers don't stand a chance against such sloppy explanation.
So, while I had endless fun writing notes in the margin of the book, I found it neither helpful nor scholarly. It might be an interesting read, but I didn't feel that I walked away from the book with a clearer understanding of the way that apocalyptic thinking was received and used by people throughout the ages. The tag line on the back of the book should have warned me: "Holy Scripture or Dangerous Delusion?" He spends much more time talking about that than "how apocalyptic thinking changed the course of western civilization." It's probably not work the $18 I spent, but if you can find it for cheaper it might be worth a gander.
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent History Of The Search For The End
By John D. Cofield
This is an engrossing study of the most enigmatic book of the Bible: Revelation, and the impact it has had over the last two millennia. I have read and studied Revelation several times over the years. As a child the idea of the Last Judgment and the end of the world used to terrify me, and as an adult I found the bizarre imagery and even more bizarre interpretations of Revelation off-putting and ridiculous. I'm glad Jonathan Kirch has provided this history, which helps to make sense out of much that seems senseless.
Revelation is supposed to have been written by the Apostle John, but as Kirsch demonstrates, that identification is highly doubtful. I enjoyed reading the first few chapters in which Kirsch analyzes the origins of and early reception given to Revelation, but the later chapters, which trace the influence of Revelation down through the centuries, were particularly interesting. I was struck by how similar so many prophets of Apocalypse seem, even when they lived many centuries apart, and by how often they misinterpreted the same segments of Revelation.
The most important parts of Kirsch's work deal with the effect Revelation has had on the present world, particularly through what I believe is its willful misinterpretation by some so-called religious and political "leaders", whose cynical exploitation of the hopes and fears of many sincerely religious people has allowed them to gain influence and power. Hopefully, Kirsch's expose of the fraudulent nature of these misinterpretations will help repair some of the damage done to our world by those who would exploit those who fear its imminent ending.
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