These commentaries can be ordered from The Campus Bookstore. Richard Bauckham explains how the book's imagery conveyed meaning in its original context and how the book's theology is inseparable from its literary structure and composition. The Book of Revelation is a work of profound theology. But its literary form makes it impenetrable to many modern readers and open to all kinds of misinterpretations. Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Design Pics 1. Broadly speaking, the book of Revelation affirms the theology of every book in the Bible that was written before it. For example, he makes a plausible case for John the apostle as the author (pp. It has been ignored or misapplied by thousands of Christians for thousands of years. Yet it is a tough nut to crack, not only because of its intrinsic difficulty but because of the myr­iad interpretations that have grown up around the book. It is also not a book about the historical contextualization of the book’s canonicity and acceptance; Elaine Pagels’s Revelations is a better port of call. As the author openly professes, he is not a biblical scholar. The book of Revelation provides some of the keenest insights in Scripture concerning the “big picture” of work. Introduction The book of Revelation is perhaps the most misunderstood, and misused of all Biblical books. from several theological perspectives. To prepare and guide you as you open up this book, let's try to explain the book of Revelation by looking at 5 specific key issues and facts. 13–21) and he surveys the social and historical context of the seven churches in Revelation 2–3 (pp. What is more, this is not a book which is going to surprise anyone familiar with current Revelation scholarship. 68–119). John relied extensively on prior biblical writings, and he expected his readers to be familiar with them too. The Book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse of John, Revelation to John or Revelation from Jesus Christ) is the final book of the New Testament, and consequently is also the final book of the Christian Bible.Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation. The theological background of Revelation can be described in many ways. Hoskins does treat several issues surrounding the historical setting of the book.