Postmillennial Worldview

PMT 2014-027 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A reader has written asking for evidence that Revelation follows a recapitulation scheme instead of a linear progression scheme. This is a good question, one that I think might be interesting to my PostmillennialismToday readers. I will engage this question over the course of two blog articles. In this article I will set up the problem. In the next one I will resolve it. Let’s get started!

This is an important good question, for a major challenge facing Revelation interpreters is the nature of Revelation’s progress. Does Revelation’s plot-line unfold in terms of linear progression? That is, does John prophesy events that will occur in a generally straightforward, continuously chronological progression from Revelation 4 through 22 (while allowing for a few interludes or back-flashes)? Charles (Revelation, 1: xxiii) insists that “the events in these seven parts are described in visions in strict chronological order, save in the case of certain proleptic visions . . . thus there is no need to resort to the theory of Recapitulation.” Continue reading →