Description

This addition to the Paideia commentary series examines the cultural context and theological meaning of Revelation. Sigve Tonstad, an expert in the early Jewish context of the New Testament, offers a nonretributive reading of Revelation and addresses the issue of divine violence.

Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by:

• Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
• Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
• Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
• Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
• Making judicious use of photos and sidebars in a reader-friendly format

"Tonstad's remarkable commentary offers a comprehensive reading of Revelation that is both literarily sensitive and theologically incisive. With careful attention to the text's engagement with Israel's scriptures, Tonstad interprets Revelation as a christologically centered disclosure of the astonishing, counterintuitive triumph of God's love over the cosmic power of evil. This deeply intelligent commentary challenges historicist readings of the book as a simple document of political resistance to the Roman Empire. At the same time, it grapples thoughtfully with pervasive misreadings of Revelation--both in the Christian theological tradition and in Western literary culture more broadly--as a fountainhead of resentment and violence. All who read this commentary will be forced to reconsider what they think they know about the Apocalypse. Let anyone who has an ear listen."
--Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Duke Divinity School

"Well-written, accessible, and wise, Tonstad's commentary navigates a myriad of issues that either put off or entice readers about the enigma that is Revelation. Situating Revelation among its Reformation skeptics, its modern naysayers, and its more sensationalist interpreters, Tonstad reads the Apocalypse in terms of the cosmic conflict in which God's decisive response to the evil of the great Deceiver is to offer revelation and witness as the antidote. Full of macro- and micro-level insights along with clear and helpful theological analysis, this volume is a welcome addition to the Paideia series."
--Darian Lockett, associate professor of New Testament, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

Sigve K. Tonstad (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is professor of religion and assistant professor of medicine at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. He is the author of several books, including The Scandals of the Bible, Saving God's Reputation: The Theological Function of Pistis Iesou in the Cosmic Narratives of Revelation, The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day, and Letter to the Romans: Paul among the Ecologists.

Paperback. Copyright 2019. 416 pages.