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The Lamb and the Beasts by Stephen J. Binz
As part of the Threshold Bible Study series, this Scriptural Study guide focuses on the Book of Revelation, known as apocalyptic literature. While each of the twenty-two chapters is studied individually, Binz emphasizes Revelation’s thematic message as a whole.
This is not the same message of Ron Howard’s 2006 movie, The Da Vinci Code. There is no future “Revelation” to be found in the last book of the Bible. Instead, it is a book recounting God’s everlasting hope for us, and a plea to be watchful against the power of evil. While the allure of its Old Testament symbolism and imagery may sell movies, Revelation is, in fact, a call for repentance and faithful witness, not a book of future predictions.
Binz reminds us that the Greek word, apokalypsis, when
literally translated, means “uncovering.” Scripture scholars date Revelation to approximately
90 A.D., when the
As a complement to the early book of Exodus, where the Israelites are lost in the desert, God’s Old Testament promises come to fruition in the last book of the New Testament, and as such, present the visions of John of Patmos as a final telling of the Salvation story.
Author’s bio: Joanne
Bennardo writes from
Categories: by Joann Bennardo, Book Review
Tags: Da Vinci Code Revelations Stephen J. Bins
I enjoyed this article.
The focus of Revelations is not predicting the future like so many preach as a scare tatic pointed at the people in the pews...or on the other side of the tv set.
I thought The DaVinci Code was a good movie.
Movies are entertainment and escape from the mundane...so are novels, like the one the movie was taken from. They were never meant to be taken as spiritual documentation BUT...
The response of people to the story is a powerful gauge of the lack of and consistancy in the teaching of scripture
and the lack of understanding in the average person because of faulty teaching or not enough education.
When the church authorities teach the faith and especially the novice in faith matters,they should have a thorough understanding and education in the scriptures and the types of writing and beliefs of the period they have come from. There is too much passing on of misinformation and fractured truth.
The people are hungry for truth.
The people are craving explanations.
The people need and deserve better quality shepherding.
People are broken and disappointed and many are not getting what they need from their clergy.
They seek answers where ever they can and searching is a good thing.
If their search is sincere, I believe they will find Truth.
Ron Howard made a good movie. For the most part, I liked it; I was entertained, and was touched by the way the ending was handled visually and musically.
The DaVinci Code was a fair story with a lot of interesting symbolism and twists and turns...there were some predictable senerios for a person who has studied art and religion...but the writers of the book nor the movie nor the people who read it cannot be chastized out of hand for being ignorant of scholarly interpretation of the materials. The venues are fictional and the reactions are emotional.
What we can ask ourselves is what is the basis of our faith?
Is our foundation of faith so flimsy that it is undermined at every question that is posed?...every rock that is hurled?
Thanks again for the sincere comment.
Karen
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