OpenTheo

Q&A#141 Why Does Revelation Use So Much Symbolism?

Alastair Roberts

Q&A#141 Why Does Revelation Use So Much Symbolism?

August 22, 2019
Alastair Roberts
Alastair Roberts

Today's question: "Why does the Book of Revelation use so much symbolism? Some reasons might perhaps include: to hide its meaning from outsiders, to describe the ineffable, to point out the inner reality of what's being described, and so on. Are these correct? What other purposes might there be for the symbolism in Revelation? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this."

My blog for my podcasts and videos is found here: https://adversariapodcast.com/. You can see transcripts of my videos here: https://adversariapodcast.com/list-of-videos-and-podcasts/.

If you have any questions, you can leave them on my Curious Cat account: https://curiouscat.me/zugzwanged.

If you have enjoyed these talks, please tell your friends and consider supporting me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged. You can also support me using my PayPal account: https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB.

The audio of all of my videos is available on my Soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/alastairadversaria. You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Share

FacebookTwitterRedditCopy Link

Transcript

More on OpenTheo

How Should a Dad Talk to His Children about Attending Their Mom’s Same-Sex Wedding?
How Should a Dad Talk to His Children about Attending Their Mom’s Same-Sex Wedding?
#STRask
April 22, 2024
Questions about how a dad should talk to his children about attending their mom’s same-sex wedding, how a veterinarian should respond if someone who s
Is an Embryo a Baby?
Is an Embryo a Baby?
#STRask
May 2, 2024
Questions about whether the fact that you can freeze an embryo but not a baby proves an embryo isn’t a baby and whether it would be wrong to use IVF w
How Can I Articulate the Beauty of the Christian Worldview in a Nutshell?
How Can I Articulate the Beauty of the Christian Worldview in a Nutshell?
#STRask
April 1, 2024
Questions about how to articulate the beauty of the Christian worldview in a nutshell and whether “separation of church and state” requires public sch
How Should I Respond to Someone Who Is Word-Faith and Believes in a Second Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
How Should I Respond to Someone Who Is Word-Faith and Believes in a Second Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
#STRask
April 25, 2024
Questions about how to respond to someone who is Word-Faith and believes in a second baptism of the Holy Spirit and what the Bible is saying about how
Are We Only Interpreting the Bible This Way Because of Our Post-Enlightenment Way of Thinking?
Are We Only Interpreting the Bible This Way Because of Our Post-Enlightenment Way of Thinking?
#STRask
March 7, 2024
Questions about whether we’re only interpreting the Bible according to authorial intent because of our post-Enlightenment way of thinking and whether
Is It Okay to Be Part of a Music Ministry That’s Led by a Professing Mormon?
Is It Okay to Be Part of a Music Ministry That’s Led by a Professing Mormon?
#STRask
April 11, 2024
Questions about whether it’s okay to be part of a music ministry that’s led by a professing Mormon, whether a woman should date a man who isn’t as spi
How Can I Stay Balanced in My Belief That God Is Always Good to His Children?
How Can I Stay Balanced in My Belief That God Is Always Good to His Children?
#STRask
April 8, 2024
Questions about believing God is always good to his children while rejecting prosperity teaching, how God can be jealous if he is love and love is not
#216 Title Dear Tom: What does the Bible say about the Spiritual Gifts?
#216 Title Dear Tom: What does the Bible say about the Spiritual Gifts?
Ask NT Wright Anything
April 25, 2024
Tom discusses the relevance of spiritual gifts like prophecy and speaking in tongues within our modern context, dives into the significance of signs a
#211 Singleness, dating and being unequally yoked. Should christians date non-christians? What's the point of it all? Puzzled and pastoral questions this week with Tom
#211 Singleness, dating and being unequally yoked. Should christians date non-christians? What's the point of it all? Puzzled and pastoral questions this week with Tom
Ask NT Wright Anything
March 21, 2024
Help! I am a new christian and I'm worried I'm unequally yoked in my relationship? What is the biblical view of singleness? Should Christians date non
#215 Should we take the devil seriously?
#215 Should we take the devil seriously?
Ask NT Wright Anything
April 18, 2024
A bit of a twist today as we answer listener's questions that have come in asking: are we meant to take Satan literally? Join Tom Wright as he unravel
How Can I Make Sure I Will Honestly Consider People’s Arguments?
How Can I Make Sure I Will Honestly Consider People’s Arguments?
#STRask
February 26, 2024
Questions about how to make sure we will honestly consider people’s arguments and why God doesn’t give more evidence to the “non-resistant non-believe
How Can I Reconcile Romans 6:12–14 with Romans 7:21–25?
How Can I Reconcile Romans 6:12–14 with Romans 7:21–25?
#STRask
March 18, 2024
Questions about how to reconcile Romans 6:12–14 (where Paul talks about victory over sins) with Romans 7:21–25 (where Paul bemoans sins he still commi
The Pastor as Leader with John Currie
The Pastor as Leader with John Currie
Life and Books and Everything
April 17, 2024
With everything the pastor must do—preach, pray, visit, raise money, organize meetings, write emails, study, write, marry, bury, and baptize—does he a
How Will Jesus Sit at the Right Hand of God if He Is God?
How Will Jesus Sit at the Right Hand of God if He Is God?
#STRask
April 29, 2024
Questions about what the Bible means when it says Jesus will sit at the right hand of God if Jesus is God and why the writers of the Synoptic Gospels
#209 Israel and the Second Coming (Replay)
#209 Israel and the Second Coming (Replay)
Ask NT Wright Anything
March 7, 2024
How should Christians think about the place of Israel today? Do the Jewish people still have a distinct role in God’s purposes? The Bible says Jesus w