Bredin, Mark. Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace: A Nonviolent Christology in the Book of Revelation. Paternoster biblical and theological monographs. Carlisle [England]: Paternoster Press, 2003. xii + 262 pp.

According to Ted Grimsrud, “Bredin joins in a tradition of reading Revelation as peace literature, going back to G. B. Caird in the 1960s and including such later writers as Jacques Ellul, Eugene Boring, Wilfred Harrington, Richard Bauckham (Bredin’s Ph.D. adviser), Loren Johns, Barbara Rossing, and Harry Maier.” (review in Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter [2007])

“John has woven this [Lamb] imagery into holy warfare imagery resulting in a text that utilizes the holy war tradition that seeks justice in such a way that the idea of advocating hatred was transformed into the hope of the transformation of the sinner” (Bredin, p. 199; quoted in Grimsrud’s review).

Grimsrud adds some concerns. “A few concerns must be mentioned, however. Although Bredin’s writing is clear and accessible throughout, at times he presents ideas and summarizes others’ ideas in overly brief, even cryptic fashion. An unsympathetic reader, or one unfamiliar with the literature of non-violence action, might not find Bredin’s arguments particularly persuasive.”

And: Bredin “gives short shrift to Revelation’s focus on the internal life of the churches to whom John writes.” Nevertheless, Grimsrud asserts, “Bredin has provided a significant interpretation of Revelation that turns the traditional view of Revelation as escapist literature on its head.”

This volume is reviewed by Ted Grimsrud (see above) and, quite critically, by Tobias Nicklas in: Review of Biblical Literature (2005).

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Barr, David L. (ed.) Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. Resources for Biblical study, 44. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2004. x + 206 pp. A much cheeper paperback edition (ix + 199 pp.) is published by Society of Biblical Litterature.

Publisher’s information, including a Table of Contents, is available here. For a presentation and a broad evaluation, see Mark Bredin’s review in Review of Biblical Literature (here).

The essays included are written by members of the SBL Seminar on Reading the Apocalypse: The Intersection of Literary and Social Methods. According to the publisher, “Each of the essays focuses on a specific text from Revelation and shows how the method used helps interpret that text, and how diverse methods produce divergent readings of a text” (here).

It is intended for students, but it will be useful to every one who wants to explore the relationship between hermeneutics and interpretation.

This volume includes the following essays:

• Introduction: Reading Revelation Today: Consensus and Innovations, by David L. Barr
• The Story John Told: Reading Revelation for Its Plot, by David L. Barr
• Ordinary Lives: John and His First Readers, by Leonard L. Thompson
• The Beast from the Land: Revelation 13:11–18 and Social Setting, by Steven J. Friesen
• Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: Literary Opposition and Social Tension in the Revelation of John, by Paul B. Duff
• A Tale of Two Cities and (At Least) Three Women: Transformation, Continuity, and Contrast in the Apocalypse, by Edith M. Humphrey
• Doing Violence: Moral Issues in Reading John’s Apocalypse, by David L. Barr
• Undercurrents and Paradoxes: The Apocalypse to John in Process Hermeneutic, by Ronald L. Farmer
• Taking a Stand on the Sand of the Seashore: A Postcolonial Exploration of Revelation 13, by Jean-Pierre Ruiz
• Spirit Possession: Revelation in Religious Studies, by Leonard L. Thompson
• The Lion/Lamb King: Reading the Apocalypse from Popular Culture, by Jon Paulien
• Conclusion: Choosing between Readings: Questions and Criteria, by David L. Barr

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