Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 124:493 (Jan 1967)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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BSac 124:493 (Jan 67) p. 83

Book Reviews

The Revelation Of Jesus Christ. By John F. Walvoord. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966. 347 pp. $5.95.

A commentator on the book of Revelation has said that there are as many riddles in the book as there are words. If this is even remotely true, then one should not dare to publish an explanation of it without years of preparation for the task. This new exposition of the Apocalypse is the result of many years of study and practical exposition by its author, the president of the Dallas Theological Seminary and the editor of Bibliotheca Sacra. Dr. Walvoord has read widely and has given the Christian public a work that should have a wide circulation. For many years students of the English text of the book have been dependent upon such commentaries as those of Gaebelein, Kelly, Newell, Scott, and Smith. It is safe to say that almost all of these have now been superseded by Walvoord’s work. As the author intended, this book has become something of a norm for premillennial interpreters of the English Bible.

Written from the futuristic point of view, the book is chamcterized by a level-headed approach that is an absolute essential in the interpretation of John’s “masterpiece of pure art,” to use Philip Carrington’s phrase.

After a brief but adequate introduction, highlighted by a discussion of the symbolism of the book, Dr. Walvoord plunges into the exposition proper, a section-by-section and largely verse-by-verse treatment. The problems of interpretation, particularly those of an eschatological character, are wisely handled and usually a solution is offered. Most of his solutions will commend themselves to the careful reader. The discussions of certain chapters, in this reviewer’s opinion, are outstanding. I am referring, for example, to the material on chapters thirteen and twenty, two of the difficult chapters of John’s work. Walvoord’s remarks on them are models of clarity and conciseness.

It has not been the author’s aim to compete with the standard commentaries on the Greek text of the book, such as those of Charles, Lohmeyer, Moffatt, Lenski, and Swete, but he has done his work with his Greek text before him. Many of its values are provided for the reader, and provided upon a level that the average student

BSac 124:493 (Jan 67) p. 84

can comprehend. Problems of New Testament textual criticism, and this book has its share, are wisely avoided except in those instances where they affect important points in the thought of the Revelation.

The book of Revelation in the hands of many commentators has not always been revealing, but this cannot be said of this work. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ, and this is the highest commendation ...

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