The spring is one of my favorite times of the year in our training school because it means our unit on Revelation is finally here. I enjoy teaching it so much largely because it gives me an excuse to study it and learn more deeply (I hope) the life-changing truths of this book. It is also one of the biggest challenges in teaching; you never know what kind of background everyone has coming into the class. Over time I’ve collected a list of resources, so I’ll share them here.
Before I get to them, though, I must give credit where credit is due. The single most profound influence on my understanding of Revelation comes not from a book but from a professor at Gordon-Conwell, Sean McDonough. I took his Exegesis in Revelation class a few years back and was amazed at Dr McDonough’s ability to make the text come alive and make sense. This isn’t surprising, given that he has studied under G K Beale and Richard Bauckham, though he doesn’t mind charting his own course when necessary. That doesn’t mean that I always agreed with him; I still remember his look of disappointment when I told him I differed from him on the Millennium. But all in all, his teaching was full of humility, reverence and pastoral insight; I stand in his debt.
The single best book I’ve ever read on Revelation is Richard Bauckham’s The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Though it’s short (160+ pages), it packs a lot of good stuff in there. In my experience, many people coming into a study of Revelation want to know about details. The problem, however, is that it’s easy to miss what Revelation is actually about because you spend all your time wondering about some small portion of it. This is where Bauckham’s book comes in handy. It clearly and concisely demonstrates the major themes of the book and what it teaches about God and His relation to this world. Phenomenal book.
My favorite commentary is still G. K Beale’s commentary in the NIGTC series. It contains a wealth of information, especially in regards to the use of the OT in Revelation. If you don’t know Greek, this will be an extremely difficult read. If you do know Greek, it’ll still be a bit of work to get through, but well worth your time. Another 
detailed work is David Aune’s 3 volume commentary in the WBC series. For my kind of teaching, it’s value is less than it would be for someone doing prolonged exegetical work. I use it as a resource here and there rather than a constant guide.
As far as shorter commentaries go, I’ve been using Ben Witherington’s work in the NCBC series. It’s one of his better commentaries, in my opinion, and a good counterpart to Beale’s massive work. Hendrickson recently sent me a review copy of Ian Boxall’s commentary in the Black’s series (Kathy of Hendrickson informed me that they’re coming out with paperbacks of this series, so you might want to wait to purchase it). I haven’t worked all the way through it yet, but I’ve been thoroughly impressed thus far. It has replaced Witherington as my “portable commentary.” Look for a review in a few weeks. Boxall’s work 
replaces G B Caird’s commentary, which I also own. I like this one a lot, but most of his good insights have been incorporated into others’ works so I only use it when I run into divergent views and I’d like another opinion.
There are other commentaries I don’t own, but would love to. Robert Mounce’s in the NICNT series has been an evangelical standard for some time, for good reason. Grant Osborne wrote the Revelation commentary for the BECNT series. The Denver Journal (Klein, Blomberg, & Hecht- which sounds like a good law firm) ranks it above Beale as the top detailed commentary on Revelation, so that has to count for something. For some reason, though I’m with Osborne over Beale on the Millennium, I’ve still found Beale’s to be more helpful. Perhaps more time with Osborne could change this, however, so if anyone wants to buy me a Cinqo de Mayo present…
One last commentary I’d like to get my hands on is Craig Keener’s commentary in the NIVAC series. People I trust rave about this commentary; I regret that I haven’t used it much. Maybe that could be a Memorial Day present…
Beale and McDonough cowrote the Revelation portion of the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Naturally, since I think so highly of their work on Revelation, it’ll come as no surprise that I have a great 
appreciation for their insights here. And if I haven’t mentioned it already, this book is worth every penny you would spend on it.
For those interested in studying apocalyptic literature in general would do well to consult Mitchell Reddish’s book Apocalyptic Literature: A Reader (which you can often find for cheap at CBD Warehouse sales) and John Collins’ The Apocalyptic Imagination, which we used in seminary. Reddish has also written a good commentary on Revelation, but in a series is so expensive that it isn’t worth purchasing (seriously, someone needs to inform the Smith & Helwys folks that there’s a recession going on).
I’ve been pleased with the quality of resources on the internet for studying Revelation. There is always Dan Wallace’s outline and discussion of Revelation. Wallace is a dispensationalist and teaches at Dallas Seminary, which means I certainly have my disagreements, but I recommend folks read him for his clarity and to get the dispensational side of things. For an audio teaching, I advise you to listen to Craig Blomberg’s teaching on Revelation as part of his NT Intro class (I’ve mentioned this in my post on 1 Peter resources as well- you can get the idea that I recommend the class).
But perhaps an even greater surprise is the quality of sermons you can find on Revelation from top notch scholars. Most pastors avoid teaching on Revelation, which, in my opinion, sends the message to the church that it is a book not worth diving into. After all, if my pastor won’t touch it, why should I? But, in fact, the message of Revelation needs to be heard. Tom Schreiner, of Southern Seminary in Louisville, has been preaching on Revelation at Clifton Baptist Church. You can access the audio of their sermons here (but I can’t promise they’ll be there forever). The Gospel Coalition website hosts a number of sermons by various preachers, including some by D A Carson on Revelation. I haven’t listened to all of these, but I’ve been working through his 7 part series on Revelation for a missions conference a few years back. You can also listen to the audio from a weekend conference hosted by Desert Springs Church and taught by the aforementioned G K Beale (scroll down a bit and you’ll see it).
As an end to this post, I’ll pass along a piece of wisdom from my previously mentioned professor, Dr Sean McDonough. He remarked that studying Revelation is 50% orientation and 50% perspiration. In my experience, he’s right. If you can have a good approach to reading this enigmatic book, you’ll find it is not as difficult as you previously thought. But, it will require time and effort, perhaps moreso than any other biblical book. It is not an easy read, both because it is difficult to understand at points and because it contains a convicting message for the church of God. Read it, study it, be confused by it, allow that confusion to drive you to read it again. May you be changed forever by this world changing book.
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Boston Bible Geeks 
Resources for Studying Revelation
Posted in Revelation, tagged Biblical Training, Books, commentaries, Resources for Ministry, sermon on Thursday, April 23, 2009| 5 Comments »
The spring is one of my favorite times of the year in our training school because it means our unit on Revelation is finally here. I enjoy teaching it so much largely because it gives me an excuse to study it and learn more deeply (I hope) the life-changing truths of this book. It is also one of the biggest challenges in teaching; you never know what kind of background everyone has coming into the class. Over time I’ve collected a list of resources, so I’ll share them here.
Before I get to them, though, I must give credit where credit is due. The single most profound influence on my understanding of Revelation comes not from a book but from a professor at Gordon-Conwell, Sean McDonough. I took his Exegesis in Revelation class a few years back and was amazed at Dr McDonough’s ability to make the text come alive and make sense. This isn’t surprising, given that he has studied under G K Beale and Richard Bauckham, though he doesn’t mind charting his own course when necessary. That doesn’t mean that I always agreed with him; I still remember his look of disappointment when I told him I differed from him on the Millennium. But all in all, his teaching was full of humility, reverence and pastoral insight; I stand in his debt.
My favorite commentary is still G. K Beale’s commentary in the NIGTC series. It contains a wealth of information, especially in regards to the use of the OT in Revelation. If you don’t know Greek, this will be an extremely difficult read. If you do know Greek, it’ll still be a bit of work to get through, but well worth your time. Another
detailed work is David Aune’s 3 volume commentary in the WBC series. For my kind of teaching, it’s value is less than it would be for someone doing prolonged exegetical work. I use it as a resource here and there rather than a constant guide.
As far as shorter commentaries go, I’ve been using Ben Witherington’s work in the NCBC series. It’s one of his better commentaries, in my opinion, and a good counterpart to Beale’s massive work. Hendrickson recently sent me a review copy of Ian Boxall’s commentary in the Black’s series (Kathy of Hendrickson informed me that they’re coming out with paperbacks of this series, so you might want to wait to purchase it). I haven’t worked all the way through it yet, but I’ve been thoroughly impressed thus far. It has replaced Witherington as my “portable commentary.” Look for a review in a few weeks. Boxall’s work
replaces G B Caird’s commentary, which I also own. I like this one a lot, but most of his good insights have been incorporated into others’ works so I only use it when I run into divergent views and I’d like another opinion.
There are other commentaries I don’t own, but would love to. Robert Mounce’s in the NICNT series has been an evangelical standard for some time, for good reason. Grant Osborne wrote the Revelation commentary for the BECNT series. The Denver Journal (Klein, Blomberg, & Hecht- which sounds like a good law firm) ranks it above Beale as the top detailed commentary on Revelation, so that has to count for something. For some reason, though I’m with Osborne over Beale on the Millennium, I’ve still found Beale’s to be more helpful. Perhaps more time with Osborne could change this, however, so if anyone wants to buy me a Cinqo de Mayo present…
One last commentary I’d like to get my hands on is Craig Keener’s commentary in the NIVAC series. People I trust rave about this commentary; I regret that I haven’t used it much. Maybe that could be a Memorial Day present…
Beale and McDonough cowrote the Revelation portion of the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Naturally, since I think so highly of their work on Revelation, it’ll come as no surprise that I have a great
appreciation for their insights here. And if I haven’t mentioned it already, this book is worth every penny you would spend on it.
For those interested in studying apocalyptic literature in general would do well to consult Mitchell Reddish’s book Apocalyptic Literature: A Reader (which you can often find for cheap at CBD Warehouse sales) and John Collins’ The Apocalyptic Imagination, which we used in seminary. Reddish has also written a good commentary on Revelation, but in a series is so expensive that it isn’t worth purchasing (seriously, someone needs to inform the Smith & Helwys folks that there’s a recession going on).
I’ve been pleased with the quality of resources on the internet for studying Revelation. There is always Dan Wallace’s outline and discussion of Revelation. Wallace is a dispensationalist and teaches at Dallas Seminary, which means I certainly have my disagreements, but I recommend folks read him for his clarity and to get the dispensational side of things. For an audio teaching, I advise you to listen to Craig Blomberg’s teaching on Revelation as part of his NT Intro class (I’ve mentioned this in my post on 1 Peter resources as well- you can get the idea that I recommend the class).
But perhaps an even greater surprise is the quality of sermons you can find on Revelation from top notch scholars. Most pastors avoid teaching on Revelation, which, in my opinion, sends the message to the church that it is a book not worth diving into. After all, if my pastor won’t touch it, why should I? But, in fact, the message of Revelation needs to be heard. Tom Schreiner, of Southern Seminary in Louisville, has been preaching on Revelation at Clifton Baptist Church. You can access the audio of their sermons here (but I can’t promise they’ll be there forever). The Gospel Coalition website hosts a number of sermons by various preachers, including some by D A Carson on Revelation. I haven’t listened to all of these, but I’ve been working through his 7 part series on Revelation for a missions conference a few years back. You can also listen to the audio from a weekend conference hosted by Desert Springs Church and taught by the aforementioned G K Beale (scroll down a bit and you’ll see it).
As an end to this post, I’ll pass along a piece of wisdom from my previously mentioned professor, Dr Sean McDonough. He remarked that studying Revelation is 50% orientation and 50% perspiration. In my experience, he’s right. If you can have a good approach to reading this enigmatic book, you’ll find it is not as difficult as you previously thought. But, it will require time and effort, perhaps moreso than any other biblical book. It is not an easy read, both because it is difficult to understand at points and because it contains a convicting message for the church of God. Read it, study it, be confused by it, allow that confusion to drive you to read it again. May you be changed forever by this world changing book.
Read Full Post »