New Perspectives on the Book of Revelation

This volume contains the proceedings of the 64th Colloquium Biblicum

Lovaniense (July 23-25, 2015) which dealt with the state of the

question in research on the book of Revelation and the exploration of

new perspectives and methods. Many interpretive issues continue to be

contested, such as the genre of the work. Is it an apocalypse, a letter,

or a book of prophecy? If it is all of these, how do the apocalyptic,

epistolary, and prophetic elements work together?

Certain classic or well established approaches to the book of

Revelation, such as the use of Scripture, the genre, establishing the

text, and its peculiar Greek were assessed. But also newer approaches

were represented, explored, and taken further, for example, the

construction of time and space in the work, theological issues raised by

the work (such as individual predestination), ethical issues (violence),

and various aspects of the history of interpretation, reception,

lecture, and Wirkungsgeschichte. Challenges in the

interpretation of images and symbols were addressed, both from an

historical critical point of view and in relation to the dependence of

results on the scholarly approach selected by the interpreter.