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Title: More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation by William Hendriksen ISBN: 0-8010-5792-2 Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: May, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A good introduction to Revelation and Bible Interpretation
Comment: The Revelation of Christ has been given to the people of God as part of God's Word for the purpose of comforting them as they pass through the trials and hardships of this foreign land. Certainly the book was directed to the Christians who originally received it, but the beautiful thing about it is that it was also designed to be meaningful to God's people living throughout every generation until the Lord's return. In reading this final book of the Bible, there will be no need to determine the meaning of its symbolism based on contemporary circumstances. Rather, the book itself, as it is understood in light of the Gospel truth and the rest of Scripture, is directly applicable to the day and age in which we are living as it was meant to be for such saints as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, or Spurgeon.
William's Hendriksen presents this view of the book in his commentary by the method of scripture interpreting scripture, not looking for prophetic fulfillment in specific events of his day (1939, when the book was written). Instead, he saw how needful it was to show the relevance of Revelation to every generation of God's people. The main theme of the Apocalypse, as he puts it, is the struggle between Christ and His followers (the Church) and Satan and his followers (the world), ultimately ending in final victory for the King and His faithful ones. Hence, the title of the commentary, "More Than Conquerors". It seems like a pretty simple idea, and perhaps this is why many stumble as they try to "figure out" the meaning of the symbols in the book, looking for their fulfillment in specific historical or future events (the latter being more guesswork than anything else).
Finally, I would like to say that this view of Revelation would be especially relevant to those brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution right now as we speak for the sake of the Gospel. If they could know its significance for them and not be influenced by the unfortunately general misunderstanding of the Revelation that comes from American evangelicals today, their joy to press on would be increased even more than it is already! "And they overcame [the accuser] by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12:11). May the Lord bless them immensely with an added measure of his presence and joy, that many of us may never see in this lifetime!
Overall, Hendriksen's commentary is a solid introduction to the Revelation, although there may be some details with which I would disagree. And, as others have already stated, it sheds much light on the most effective way to interpret Scripture (that is, in light of the rest of Scripture). Beyond this, you may want to obtain a copy of Lenski's commentary or a related book by Hoekema.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Defense of Idealist/Spiritual Amillennial View
Comment: Hendriksen does an excellent job presenting the case for a mostly spiritual interpretation of the book of Revelation. It is amazing that so many self-proclaimed "Bible prophecy scholars" honestly believe Revelation is completely literal (although they can't even follow that all the way). The numbers are especially symbolic. Are we really to believe, as the dispensationalists tell us, that the 144,000 are a literal number of Jews? That exact, round, even number? (The number 144 also appears elsewhere in Revelation, but hey, perhaps that's literal too--of course not.) It is impossible for the futurists to be right. Hendriksen presents a clear, thorough case for a spiritual interpretation of Revelation, as well as the progressive parallelism view. Furthermore, he does an excellent job in the book of critiquing and showing the falsehoods of the postmillennial view (a false, carnal optimism) so trying to infiltrate Reformed circles.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Refreshing Return to Letting the Bible Interpret the Bible
Comment: William Hendrickson has done a great job in this book in presenting the "historic amillennial" view of interpreting the book of Revelation. He does a good job showing how Revelation is written in signs and symbols (as Rev. 1:1 in the Greek clearly says) rather than being written as a literal account. Through consistently using the Bible to interpret the Bible (not simply prooftexting), Hendrickson shows that Revelation is not a book which appeals to our desire for the sensational. Dispensationalists would do well to seriously read this second best book I've ever read on Revelation. Hendrickson is not perfect though. He occasionally breaks out of his, and the Bible's, consistent method of interpretation in this book and uses some "literal" interpreting (such as that concerning the black plague). Overall, I recommend this book at an excellent starting point, but not as an ending point. There is a book which takes the technique of using the Bible to interpret the Bible to a much higher level (The Days of Vengeance by Chilton), but whereas Chilton's book is over 700 pages, Hendrickson's book is about a fourth the size. One would do well to begin at the shorter, simpler exegesis of Hendrickson before moving on to something so completely comprehensive as Chilton's book. More than Conquerors is a presentation of historic amillennialism and there are other forms of amillennialism to consider as well (futurist and post-millennial for instance). But the main issue is the refreshing approach Hendrickson restores to interpreting the Bible; that is, he uses the Bible, not the newspaper, to determine the meaning of the prophecies. For this one reason, I believe this book should be on people's reading list. And dispensensationalists would do well to put down the newspaper and turn off the evening news (which are never good commentaries on the Bible) and pick up Hendrickson's book. I personally do not ultimately agree with Hendrickson's specific interpretation in every area, but I agree with his method of using the Bible to interpret the Bible. Therefore, it's a good text book on Bible interpretation in process, even though one may not ultimately agree with the book's final conclusions.
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Title: A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times by Kim Riddlebarger ISBN: 080106435X Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: February, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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Title: The Bible and the Future by Anthony A. Hoekema ISBN: 0802808514 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: August, 1994 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation by Dennis E. Johnson ISBN: 0875522009 Publisher: P & R Press Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
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Title: The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation by Vern Sheridan Poythress ISBN: 0875524621 Publisher: P & R Press Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views by George Eldon Ladd, Robert G. Clouse, Anthony A. Hoekema ISBN: 0877847940 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: June, 1977 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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