No New Testament book has caused as much confusion and been subjected to as many varied interpretations as Revelation. Today we continue to witness a surge of popular interest in Bible prophecy and questions concerning such matters as the “last days” and the second coming of Christ. Scholarly debates continue as well, especially regarding the occurrence, timing, and theological significance of the “tribulation” and the “millennium.” It is therefore the special task of the commentator on Revelation to address such difficult questions in a scholarly and responsible manner while also remaining accessible to pastors, students, and general readers.
When first published, this volume on Revelation by Robert H. Mounce was widely praised as a standard commentary on the Apocalypse. In this new edition, now based on the NIV and NA27, Mounce has revised and expanded his work to reflect more than 20 additional years of mature thought on Revelation and to bring his work up to date with the latest scholarship. As in the original edition, Mounce here engages seriously with the various approaches to interpretation and with the conventions common to apocalyptic literature. In affirming more directly his own reading of the Apocalypse, Mounce steers a middle course between an extreme literalism and a highly imaginative subjectivism, believing this to be the way the ancient text spoke to the first-century churches to whom it was addressed—and the way it still speaks to us today.
