Since its first publication in 2001, Revelation and the End of All Things has been a highly readable guide to one of the most challenging books in the Bible. Engaging the questions people most frequently ask about Revelation and sensationalistic scenarios about the end of the world, Craig Koester takes his readers through the entirety of Revelation, offering perspectives that are clear and compelling. In the second edition Koester provides new insights from recent scholarship and responses to the latest popular apocalyptic voices. Study questions make this new edition ideal for use in classrooms and study groups. Revelation and the End of All Things offers an accessible, engaging, and profoundly hopeful interpretation for students and general readers alike.

"Craig Koester provides commentary on each section of the book of Revelation, drawing on the best recent scholarship and contemporizing his discussion with references to events like the siege at Waco, the phenomenal sales of the Left Behind series, and the use of Revelation in hymnody and art. Based on two decades of teaching Revelation to seminary students, pastors, and lay groups, this discussion strikes a balance between taking the text s first-century context seriously and making Revelation relevant to twenty-first-century readers."--Jacket.

Since its first publication in 2001, Revelation and the End of All Things has been a highly readable guide to one of the most challenging books in the Bible. Engaging the questions people most frequently ask about Revelation and sensationalistic scenarios about the end of the world, Craig Koester takes his readers through the entirety of Revelation, offering perspectives that are clear and compelling. In the second edition Koester provides new insights from recent scholarship and responses to the latest popular apocalyptic voices. Study questions make this new edition ideal for use in classrooms and study groups. Revelation and the End of All Things offers an accessible, engaging, and profoundly hopeful interpretation for students and general readers alike.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

Many Christians think of end times prophecy as a gigantic, intimidating puzzle -- difficult to piece together and impossible to figure out. But every puzzle can be solved if you approach it the right way. Paul Benware compares prophecy to a picture puzzle. Putting the edge pieces together first builds the 'framework' that makes it easier to fit the other pieces in their place. According to Benware, the framework for eschatology is the biblical covenants. He begins his comprehensive survey by explaining the major covenants. Then he discusses several different interpretations of end times prophecy. Benware digs into the details of the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the judgements and resurrections, and the millennial kingdom. But he also adds a unique, personal element to the study, answering questions as: -Why study bible prophecy? -What difference does it make if I'm premillenial or amillenial? If what the Bible says about the future puzzles you, Understanding End Times Prophecy will help you put together the pieces and see the big picture.

Under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, you and your small group will here discover that the bizarre images of Revelation conceal one of Scripture's clearest and most dramatic visions of God's plan for creation.

A startling exploration of the history of the most controversial book of the Bible, by the bestselling author of Beyond Belief. Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars, she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however, tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end of the world . . . or is it? In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies. In a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary text.