Revelations Books

This is one of the recently published books of the Bible in this well-known series. I have about fifteen of the series, all from amazon.com. They are mostly commentaries on NT books. ACCS culls comments from Early Christian writers of the 2nd-8th centuries C.E. The writers and their short biographies are given in the back of each book. The comments of many well-known writers are used over and over again: Augustine, John Chrysostom, and the Venerable Bede are favorites. But also (as in the Revelation commentary-2005) about 150 others have their say. This series is a real aid in preparing articles on biblical topics. For those who want a more contextual or narrative format, which contains comments from these prolific Christians, I might suggest "The Church's Bible," Robert Louis Wilken, general editor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005). Only a couple of that series have been published so far. I have "1 Corinthians, Interpreted by Early Chrisian Commentators."

The Revelation to John-with its vivid images and portraits of conflict leading up to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the cosmic destruction of evil, and the formation of a new heaven and a new earth-was widely read, even as it was variously interpreted in the early church. Approaches to its interpretation ranged from the millenarian approach of Victorinus of Petovium to the more symbolic interpretation of Tyconius, who read Revelation in the sense of the universal and unitary time of the church. Tyconius' Book of Rules, deeply admired by Augustine with its seven principles of interpretation, strongly influenced not only ongoing interpretation of the Revelation but the whole of medieval exegesis. From early on the book of Revelation was more widely accepted in the West than in the East. Indeed the earliest extant commentaries on Revelation in Greek date from Oecumenius' commentary in the sixth century, which was soon accompanied by that of Andrew of Caesarea. Earlier Eastern fathers did, however, make reference to Revelation in non-commentary works. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume draws heavily on the two Greek commentaries from Oecumenius and Andrew of Caesarea to represent Eastern interpretation, while focusing on six other commentaries as primary witnesses to Western interpretation-those of Victorinus of Petovium, Tyconius, Primasius, Caesarius of Arles, Apringius of Beja, and Bede the Venerable. Every effort has been made to give adequate context so that the creative use of Scripture, the theological interest, and the pastoral intent can be discerned by readers. Amid this treasure trove of early interpretation readers will find much that appears in English translation for the first time.

This book is a revolutionary and inspiring document. Barbara Marx Hubbard decodes the biblical Book of Revelation to reveal a message for our times encrypted in its pages, a message that stimulates us to leap beyond our limited ways of thinking to a new level of power and purpose. She reveals our true nature, as co-creators with the forces of life itself, using the model of Jesus, the "future human." She shows that while the multiple, converging crises our planet is going through may appear meaningless, painful and confusing, they are simply birth pains. A new state of conciousness is being born, reordering the future of our species and the very cells of our bodies. Open this book at any page and read - and you will be swept into a life-changing new awareness of your own birthright and the potential of every human being. -from book's back cover

This book is rich meat for the spiritually oriented individual. I spent a solid year studying it. One lives it. There is a communion service in the book that is very unique and spiritually openning. I found myself using it frequently. Certain passages were used in our wedding service. The book is alive because the author is so special and enlightened. Its worth looking for a copy of this! Linda Schiller-Hanna

We have not yet completed this Bible study, but I'm a big fan of the Fisherman Bible Studyguides series. You read scripture, then talk about how it's applicable to our lives today. And I really like this approach to studying Revelation: Basically, that we can't know exactly what all the signs and symbols mean, we can't determine the timing, etc., because only God knows how the end times will really play out. But we can be blessed by a deeper knowledge of God's word and growing in our relationship with Him through studying the book of Revelation.

"Revelation: The Lamb Who Is the Lion" by Gladys Hunt impressed me enough to explore other Fisherman Bible Study Guides. My small group Bible study used it week by week, fully engaged and involved in discovering what Revelations is about.

That Revelation is among the Bible's more controversial books, and the most vastly interpreted is no secret. Therefore, finding a way to study it with being encumbered without a strong theological bias is a challenge.

I am not usually a big fan of Bible study workbooks because either they speak over the reader, or down to the reader. A common frustration for me is when it has us read John 3:16, then asks, "Who gave his only son?" Not Gladys Hunt. She asks real question, letting the Bible speak for itself.

A typical question for study and discussion is for Revelation 14 "How are the 144,000 described in verse 1 sharply distinguished from the people mention in 13:16-17?"

Each chapter divides Revelation by chapter, occasionally combining chapters, covering all of Revelation's 22 chapters in 12 lessons, with a thirteenth lesson helping understand the book as a complete unit.

Leaders notes are at the end, presenting the complexities and controversies, as well as insight regarding the culture, the perspectives, and various ideas impacting the mind of John, plus significant thoughts by leading thinkers.

A topical bibliography finishes it off, with roughly 90-100 books listed for further reading.

I fully recommend "Revelation: The Lamb Who Is the Lion" by Gladys Hunt.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This book is well above the average for the Superromance series. There are a few echoes of one of Johnson's earlier books, _Woman in Blue_, but only in a few sentences about the relationship of Renee Patton to her deceased father in the earlier book and the relationship of Ann Caldwell to her late father in this one. Otherwise, the plots of the two books are distinct, granted the overall requirement that the hero and heroine of a romance need to fall in love. This plot, especially the unveiling of problems within the department in which the two cops work, is fresh and original.
One minor distracting aspect is that there are some things the proof-reader should have caught ("different than" rather than "different from"; "until death do they part" rather than "until death do them part"). The sense that the ending is rushed causes the reader somewhat more difficulty. The author set up several scenes that then were not written, possibly because she was running against the word limits for the series.
Those minor nits aside, both the working relationship of Juan Diaz and Ann Caldwell as partners and their growing personal relationship, as it complicates their work, strike realistic notes. The background characters (family, friends, co-workers) are genuine rather than caricatures. Caldwell and Diaz, who also appeared as minor characters in Johnson's earlier book _Mommy Said Goodbye_ deal with complexities.
It's a worthwhile book, above and beyond the romance genre.

Major Crimes Detective Ann Caldwell attending the funeral of a cop who died in an accident reflects on her deceased father, a former cop. Ann wanted her father to be proud of her, but failed; her mom did nothing for her. Thus Ann finds relationships difficult to accept. She works especially hard to gain respect from her peers as she tries to prove to her partner Juan Diaz that she is as good as any man.

When other cops die in accidents, Ann begins to believe coincidence aside, a serial killer is rampant. With Juan's help she begins to investigate. As they work the case, the partners fall in love, but he has kids to consider and she does not believe in relationships as none ever worked for her.

This super series can be counted on by police procedural romance readers to provide a strong tale, which in this case starts at a funeral that sets the tone for an exciting story. Ann is an intriguing protagonist as she tussles with herself in her personal life even as she falls in love, a girly girl thing to do that goes against her need to prove she is as good as any male. Juan is a fine counter to his partner as he believes she can be a woman and a good cop without compromising either. The who-done-it is well written, but takes a back seat to the deep look at a cop with demons to battle.

Harriet Klausner

I am referring to Book 2 of the Matthew series, revised edition 2002. The five stars are given to that book only.

Whether you believe in or agree with what it says, this book is a well-written "mini-encyclopedia" of new age "philosophy", or should I say "ideas"? Though few books can rival with the Seth Material in this field in depth, this one did offer an even wider, panoramic perspective in a succinct way. There is a synthesis of western spiritualism, Indian philosophy, quantum philosophy, and UFO religions. Sure, there are many repeats, nothing very original. But this book has its own coherence.

Furthermore, the author is one of the few channelers that gives comments on contemporary politics (see Book 3 of the series and take a look at the author's website - www.matthewbooks.com). This helps add some exciting feel to the series. However, one may find those "stories" on politics quite elusive and there are lots of conspiracy theories, a characteristic commonly shared by all sorts of UFO religions. They say, there are always some powerful gangs out there having their own hidden agenda with the ultimate aim to dominate the whole world, if not to destroy it. Could any one gang do that and why is the domination of the world so attractive? What sort of domination it is? Don't they have better things to do? Of course, you are not always sure whether the stories are symbolic or not. The Bush we see on the television screen is a clone, again they say (see the author's website). You may also sense that the Matthew Material as a whole is on a delicate balance between provocation of fear and promotion of message of love. Ying and yang, may be.

Anyway, since I am an "easterner" - a "Chinese" in Hong Kong - to be more specific, I would like to learn more about the role the eastern people, the Chinese in particular, play in the big scheme as portrayed by Matthew, and how different races of people interact in the so-called "Heaven". Do people of a particular race flock together in a particular "village" there? I love stories of these kinds, say the "true" history of the people(s)(and the living things) on earth, and of our cosmic families in "all" the galaxies and universes. More details please. However, you may also have noted that there are so many different versions of "true" history out there, one canceling the other out. I also wonder why there are so few, if any at all, channelers giving these sorts of material in the eastern world.

At last, like so many authors of this kind of books, the author is so sincere, who is a lovely mother who has lost a lovely son. As for the content, yes, you and me must discern. Anyhow, anyone interested in new age philosophy should not miss this book, really.

One more thing, interested people may also like to look at the horoscope of Matthew whose birthday is available at the author's website, which did have a distinctly prominent philosophic, religious, mysterious, and "life and death" tone compatible to the style of the book. Yes, the more books I read in this field (around two hundred or more in the past twenty-plus years), the more I find the earth an interestingly strange or even bizarre place to live in.

This book is on a lot of ET stuff.

So, if you are in to that, as I am, this book would most surely be a good read for you.

Like all her books, they contain an immense amount of info, on all kinds of topics.

I hope this helps.

Forever Love, Rich Macy

A great insight into 1800's London. Definitely plausible for a theory on Jack the Ripper. Interesting to see the correlation between the 'Unfortunates' and Ms Hayes Jack the Ripper.

This is the first fully plausable book on the Ripper killings. It is packed with interesting information on the East End in the 1800's. I would recomend this book to anybody who is interested in the historical Ripper murders, or interested in the foul conditions that existed at that time. Reading the book I felt Ms Hayes showed a lot of compasion for the women who were the real victims, not just the ones that were Ripper victims, but all the lower class women at that time.

This small book is a powerful work from early Christianity that was popular in its day but excluded from the canon. It has a clarity greater than many of the Gnostic gospels that are read today. I will be giving this small but powerful book as a gift to many friends this year.

The Shepherd of Hermas is an early Christian text which was a serious contender for inclusion in the canon. It was rejected not on doctrinal grounds but on grounds that the anonymous author was not in the direct apostolic line i.e. an apostle or companion / disciple of an apostle. Robert Van de Weyer has provided a very readable condensation of the book.

The book itself consists of revelations including parables, commandments, etc. from which contrition and a desire to know God's ways are enhanced. The primary characters of the revelation are women personifying the Church and/or various virtues and angels especially a "guardian angel" or shepherd. Mountains, stones and trees are frequent images in the building up of the Church or in the judgment of Christians. The recipient of the revelation is an unlettered Christian slave; this leads to an emphasis on understanding with the heart rather than intellectual knowledge.

To give a bit of the flavor of the book, the twelve commandments received by and explained to the slave are:
1. Believe that God is one
2. Be as simple and innocent as a little child
3. Love truth
4. Keep your minds free of any impure thoughts
5. Be courageous and yet prudent
6. Control your temper
7. Always keep faith
8. Fear the Lord, and keep his commandments
9. Show temperance
10. Ensure that you are not two-minded or hypocritical
11. Be joyful
12. Put away from yourself all evil desire, and put on yourself only desires which are good and holy.

This book is useful for those interested in early Christianity or as devotional reading.

Author J. E. Becker, who has earned a B.S. degree in Geology and who has studied prophetic scripture for over forty years, presents the summit of his life's work in Rightly Dividing The Book Of Revelation, an examination of the Biblical Book of Revelation's texts that offers a shocking perspective upon their true meaning. Stressing that even the most horrific nuclear destruction that man can inflict upon the Earth pales before the wrath that only God is capable of, Rightly Dividing The Book Of Revelation links Old Testament prophesies to the words of Revelation and strongly warns of the great natural catastrophes that will mark Judgement Day. A powerful, zealously written close study, highly accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

Additional information about this book is available on the author's website http://www.jebecker.com. Several sample chapters are provided for previewing.

The Rev. Philip W. Snyder's, "River Trips, Revelations and Old Trees" is a delightful collection of memories infused with a well-seasoned pastor's ability to convey the wonder and mystery of God. With Fr. Snyder's love of family and sense of awe in ordinary things such as a passing train, a picnic at the Six Mile Water Works near his childhood home in Albany, or a romp through an old attic, the reader is invited to explore the workings of God in a new and refreshing way. Each meditation is prefixed with a scripture passage that is neatly woven into the reflections of the author. The thoughtfully crafted words of each meditation are neat and straightforward and invite the reader to a meditative posture. Indeed, Fr. Snyder's work is a milestone of poetic reflection on the things one might easily discard or take for granted. One footnote: the sub-title is listed as "Meditations for Men". This reader would cite the sub-title as a misnomer, in that "River Trips, Reflections and Old Trees" is most suitable for both men and women as they seek to deepen their relationship with God. Rate this one an A+++. The Very Rev. David G. Bollinger

I recently read River Trips, Revelations, and Old Trees, by Philip W. Snyder. I loved it! It was perhaps the most inspirational piece of writing I have ever had the privilege to set my eyes upon. It was very inspirational and because of this book, the relationship between me and my wife is better than ever. If you want to read a truly remarkable book, read River Trips, Revelations, and Old Trees. It will be the best decision you will ever make.

This book can also be found published under the title "Winter Harvest". Many Norah Lofts stories are published under alternate titles. Check carefully before you shell out big $$$ for a story you may already own.

Kevin Furmage was a visionary, whose burning obsession was to make his mark upon the world by blazing a new route to California over the mountains. In his wagon-train were an ill assorted group of people, some honest and God-fearing, some brutal and selfish. These were the people faced, not only with appalling hardship, but also with the problem of living with one another on the Road to Revelation.