Apocalyptic fervour gripped the Eastern Roman Empire as late antiquity drew to a close. The empire confronted bubonic plague, civil war, famine and catastrophic Persian invasions. Meanwhile, Andrew, archbishop of Caesarea, was tasked with writing what would become the first Greek patristic commentary on the Apocalypse and the single most influential commentary on any biblical book. Andrew preserved existing Eastern Apocalypse interpretation and applied his own exegetical skills to create a commentary that remains fresh and remarkably contemporary.
Andrew emphasised the spiritual value of the Apocalypse, transforming popular understanding of Revelation from a doomsday scenario to a
useful, God-inspired
book that would
guide those who read it to a blessed end.
At the time, Revelation was largely rejected from the canon in the East, but Andrew’s explanation would change its fate and influence Eastern eschatology forever. His work became the predominant and standard patristic commentary for the Greek East as well as the Slavic, Armenian and Georgian churches. So highly regarded, it was directly responsible for the eventual acceptance of Revelation into the canon of the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches.
In this interesting and insightful work, Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, the leading expert on Andrew of Caesarea and the first to translate his Apocalypse commentary into any modern language, identifies an exact date for the commentary and a probable recipient. Her groundbreaking book, the first ever written about Andrew, analyses his historical milieu, education, style, methodology, theology, eschatology, and pervasive and lasting influence. She explains the direct correlation between Andrew of Caesarea and fluctuating status of the Book of Revelation in Eastern Christianity through the centuries.
