Book Description

Reform-minded movements have long appealed to the Apocalypse, for it served to whet the visionary appetite. Early in the church's history speculation grew up around the text - Revelation 11:3-13 - depicting two witnesses, or prophets, who preach at the end of history against the beast from the abyss, the epitome of evil, called Antichrist. Different interpretive methodologies have discovered different meanings in the text, and a symbolic value for political or ecclesial reform has been identified with it throughout the history of its use. The witnesses have been linked to a time of culminating evil, to the final proclamation of hope, and to the end of history associated with divine judgment. Such speculation found ample expression in medieval literature, art, and drama. In the writings of reformers, however, the story acquired increased social implications. The text of the Apocalypse came to lend visionary strength to Protestant piety, polity, and political activity, and the adventual witnesses became increasingly visible in Protestant polemics. Anglo-American commentators, in particular, have used the text both for self-identity and as part of a formula for plotting the onset of Christ's millennial reign. Tracing the history of how the Apocalypse was read, Preaching in the Last Days sheds light on how social groups are formed through ideas occasioned by texts. Petersen's study provides a fascinating look at the theological significance of how we read biblical texts and offers new insights on the development of culture, the Christian movement, and its churches. The book has added importance for understanding the assumptions behind the ways in which the book of Revelation is read andused in our own day.