The King Triumphant: Apocalyptic and John’s Revelation

Since the fall of 2016, our Adult Education classes at Crestview have marched a formational journey that began with the foundations of the gospel (John, Romans and the Sermon on the Mount), forged through God’s calling to the Christian community (Acts), ascended the heights and depths of God’s relationship with Israel (Samuel and Kings), and traversed pathways that challenged us to grasp God’s wisdom (Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes). As we traveled, we traced the outlines of a comprehensive Christian theology that deepened our understanding of God, Creation, Humanity, Jesus Christ, Reconciliation, and the Church. How fitting, then, to conclude this adventure with the Apocalypse of John.

The King Triumphant explores the present reality of the reign of God that stands in tension with the “groaning” of Creation and anticipates God’s final reconciliation of all things. A similar theological tension is expressed in Jewish apocalyptic writings that emerged during the period between the writing of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. These unique writings grew out of a period of intense politically-driven and theologically-charged conflicts, and several passages in the New Testament and, particularly, Revelation, reflect this interesting rhetorical and literary phenomenon. This 14-week study will briefly introduce ancient apocalyptic thought and then delve into Revelation with these insights. While certainly a unique and strange book when compared with the rest of the New Testament (and much of the Hebrew Bible as well), the goal of Revelation is to inspire faith in God and enduring hope for both the present (regardless of the circumstances) and the future.

For a complete schedule of our study, click one of the class schedule options to the right. The resources below are designed to assist class teachers in their preparation and are intended as a helpful guide for both Revelation and the text selected to direct our study, Greg Stevenson’s A Slaughtered Lamb:: Revelation and the Apocalyptic Response to Evil and Suffering (ACU Press, 2013).