Frank, let me share what I've said to Steven at his site where he generously provides great advice about The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John, which I read as not being "futurist" prophecy but as "preterest" and "allegorical" prophecy:
What a great post about a too frequently confused topic! As for me, taking Revelation as prophecy, for lack of a better word, I rely upon the more precise definition of prophecy that is a variation on William Blake and Flannery O'Connor: prophecy is the special ability of someone to see otherwise ineffable but real things and explain them as they are (very much in the here and now) rather than looking ahead and predicting what might be happening in the future. Revelation, therefore, is not about the future; it is about the here and now. So, with that mindset--combined with your wise advice--then I think readers would be well on their way to becoming better readers of the too frequently misinterpreted and misappropriated text.
Frank, let me share what I've said to Steven at his site where he generously provides great advice about The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John, which I read as not being "futurist" prophecy but as "preterest" and "allegorical" prophecy:
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post about a too frequently confused topic! As for me, taking Revelation as prophecy, for lack of a better word, I rely upon the more precise definition of prophecy that is a variation on William Blake and Flannery O'Connor: prophecy is the special ability of someone to see otherwise ineffable but real things and explain them as they are (very much in the here and now) rather than looking ahead and predicting what might be happening in the future. Revelation, therefore, is not about the future; it is about the here and now. So, with that mindset--combined with your wise advice--then I think readers would be well on their way to becoming better readers of the too frequently misinterpreted and misappropriated text.