Compiled by the Rev. David Lull, Director, Bible Translation and Utilization, National Council of Churches, and the Rev. Barbara Rossing, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

General articles and commentaries:

	Barr, David L. "The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World," Interpretation 38 (1984) 39-50, a ground-breaking essay. See also his essay, "The Apocalypse of John as Oral Enactment," Interpretation 40 (1986) 243-56.
	Boring, M. Eugene. Revelation, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989), an essay-style, commentary that works through the Book of Revelation in sections, rather than commenting on it verse-by-verse.
	Metzger, Bruce M. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993). This book, by the chair of the NRSV Translation Committee, is intended for use in the church.
	Rossing, Barbara, Craig Koester, Robert Smith, and others. dialog (Fall 1998) features the theme of the "millennial idea" with articles on Revelation and the millennium.
	Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. Revelation: Vision of a Just World, Proclamation Commentaries (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991; revised version of Invitation to the Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Apocalypse with Complete Text from The Jerusalem Bible (Garden City: Image Books, 1981), an essay-style, ground-breaking commentary that emphasizes the socio-economic-political realities at the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation as the proper context for interpreting it.
	Wainwright, Arthur W. Mysterious Apocalypse: Interpreting the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993), a history of the interpretation of the Book of Revelation.
	Yarbro Collins, Adela. Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1984), another essay-style, ground-breaking commentary that takes a look at how the Book of Revelation "worked" for its original hearers.
	Yarbro Collins, Adela. "Revelation, Book of," in David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 5 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 694-708.

Liberation and Feminist Interpretations:

	Berrigan, Daniel. Beside the Sea of Glass: The Song of the Lamb; photographs by Frank Kostyu (New York: Seabury Press, 1978).
	Boesak, Allan. Comfort and Protest: Reflections on the Apocalypse of John of Patmos (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987).
	Pippin, Tina. Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John, Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992).
	Richard, Pablo. Apocalypse: A People’s Commentary (NY: Orbis, 1996), written by a South American liberation theologian.

On Millennialism and American Culture:

Boyer, Paul. When Time Shall Be No More (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).

Return to NCC Home Page
Return to "Ecumenical Resources on the Year 2000" Main Page