Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation

by Michael J. Gorman

Testament at another seminary, asking for his perspective on this question, the book of Revelation, and the “last things” more generally.3 He graciously responded in a way that was quite consonant with this book. More recently, a well-known radio Bible teacher, Harold Camping, once again predicted the date of Jesus’ second coming—May 21, 2011—and the end of the world as we know it. Despite the clear words of Jesus that no one except God the Father knows that date, not even the Son himself (Mark 13:32; Matt 24:36), and despite Mr. Camping’s earlier erroneous prediction—September 6, 1994—both he and his followers ardently believe(d) that the Scriptures, when properly interpreted, clearly indicate this date. Such predictions are normally coupled with an escapist eschatology and a mentality, similar to what my college resident assistant manifested, that can have significant effects on oneself and others. A colleague had a family physician in the 1990s who was such a devout follower of Harold Camping, and was therefore so convinced that Jesus would return in 1994, that he talked ceaselessly about it with his patients, spent his free time getting ready for the end, and eventually let his entire staff go, since they clearly would have no work to do after September 1994. The times during which I have written this book have felt quite “apocalyptic” (a term we will need to define later) to many people. There have been wars and rumors of wars. There was the great economic crash of Oc...