Book of Revelation

=== Eschatological ===
Most Christian interpretations fall into one or more of the following categories:
* [[Historicism (Christianity)|Historicism]], which sees in Revelation a broad view of history;
* [[Preterism]], in which Revelation mostly refers to the events of the [[apostolic era]] (1st century) or, at the latest, the fall of Jerusalem<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=James |title=The Parousia |publisher=Bierton Strict and Particular Baptists |year=1887 |isbn=978-1-519610-94-2 |location=United Kingdom |pages=258–259 |language=English}}</ref> or the [[Roman Empire]];
* [[Futurism (Christianity)|Futurism]], which believes that Revelation describes future events (modern believers in this interpretation are often called "[[Millennialism|millennialists]]"); and
* [[Idealism (Christian eschatology)|Idealism/Allegoricalism]], which holds that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an [[allegory]] of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between [[good and evil]].

Additionally, there are significant differences in interpretation of the thousand years (the "millennium") mentioned in Revelation 20:2.
* [[Premillennialism]], which holds a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers literal interpretations of the content of the book;
* [[Amillennialism]], which rejects a literal interpretation of the "millennium" and generally prefers allegorical interpretations of the content of the book; and
* [[Postmillennialism]], which includes both literal and allegorical interpretations of the "millennium" but views the [[Second Coming]] as following the conversion to Christianity of a gradually improving world.<ref>{{Cite book
 | last =Johnson
 | first =Dennis E.
 | year =2008
 | chapter =Introduction to Revelation
 | title =ESV Study Bible
 | place =Wheaton, Illinois
 | publisher =Crossway
 | isbn =978-1433502415
 }}
</ref>

==== Eastern Orthodox ====
[[File:Apokalipsis XVI.jpg|thumb|An Orthodox [[icon]] of the Apocalypse of St. John, 16th century]]
Eastern Orthodoxy treats the text as simultaneously describing contemporaneous events (events occurring at the same time) and as prophecy of events to come, for which the contemporaneous events were a form of foreshadow. It rejects attempts to determine, before the fact, if the events of Revelation are occurring by mapping them onto present-day events, taking to heart the Scriptural warning against those who proclaim "He is here!" prematurely. Instead, the book is seen as a warning to be spiritually and morally ready for the end times, whenever they may come ("as a thief in the night"), but they will come at the time of God's choosing, not something that can be precipitated nor trivially deduced by mortals.<ref>{{Cite book
 | last =Averky (Taushev)
 | first =Archbishop
 | year =1996
 | title =The Apocalypse: In the Teachings of Ancient Christianity
 | editor-last =Eng. tr. Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]
 | place =Platina, California
 | publisher =St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood
 | isbn =978-0-938635-67-3
 | url =https://archive.org/details/apocalypseintea00aver
 | url-access =registration
 }}
</ref>

Book of Revelation is the only book of the New Testament that is not read during services by the Byzantine Rite Churches, although it is read in the [[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Western Rite Orthodox Parishes]], which are under the same bishops as the Byzantine Rite.

==== Protestant ====
{{main|Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation}}

==== Seventh-day Adventist ====
{{main|Historicism (Christianity)#Seventh-day Adventists}}
Similar to the early Protestants, Adventists maintain a historicist interpretation of the Bible's predictions of the apocalypse.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Holbrook|first1=Frank|title=What prophecy means to this church|journal=Ministry, International Journal for Pastors|volume=56|issue=7|page=21|date=July 1983|url=https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1983/07/what-prophecy-means-to-this-church|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref>

Seventh-day Adventists believe the Book of Revelation is especially relevant to believers in the days preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."<ref>{{cite web|title=Seventh-day Adventist 28 Fundamental Beliefs|url=https://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.adventist.org/fileadmin/adventist.org/files/articles/official-statements/28Beliefs-Web.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church|publisher=General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."<ref>{{cite web|title=Revelation 14:12|url=https://biblia.com/books/nkjv/Re14.12|website=Biblia.com|publisher=Logos Research Systems|access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> As participatory agents in the work of salvation for all humankind, "This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Remnant and its Mission|url=https://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/church/the-remnant-and-its-mission/|website=The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church|publisher=General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-date=26 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626114505/http://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/church/the-remnant-and-its-mission/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Councils to the Church |page=58|url=https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/19.422|website=Ellen G. White Writings|publisher=White Estate|access-date=5 October 2018}}</ref>

==== Bahá'í Faith ====
By reasoning analogous with [[Millerism|Millerite]] historicism, [[Bahá'u'lláh]]'s doctrine of [[Progressive revelation (Bahá'í)|progressive revelation]], a modified historicist method of interpreting prophecy, is identified in the teachings of the [[Bahá'í Faith]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Final Consummation: American Bahá'ís, Millerites and Biblical Time Prophecy|url=http://www.mille.org/scholarship/papers/collinswip.html|access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref>

[[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]], the son and chosen successor of Bahá'u'lláh, has given some interpretations about the 11th and 12th chapters of Revelation in ''[[Some Answered Questions]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/469123567|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/617897051|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> The 1,260 days spoken of in the forms: one thousand two hundred and sixty days,<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12:6&version=NKJV|website=biblegateway.com|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> forty-two months,<ref>{{cite web|title=Holy Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+11:2&version=NKJV|website=biblegateway.com|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> refers to the 1,260 years in the [[Islamic Calendar]] (AH 1260 or AD 1844). The "[[two witnesses]]" spoken of are [[Muhammad]] and [[Ali]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-11.html.utf8|title=Bahá'í Reference Library - Some Answered Questions, Pages 45-61|website=reference.bahai.org}}</ref> The red Dragon spoken of in Revelation 12:3 – "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads"<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|12:3|NKJV}}</ref> – are interpreted as symbolic of the seven provinces dominated by the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]]: Damascus, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, Andalusia, and Transoxania. The ten horns represent the ten names of the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty: Abu Sufyan, Muawiya, Yazid, Marwan, Abd al-Malik, Walid, Sulayman, Umar, Hisham, and Ibrahim. Some names were re-used, as in the case of Yazid II and Yazid III and the like, which were not counted for this interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|last1='Abdu'l-Baha|first1=Abbas Effendi|title=Some Answered Questions|url=http://www.bahai.org/r/177218635|website=bahai.org|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref>

==== The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ====
The [[Book of Mormon]] states that [[John the Apostle]] is the author of Revelation and that he was [[Foreordination|foreordained]] by God to write it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/14|title=1 Nephi 14|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2018}}

[[Doctrine and Covenants]], section 77, postulates answers to specific questions regarding the symbolism contained in the Book of Revelation.<ref name="lds.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/20|title=Doctrine and Covenants 20|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2018}} Topics include: the sea of glass, the four beasts and their appearance, the 24 elders, the book with seven seals, certain angels, the sealing of the 144,000, the little book eaten by John, and the two witnesses in Chapter 11.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the warning contained in Revelation 22:18–19<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/nt/rev/22|title=Revelation 22|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2022}} does not refer to the biblical canon as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hunter |first=Howard W. |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1981/04/no-man-shall-add-to-or-take-away?lang=eng&query=book+of+revelation|title=No Man Shall Add to or Take Away}}</ref> Rather, an open and ongoing dialogue between God and the modern-day Prophet and Apostles of the LDS faith constitute an open canon of scripture.<ref name="lds.org"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1|title=Articles of Faith 1|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>

==== Esoteric ====
Christian Gnostics are unlikely to be attracted to the teaching of Revelation because the doctrine of salvation through the sacrificed Lamb, which is central to Revelation, is repugnant to Gnostics. Christian Gnostics "believed in the Forgiveness of Sins, but in no vicarious sacrifice for sin ... they accepted Christ in the full realisation of the word; his life, not his death, was the keynote of their doctrine and their practice."<ref>R. [[Frances Swiney]] (Rosa Frances Emily Biggs) ''The Esoteric Teaching of the Gnostics'' London: Yellon, Williams & Co (1909) pp. 3, 4</ref>

[[James Morgan Pryse]] was an esoteric gnostic who saw Revelation as a western version of the Hindu theory of the [[Chakra]]. He began his work, "The purpose of this book is to show that the Apocalypse is a manual of spiritual development and not, as conventionally interpreted, a cryptic history or prophecy."<ref>James M. Pryse ''Apocalypse Unsealed'' London: Watkins (1910). The theory behind the book is given in [[Arthur Avalon]] (Sir John Woodroffe) ''The Serpent Power'' Madras (Chennai): Ganesh & Co (1913). One version of how these beliefs might have travelled from India to the Middle East, Greece and Rome is given in the opening chapters of [[Rudolf Otto]] ''The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man'' London: Lutterworth (1938)</ref> Such diverse theories have failed to command widespread acceptance. However, Christopher Rowland argues: "there are always going to be loose threads which refuse to be woven into the fabric as a whole. The presence of the threads which stubbornly refuse to be incorporated into the neat tapestry of our world-view does not usually totally undermine that view."<ref>Christopher Rowland ''Revelation'' London: Epworth (1993) p. 5</ref>

==== Radical discipleship ====
The radical discipleship interpretation asserts that the Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i.e. how to remain faithful to the spirit and teachings of Jesus and avoid simply assimilating to surrounding society. In this interpretation the primary agenda of the book is to expose as impostors the worldly powers that seek to oppose the ways of God and God's Kingdom.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The chief temptation for Christians in the 1st century, and today, is to fail to hold fast to the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus and instead be lured into unquestioning adoption and assimilation of worldly, national or cultural values – [[imperialism]], [[nationalism]], and [[civil religion]] being the most dangerous and insidious.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

This perspective (closely related to [[liberation theology]]) draws on the approach of Bible scholars such as [[Ched Myers]], [[William Stringfellow]], [[Richard Horsley]], [[Daniel Berrigan]], Wes Howard-Brook,<ref>{{cite book|title=Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now|last= Howard-Brook|first=Wes|author2=Gwyther, Anthony|publisher=[[Orbis Books]]|year=1999|isbn=978-1-57075-287-2}}</ref> and [[Joerg Rieger]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Christ & Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times |last=Rieger| first=Joerg |publisher=[[Fortress Press]]| year=2007| isbn=978-0-8006-2038-7}}</ref> Various [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchists]], such as [[Jacques Ellul]], have identified the [[State (polity)|State]] and [[political power]] as [[The Beast (Bible)|the Beast]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel |last=Christoyannopoulos |first=Alexandre |author-link=Alexandre Christoyannopoulos |year=2010 |publisher=Imprint Academic |location=Exeter |pages=123–126 |quote=Revelation}}</ref> and the events described, being their doings and results, the aforementioned 'wrath'.