The Revelation to John in Christian Theology and Testimony (BN9032S)

Content

Revelation (apokalypsis) is central to Christian theology. The Revelation to John is a specific expression of Christian writing that makes explicit many aspects of revelation that are tacit within gospels and epistles. Some of these aspects include hyperbolic textures in expression of biblical eschatology and the seeming surrealism of futurity with the signature ears to hear for the response of faith. This unit will explore within The Revelation to John, its peculiar interface between literary style and theological overture, which is cast for specific reception of Christian promise and testimony within difficult contexts of human life.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Foundational, Introduction to Systematic Theology

Pedagogy

Rotating lecture/discussion/group

Indicative Bibliography

• Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies in the Book of Revelation, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993.
• Maurice Blanchot, The Writing of the Disaster, new ed., trans. Ann Smock: Lincoln & London: U of Nebraska P, 1995.
• Giovanna Borradori, Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues with Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida, Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 2003.
• Sergius Bulgakov, The Bride of the Lamb, trans. Boris Jakim, Grand Rapids & Edinburgh: Eerdmans & T&T Clark, 2002.
• Rudolph Bultmann, History and Eschatology: The Gifford Lectures 1955, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1957.
• Neal De Roo & John Panteleimon Manoussakis, eds. Phenomenology and Eschatology: Not Yet in the Now, Farnham GB: Ashgate, 2009.
• Jacques Derrida, “On a Newly Arisen Apocalyptic Tone in Philosophy,” trans. John Leavey Jr. ed. Peter Fenves, Raising the Tone of Philosophy: Late Essays by Immanuel Kant, Transformative Critique by Jacques Derrida, Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993.
• Wilfrid J. Harrington OP, Revelation (Sacra Pagina), Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1993, 2008.
• Anthony Kelly, Eschatology and Hope, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2006.
• Frank Kermode, The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, Oxford et al.: OUP, 2000.
• Ulrich H.J. Körtner, The End of the World: A Theological Interpretation, trans. Douglas W. Stott, Louisville: WJKP, 1995.
• Joseph L. Mangina, Revelation, Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2010.
• Paul Ricoeur, History and Truth, trans. & intro. Charles A. Kelbley, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1965.
• Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, trans. Emerson Buchanan, Boston: Beacon Press, 1967.

Assessment