New book on the Book of Revelation

A NEW BOOK on the Book of Revelation is profiled in the Jackson Clarion Ledger:

Millsaps' professor's new book puts apocalypse in context
Predictions, preparations have little to do with its meaning, Reynolds says

5:53 PM, Apr. 13, 2012 |

Society is obsessed with the apocalypse.

Consider zombie movies, the Mayan calendar's Dec. 21 "end" date, a TV show called Doomsday Preppers and religious figures like Harold Camping making their own predictions.

While some find evidence of this in the Bible, a Millsaps religion professor's new book offers a more hopeful interpretation of "apocalyptic" biblical texts.

Revelation, often read as a end-time prophecy, should be read in context, said professor Benjamin Reynolds.

He is the author of Between Symbolism and Realism: The Use of Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Language in Ancient Jewish Apocalypses 333-53 B.C.E.

"Often when people argue about the Bible, they accuse each other of taking this or that passage out of context," he said. "My book is all about providing that context. It examines the language of ancient Jewish apocalypses like Daniel and Revelation in painstaking detail."

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It sounds interesting, but the article isn't very clear about what the new contribution of the book is. I look forward to more reviews.