Hermeneutics of Revelation

Running head: HERMENEUTICS OF REVELATION
Hermeneutics of Revelation
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Author Note

1HERMENEUTICS OF REVELATION
The Revelation is the last chapter in the Bible. It consists of three key elements in it,
which include a prediction of an apocalypse, the prophecy of the return of Christ to the Earth, all
of it combined in form of a letter by disciple John to mankind. The basic purpose of the
revelation has been to convey the message to humankind to keep faith in Christ and prepare
oneself accordingly to face him on the day of judgement when each one shall be held
accountable for whatever action they have committed, and shall be punished or rewarded
accordingly. Theologians are divided amongst themselves with regard to the actual
interpretations of the messages inherent in the revelation made to John, while he was serving his
sentence in a prison in the island of Palmos1. Herein comes the relevance of using hermeneutics
to understand the inherent message of the revelation to John, which is beyond the realm of literal
interpretation of the text. Any reference to the text of revelation has ever been free of personal
interest, or of theological standpoint and bias, hence for uncritical and an analytical
understanding of the message of the revelation, the application of hermeneutical methods is
required.
The Augustinian school of thought, and the Thomistic school of thought had for quite a
long period of time been dominating the field of intellectual enquiry with regard to decoding the
message of the revelation. These two ideological standpoints are at contrast with each other, but
they very successfully reconcile and connect something as concrete and unambiguous as human
reason, and something quite abstract as the notion of divinity. The Augustinian view says that
revelation is a form of illumination, and is also something which keeps on continuing itself as a
transformative process within the community of the faithfuls in Christendom. The Thomistic
view on the other hand saw revelation as a form of support to be received from the divine forces
1 Yong, A., 2017. Unveiling Interpretation after Pentecost: Revelation, Pentecostal Reading, and Christian
Hermeneutics of Scripture. Journal of Theological Interpretation, 11(1), pp.139-155.

2HERMENEUTICS OF REVELATION
and is intended for propagating the message of some form of divine sanctions for the sake of
upholding the doctrinal principles2.
According to Grant R. Osborne, the revelation can be explained from the perspective of
the following principles which he had enlisted, and the discussion in this particular essay shall be
following the path shown by him. The revelation is a compendium of several sub parts, and each
of them requires separate analysis. Hence the first and foremost it is essential that the scholar
identifies the genre of literature before delving into the depths of the text. If the literature
demands that subjective analysis of the sub units, then trying to analyze it on an overall basis
would be unjustified. The book of revelation requires a subjective analysis of the sub units of the
text. After having identified the type of text, it becomes important for the scholar to identify the
pattern in which the piece of literature proceeds and develops the central idea it wants to convey.
Even if a piece of literature is divided in several units, it cannot be devoid a central idea, and that
is also applicable for the book of revelation. The next step is to identify the structure of the
literature as it proceeds, and determine if it is uni-dimensional or multi-dimensional. For the
book of revelation, the structure is multi-dimensional as it conveys quite a lot of ideas and that
opens the room for several interpretations. The application of the principles of hermeneutics is
used to decode the inherent meaning hidden in the symbols and imageries used in a piece of
literature. With regard to the book of revelation, the incidents, the prophecy of the return of
Christ on judgement day, the prediction of the apocalypse, all of it have an inherent meaning
which is way beyond the literal interpretations. The final step is to ensure that the theological
aspect of the book of revelation be treated with a significant amount of humility, ensuring that
the aspect of apocalypse and the prophecy is not concentrated more than it deserves attention, as
2 Reynolds, A., 2015. Intercultural Hermeneutics: A Step Towards Its Effective Practice as a Clash of Perspectives
on John’s Revelation. The Asbury Journal, 70(1), p.7.