REREADING REVELATION: Theology, Ethics, and Resistance. By Greg Carey. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2025. Xviii + 210 pages.
It was just ago that a story about a South African man’s 2018 vision about the “Rapture” on one of two days in September 2025 broke. While some took the vision seriously, others, used to regular stories about preachers who set the date of the Rapture, Christ’s second coming, and/or the end of the world, responded with sarcastic memes (I posted, upon request, an op-ed for MSNBC about the origins of these occurrences and their meaning). Although the Rapture didn’t occur and the world didn’t end, interest in the subject remains with us, along with interest in the meaning of the Book of Revelation for today.
Robert D. Cornwall
Like many Mainline Protestant clergy, I spent most of my ministry avoiding the Book of Revelation. It is complex and easily misinterpreted. Nevertheless, I learned over time that it is better to deal with the book than avoid it. Even though Revelation is a complex, even mysterious book, that has lent itself to many different uses and abuses, the question of how to interpret it faithfully remains. We could try to remove it from the canon, but that is not likely to happen, so how do we interpret it in a way that recognizes both the problematic elements and the positive ones? Fortunately, there are plenty of resources, including excellent commentaries by scholars such as Amos Yong, Brian Blount, Eugene Boring, and my co-author in two related books, Ronald J. Allen, among others, that offer assistance to preachers and teachers as they delve into the meaning of this book. Each of the available resources offers different vantage points that can help us navigate the metaphors and historical backgrounds. Among the most recent contributions to this literature comes from Greg Carey, in his book Rereading Revelation: Theology, Ethics, and Resistance. While it is not a commentary on the Book of Revelation, it offers a helpful topical/thematic introduction to the book.
The author of Rereading Revelation, Greg Carey, is Professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary and Moravian Theological Seminary (both part of Moravian University). He is also the author of several books that deal with eschatology and Revelation, including his excellent book Death, the End of History, and Beyond: Eschatology in the Bible, which is part of the Interpretation series from Westminster John Knox Press. Therefore, Carey is well equipped to guide readers on a journey through the Book of Revelation, helping them make sense of what seems at first glance unintelligible.
As I noted, Rereading Revelation is not a commentary on the Book of Revelation. Rather, it is a thematic exploration of particular theological elements present in this biblical book. As the subtitle suggests, Carey seeks to explore the theological dimensions of the book, and within that, he wants to focus especially on the ethical dimensions found in the book. He also seeks to explore how this book might serve as resistance literature. The third element is that of resistance. Carey acknowledges the problem of violence that is present in the book, but he also notes that John of Patmos never calls for believers to engage in violent resistance to the empire. Nevertheless, the violent language present in the book can be and has been used to permit Christians to engage in such violence. So, to sum up the purpose of this book, which is topical in nature, Carey intends “to find contemporary Christian meaning in Revelation, meaning that involves bringing traditional and contemporary questions to the book and exploring how modern readers may engage it in life-giving ways” (p. xi).
In his Opening Words (Introduction), Care notes that Revelation is both dangerous and a necessary part of the New Testament. This is an important point to make due to the way the book has been interpreted and utilized to dangerous ends. At the same time, while some would like to see it removed from the canon, it provides an important message, especially when it comes to matters of resisting oppression. He notes in his book that Revelation has an authoritarian bent that needs to be acknowledged, as it calls for complete loyalty to Jesus that can create dilemmas as we navigate modern society. One of the reasons why this is important, however, is that it speaks to the challenge of imperialism and attendant religion. One of the major changes in interpretation in recent years that Carey involves the recognition that, outside the New Testament and other Christian literature, we have little evidence of widespread persecution. There might be periodic local persecution, but it was not empire-wide. This has necessitated some changes in interpretation, such that perhaps John was not seeking to encourage Christians as they faced intense persecution. Instead, he might have been seeking to address a different set of concerns.
Once Carey sets out the parameters of his book, each of the nine chapters that follow explores different theological and ethical elements present in Revelation. He begins in Chapter 1 by addressing “Reading Revelation as Apocalypse, Prophecy, and Letter.” While the first word in the book is apocalypsis, there is more to this book than apocalyptic elements. Revelation serves as an unveiling of something, but it also has other properties, including prophetic ones. Revelation also functions as a letter to churches, offering encouragement in some places and critique in others. Thus, as Carey notes, here we find all three modes of communication in Revelation. He writes that “most likely, John’s reader/hearers received Revelation as a prophecy delivered in an apocalyptic mode and addressed specifically to them and to their circumstances” (p. 3). That last point is very important because Revelation was addressed to specific groups of people living at the time and not to us. In other words, when we read Revelation, we read someone else’s mail.
After he defines the complex genres that make up the Book of Revelation, Carey moves in Chapter 2 to a discussion of “Authority and Authoritarianism in Revelation.” Living, as we do, at a time when there is a rising tide of authoritarianism across the globe, including the United States, this is an important chapter. The challenge here, as Carey sees it, is that “Revelation insists that its message carries absolute authority and will brook no dissent” (p. 25). Nevertheless, he writes that “Yet among the books in the New Testament, Revelation most directly models what it can look like to identify evil, idolatry, exploitation, and deception for what they are and for brooking no compromise with them. We cannot step back into John’s moment and say how we would assess things. Nor can we endorse all of John’s vision. But we do need to discern, in community and with humility, when to hold our ground and name violence, dehumanization, exploitation, and deception as evil, trembling before God every step of the way” (p. 45). While Revelation does at times offer an authoritarian message, it often combines that with an egalitarian mode. Thus, this discussion of authority should prove useful at this time as Christians decide how to respond to the concerns of this age.
Another question that emerges when we spend time in Revelation is a very theological one. That one deals with “Jesus in Relation to God and the Spirit” (Chapter 3). It is a question that Trinitarians would want to explore, and as Carey notes, “Revelation has a way of blurring the relationships between God, Jesus, and the Spirit” (p. 47). The focus here, however, is on Jesus and the way he is portrayed (often as a Lamb), who receives worship. While Carey doesn’t develop a full Christology, he does help us better understand how Jesus functions in the book. This is especially true with its portrayal of Jesus as the Lamb who is slain and yet represents God’s people. So, while the Lamb offers us a sense of God’s identity, the way this Lamb functions is sometimes like a lion. Thus, the question before us involves the picture the book presents of Jesus, especially in relationship to God and to the Spirit.
The fourth chapter has a title that may seem strange: “Does Revelation Have an Eschatology?” It seems strange since it seems obvious that Revelation has apocalyptic dimensions, speaks of heavenly things, including divine judgment, suggesting that it is all about eschatology (last things). So why ask this question? While it is true that the book has an eschatology, Carey wants us to pause and discern the nature of that eschatology. In part, this has to do with how it deals with the end of history, such that the Lamb defeats the Beast. So, while it doesn’t have a systematically developed eschatology, it may be one we will struggle with. However, it is an eschatology intended to give us hope rooted in God’s work.
Chapter 5 is titled “Pathos, Emotion, and Affect in Revelation.” In this chapter, the focus is on the rhetorical dimensions of the book, which are designed to create an emotional effect. He points out that “readers routinely share their emotional assessments of Revelation. But interpreting a text’s affective appeal is a notoriously slippery task” (p. 109). What he lifts up here is the psychological effect the Book produces in modern readers. So, he writes that “Revelation asks the assemblies to make significant sacrifices and to assume mortal risks. Those challenges involve loyalty, solidarity, and danger. Simple logical argumentation is insufficient for moving an audience to adopt extreme attitudes and behaviors. Thus, Revelation appeals heavily to affective levels of response” (p. 109).
In Chapter 6, Carey addresses the question of the role of “Wealth and Poverty in Revelation.” He notes that John of Patmos critiques earthly wealth, essentially calling for his readers to step out of the economy of the day, which often required affirming patron gods, while promising material blessings (streets of gold) in the New Jerusalem. Here again, the authoritarian vision pops up, as well as an ascetic/perfectionist vision. We must ask how this can function for us in the modern world. Must we, as Christians, essentially go off the grid? While Chapter 6 focuses on economic considerations, Chapter 7, which is titled “A Queer Book,” deals with questions of sexuality and gender, as well as the way women are portrayed in the book. With this in mind, Carey not only introduces us to some of the gender related issues but also points out queer (LGBTQ) interpretations.
Chapter 8, titled “Violence and the Bloody Lamb,” gets to the heart of one of the big challenges of reading Revelation, one that we’ve already mentioned, and that is the problem of violence. Living as we do in an increasingly violent world; this is a major concern. The presence of violent rhetoric and the challenges that this rhetoric poses is one reason why many preachers avoid this book. More specifically, many Mainline preachers are concerned with the way the book depicts God destroying God’s enemies. While John doesn’t call on readers to rise up in violent resistance, it does suggest that God acts violently to defeat God’s enemies. So, while not advocating for violent resistance, it does give voice to the desire on the part of many for violent responses to their enemies. Here again, we face the question of how to interpret and apply the message found in the Book of Revelation. What Carey warns against in Rereading Revelation is trying to explain away the violence in the book. We must face it in the book and in ourselves.
So, even if persecution wasn’t rampant, it is clear that Revelation, as well as other apocalyptic texts, function as resistance literature. Therefore, in the ninth and final chapter, Carey speaks of “Mapping ‘Resistance’ in Revelation.” It is well understood that John is calling for resistance to the Roman imperial system, including its underlying religious system, but what does this look like? Among the questions posed here concerns the role of the Empire in being the target of resistance as well as the model of resistance. In providing this model, despite the violent imagery present, we see how John’s visions serve to unveil Rome’s “pretensions to glory while ‘unveiling’ the empire’s debasement.” Thus, through images such as the Beast and Prostitute, “John dramatizes Roman idolatry, cruelty, and exploitation. Both images also provide a means for John to dehumanize emperor and empire and to envision their destruction.” In their place, John “suggests that true glory accompanies the Lamb” (pp. 169-170). Here again, contemporary readers are faced with the question of what resistance might look like if it is needed.
Is the Book of Revelation dangerous? Possibly. Does it contain violent imagery? Yes. Does it offer a word of hope to people facing this-world challenges to their faith? Yes. Having answered those questions positively, I believe that it is important that more moderate, liberal, and progressive Christians should engage with the Book of Revelation. Revelation may be a difficult book to interpret, but people in the pews have questions. Often, they turn to interpreters who take a different position than we might. We can leave them to their own devices or address their questions. Fortunately, if we decide to take up this important task, we have some excellent guides. One of those guides is Greg Carey, who may not have written a commentary on Revelation, but he does address nine important areas of concern in Rereading Revelation. The good news is that Carey’s book is both well-written and quite accessible.
This review originally appeared on BobCornwall.com.
Robert D. Cornwall is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Now retired from his ministry at Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Troy, Michigan, he serves as Minister-at-Large in Troy. He holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and is the author of numerous books, including “Eating With Jesus: Reflections on Divine Encounters at the Open Eucharistic Table” and “Second Thoughts About Hell: Understanding What We Believe” coauthored with Ronald J. Allen. His blog Ponderings on a Faith Journey can be found here.
