Seventh-day Adventists believe the Book of Revelation is especially relevant to believers in the days preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." [73] "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." [74] As participatory agents in the work of salvation for all humankind, "This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent." [75] The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. [76] Bahá'í Faith [ edit ] Charles Cutler Torrey taught Semitic languages at Yale University. His lasting contribution has been to show how prophets, such as the scribe of Revelation, are much more meaningful when treated as poets first and foremost. He thought this was a point often lost sight of because most English bibles render everything in prose. [97] Poetry was also the reason John never directly quoted the older prophets. Had he done so, he would have had to use their (Hebrew) poetry whereas he wanted to write his own. Torrey insisted Revelation had originally been written in Aramaic. [98] By reasoning analogous with Millerite historicism, Bahá'u'lláh's doctrine of progressive revelation, a modified historicist method of interpreting prophecy, is identified in the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. [77] Gentry, Kenneth L. Jr. (1998). Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation, Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, ISBN 0-915815-43-5.

Dionysius (AD 248), bishop of Alexandria and disciple of Origen, wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer. He regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle (Eusebius, Church History VII.25). [31]The Dragon is released and goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the Earth— Gog and Magog—and gathers them for battle at the holy city. The Dragon makes war against the people of God, but is defeated. (20:7–9) Nietzsche blames Christ’s Apostles, most especially Paul with his theory of justification by faith, and later Church fathers like Martin Luther, for inverting the original gospel of Christ which supposedly emphasized a life of practice and works built around that childlike accepting, non-judgmental, service-driven life that is pious, non-resentful and consistent. Paul went against this to introduce a doctrine that declares that merely believing and having faith in Christ was enough. Nietzsche believes that Paul knew that he would not be able to live like Christ, so he had to find a way to justify not needing to do that. This is exemplified in Jesus’ attitude during his trial when he refused to defend himself, showing thus perfect acceptance. For Nietzsche, Jesus represented an acceptance and childlike state that is free of all passions, does not resist, does not get angry, does not hold responsible, that turns the other cheek, and advocates love for all, even for those who we see as our enemy. These represent Christ’s real, undistorted message, the original gospel, the glad tidings he brings, essentially the Kingdom of God. Nietzsche sees the Kingdom of God as understood by Jesus as representing this state of mind, rather than a supernatural place, time, and occasion that is yet to come. For Nietzsche, select parts of the Bible that display Jesus’ non-confrontational, peaceful, non-judgmental, and accepting demeanor represent the authentic image of Jesus as different from parts that present him as anti-establishment, fiery and resentful which Nietzsche believes to be fabrications by the Apostles. For Nietzsche, the disparity between these two personae as represented in the gospels is drastic enough to be clear evidence of their incompatibility and thus exposes a fabrication borne out of an agenda of those responsible for presenting the gospel of Christ to the world- his disciples. By doing this, Paul births the religion of Christianity- a distortion of Christ’s original gospel- and escapes the necessity of following either the Jewish laws or Christ’s more demanding way of life. Nietzsche psychoanalyzes that Paul had been resentful of the Jews who were able to follow the law and so sees his doctrine as the perfect revenge against them.

The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament, although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the exact number of allusions or the allusions themselves. [20] Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, yet almost every verse alludes to or echoes ideas of older scriptures. Over half of the references stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms, and Isaiah, with Daniel providing the largest number in proportion to length and Ezekiel standing out as the most influential. Because these references appear as allusions rather than as quotes, it is difficult to know whether the author used the Hebrew or the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures, but he was often influenced by the Greek. [21] Setting [ edit ] Rossetti remarks that patience is a word which does not occur in the Bible until the New Testament, as if the usage first came from Christ's own lips. [104] a b Tina Pippin Death & Desire: The rhetoric of gender in the Apocalypse of John Louisville: Westminster-John Knox (1993) p. 105 Fifth Seal: "Under the altar", appeared the souls of martyrs for the "word of God", who cry out for vengeance. They are given white robes and told to rest until the martyrdom of their brothers is completed. (6:9–11) An angel appears, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, having an opened little book in his hand.Anon An exposition of the Apocalypse on a new principle of literal interpretation Aberdeen: Brown (1871) A great multitude stand before the Throne of God, who come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed with robes made "white in the blood of the Lamb" and having palm branches in their hands. (7:9–17)

Nietzsche introduces his concept of will to power in § 2, using its relation to define notions of good, bad and happiness: [4] Kiddle M. (1941). The Revelation of St. John (The Moffat New Testament Commentary), New York – London At the vanguard of this corrupting influence is a class of people which include priests, theologians, and philosophers whom Nietzsche accuses of intellectual dishonesty. He associates their willingness to exempt their religious doctrines and morals from usual scientific standards of inquiry and criticism with an unwillingness to confront the possible falsehood of their position face to face. The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations. Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing a broad view of history while preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurists, meanwhile, believe that Revelation describes future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of a Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.He goes on further, mentioning that the moderns Leo Tolstoy and Richard Wagner adopted Schopenhauer's viewpoint. Aristotle, who lived in 384–322 BC, on the other hand, recognized the unhealthiness of pity and prescribed tragedy as a purgative. [7] Scientific method [ edit ]