Methods of Interpreting the Book of Revelation: Edit history

Definition and Meaning

Methods of interpreting the Book of Revelation are frameworks for understanding what the symbols of the Book of Revelation, such as the beast, the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, refer to and when. Because Revelation is apocalyptic literature that conveys its message through visions and symbols, the same passage can take on very different meanings depending on the interpretive approach. These approaches are commonly divided into four categories.

• Preterism: Holds that most of the prophecies were already fulfilled in the first century, during the era of the Roman Empire or around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.
• Historicism: Holds that Revelation foretells, in sequence, the history of the church from the early church to the Second Coming.
• Futurism: Holds that most of the content from chapter 4 onward concerns events that will take place immediately before and after the Second Coming.
• Idealism (spiritual interpretation): Holds that the book depicts timeless principles, namely the conflict between God and evil and the suffering and ultimate victory of the church, rather than specific events.

Today many interpreters also adopt an eclectic approach that combines several of these views. Interpretive method is closely intertwined with how one understands the millennium, and it therefore shapes one's entire eschatology.

Biblical and Historical Background

Revelation opens in the form of a letter addressed to the seven churches of Asia Minor (Revelation 1:4). For this reason, a reading that gives weight to the circumstances of first-century readers was possible from the beginning. Some of the early church fathers anticipated a literal millennial kingdom. Augustine, by contrast, read the thousand years as a symbol of the church age, and this interpretation went on to exert great influence on the Western church.

In the late Middle Ages and during the Reformation, historicism became widespread. Some Protestants even identified the papacy with the Antichrist. In response, Jesuit scholars of the late sixteenth century are reported to have put forward futurist and preterist interpretations. In nineteenth-century Britain and America, dispensationalism emerged. Dispensationalism popularized a futurist interpretation that includes the rapture and a seven-year Great Tribulation.

Practice in the Korean Church

Under the influence of early missionaries and preaching at revival meetings, Korean Protestantism has shown strong interest in the Second Coming and the end times. The end-times sermons of Kil Sun-joo are often cited as a representative example.

Emphases differ according to denomination and theological orientation.

• Presbyterian churches: Interpretation in the line of historic premillennialism, represented by Park Yune-sun, has long been influential. More recently, amillennialism and idealist and eclectic readings have also been widely introduced among Reformed scholars.
• Holiness churches: Have emphasized the Second Coming as one element of the Fourfold Gospel.
• Pentecostal churches: Futurist interpretation, including the rapture, has been widely accepted.
• Theologically progressive denominations and scholars: Are relatively open to preterist and symbolic interpretations that emphasize the first-century historical background.

At the same time, the interpretation of Revelation has been a major point of contention in date-setting eschatology and in controversies over heresy. The 1992 date-setting episode, in which the rapture was predicted for a specific date, caused a major social stir. Shincheonji claims that Revelation has been fulfilled as "actual reality" in the history of its own organization. The general assemblies of major denominations have cited such interpretation as one of the grounds for designating Shincheonji a heresy. Shincheonji counters that only its interpretation bears correct witness to the revelation.