Discussion Questions
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Why is it so important to understand what type of book Revelation is? How has what you’ve learned in this lecture changed your understanding of the book of Revelation?
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It is important to understand the type of book Revelation is because we need to understand the message in Revelation. The third verse in Revelation 1 states “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein. For the time is at hand. This describes the importance of understanding the book of Revelation. This lesson will teach me to not only look at Revelation as prophecy and give me a deeper understanding of prophecy.
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So that we understand how to read it. I never thought of it as a letter from John to me.
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We need to know what type of book Revelation is so we can understand it. The lecture has opened my eyes to see that the symbols are just that symbols. They represent a reality we are having , one we have had, or one that will happen in the future
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SO THAT YOU DO NOT READ INTO THIS BOOK OF REVELATION SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD. HAS TO BE UNDERSTOOD FROM JOHN’S VIEWPOINT AND WHAT THE READERS OF THAT ERA WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD
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It is important to understand what type of book Revelation is because it will help us to read it in the way that the author intended it to be received and to help us respond to what we read more accurately.
I have learned from this lecture that the book of Revelation is not hard to understand. That there are different approaches to reading and studying this book
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Why is Revelation’s first-century historical context important to understanding the book? How has your understanding of Revelation changed after learning more about its historical context?
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The historical context is always very important and relevant when dealing with the Biblical data, but even more so with Revelation.
My understanding of Revelation was certainly improved with the historical context.
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Understanding the first-century historical context is important because it is knowing who the book is written too and to understand what the written about.
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It is important to consider the time period when it was written because it helps readers to look at the text in a different way than if it had been written more recently. If we don’t think of it as a literal prophecy that is predicting the future, we can avoid becoming too focused on that aspect of it.
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As an apocalypse John was interested in revealing knowledge to his readers not just telling the future. I understand that I need to look at revelation in the context of a first century letter designed to communicate in a certain way.
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It was written like to help the reader understand their situation of his readers who were living under the shadow of the Roman Empire, and to help them address the problems and the crises they were facing in the first century.