This little book sets out to offer a Christian approach to the hardest book of the Bible. It repeatedly emphasises that in spite of all problems of interpretation Revelation is God’s authoritative word for his church, based on true divine revelation. It starts with some remarks on the use and abuse of Revelation.

After presenting the setting, the characters and the story line in chapter 2, Desrosiers discusses the diverse interpretative approaches. He fails to distinguish Premillennialism and Dispensationalism and still mentions Hal Lindsey rather than Tim LaHaye as main representative of the latter. The fourth chapter lumps together matters of genre, authorship, life setting and structure, while the fifth chapter under the heading ‘New Interpretative Approaches’ includes not just narrative criticism and the study of the use of the OT (designated as intertextuality) but also liberation theology and feminist theology. Chapter 6 tries to show the relevance of Revelation for today’s church, and here Desrosiers presents some of the theology of the book as well as a very brief history of interpretation. Chapter 7 is an original ‘how to start reading’ as well as a guide to commentaries and other studies, which are regrettably not classified by outlook. The book helpfully ends with a bibliography and two somewhat selective indexes (omitting e.g. John Calvin and Jerry Falwell).

The information given is at times very basic, such as when the term ‘genre’ is explained (39) and when the OT prophets are listed (44). It is characteristic of this book that Desrosiers does not soon take sides but carefully presents the options and points to the weaknesses of each of them, leaving it to the reader to find a way forward. An exception to this practice is that the positions of the liberationists and the feminists are presented without critical discussion. Chapter 7 also shows rather clearly where the author’s heart is.

Apart from cases where I disagree with a given interpretation, such as that of the expression ‘in the spirit’ (98), two points of criticism need to be mentioned. First, some conclusions are insufficiently argued, such as when John is labelled as a wandering prophet (48); when it is said that John had knowledge of the geography of Palestine (also 48); when all letters in Antiquity are characterised as occasional (53); and when the much later Merkabah mysticism is proposed as a source of John’s spirituality (96). Second, the information is presented in a way that sometimes looks disintegrated and repetitive. Some examples of this practice are: a:The discussion of the interpretative approaches stands apart from the treatment of the question of genre. b: An outline of Revelation is given before the discussion of the structure of the book and the idea of recapitulation.c: The issues of plot and characters occur twice (chs 2 and 5), as does the figure of Joachim of Fiore (32, 103). The information regarding the life-situation of Revelation’s first readers is even scattered over many pages. A tutor using the book in a class will need to show the interrelations.

These things said, this book has an atmosphere of respect for the Scriptures which contributes to its being very suitable for introducing not just students but also interested church members to the last and most neglected book of the Bible.

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