St. James’ Sunday Bible Study Lectures

Issues Facing Revelation’s First Readers

Lecture 5
Sunday January 20 2019 12:15pm. to 1:30pm.

In the last lecture, we got acquainted with the mysterious figure named John, the writer of the book of Revelation. In this one, we turn to a related question, which is the identity and situation of his intended readers. This question is an intriguing and important one in light of the many popular interpretations of Revelation, especially those that find in it plots to achieve global control in the 21st century. As we will learn, John was actually addressing specific communities of Christians facing certain difficulties. His purpose was not to confuse them but to challenge and encourage them. Knowing something about this ancient context may make Revelation more relevant for modern readers because it allows us to see how it spoke to real life situations from the moment it was written.