Revelations

Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation

By: Elaine Pagels

Narrated by: Lorna Raver

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Elaine Pagels explores the surprising history of the most controversial book of the Bible. In the waning days of the Roman Empire, militant Jews in Jerusalem had waged an all-out war against Rome’s occupation of Judea, and their defeat resulted in the desecration of the Great Temple in Jerusalem. In the aftermath of that war, John of Patmos, a Jewish prophet and follower of Jesus, wrote the Book of Revelation, prophesying God’s judgment on the pagan empire that devastated and dominated his people. Soon after, Christians fearing arrest and execution championed John’s prophecies as offering hope for deliverance from evil. Others seized on the Book of Revelation as a weapon against heretics and infidels of all kinds.

Even after John’s prophecies seemed disproven - instead of being destroyed, Rome became a Christian empire - those who loved John’s visions refused to discard them and instead reinterpreted them - as Christians have done for 2,000 years. Brilliantly weaving scholarship with a deep understanding of the human needs to which religion speaks, Pagels has written what may be the masterwork in her unique career.

©2012 Elaine Pagels (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Revelations is a slim book that packs in dense layers of scholarship and meaning . . . One of [Elaine Pagels's] great gifts is much in abundance: her ability to ask, and answer, the plainest questions about her material without speaking down to her audience . . . She must be a fiendishly good lecturer." (The New York Times)

"One of the significant benefits of Pagels's book is its demonstration of the unpredictability of apocalyptic politics . . . The meaning of the Apocalypse is ever malleable and ready to hand for whatever crisis one confronts. That is one lesson of Pagels's book. Another is that we all should be vigilant to keep some of us from using the vision for violence against others." (The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice)

"Pagels is an absorbing, intelligent, and eye-opening companion. Calming and broad-minded here, as in her earlier works, she applies a sympathetic and humane eye to texts that are neither subtle nor sympathetically humane but lit instead by fury." (Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker)

I wanted more on the modern history of the book

Would you try another book from Elaine Pagels and/or Lorna Raver?

I got this book because I have always been fascinated at people's interpretations to the book of Revelations. This book does a thorough job of detailing the history of the book to the point of it's inclusion in the bible. But what I was looking for was what has happened since then. The description of the book seemed to hint that this would be discussed but sadly it was not. If you looking for an examination of Revelations and some of the early history this will definitely fit the bill.

More about other revelations than about Revelation

Elaine Pagels links the book of Revelation with her field of speciality, the Nag Hammadi texts. She reconstructs a different overview of the early Christian Church over the first three centuries of its existence.

I thought that she had an excellent command of the subject matter. However it is clear that her work on the Nag Hammadi translations has coloured her understanding and reconstruction so much that it might as well be just as skew if not more than the traditional account of Christian beginnings.

I found that she works chronologically in an eclectic way. It seems that when it suits her reconstruction, she might mention the date when a work was written. She sketches a very different picture of early Christianity than the one Evangelical and Protestant/Roman Catholic/Orthodox Christians might be used to. What makes her book so difficult is that you can really check how far certain of her facts correlate.

While I think she sees too much diversity in the New Testament books, (i.e. John of Patmos is actually a Jewish Prophet and not a Christian in the stricter sense of the word), she makes an interesting case and engaging construction of earliest Christianity until the time the New Testament was canonized.

I am not able to evaluate her reconstruction as it needs a bit of time. At times she was very convincing at other times opportunistic. Yet this short study needs to be taken not of.

I didn't like Lorna Raver's preaching voice, although she read clearly and with feeling at times.

I will probably not listen to another of Elaine Pagels books again. It seems that she herself is very sympathetic towards the Gnostics, trying to find a way if making them part of the general acceptable Christianity of today.

Revelation de-mystified.

Would you listen to Revelations again? Why?

Yes, I would listen again. There is so much information that requires reexamination of other sources. The author (one of my favorite biblical scholars) puts John's book into a historical context and demonstrates how the author drew upon the Hebrew Bible. i found myself wanting to study the Book of Daniel.

Any additional comments?

Only criticism is that later chapters that go into early Church history, It was a good brief overview for people not that familiar with such history. For myself, I had just read several books and listen to lectures on early Church history, Thus to me those chapters did not contain any new insights or information. But well worth the listen.

The Early History of Revelations

Of the books that were accepted into the New Testament canon, Revelations was the most controversial. Elaine Pagels traces the early history of Revelations in the context of the other controversial books that did not make it into the canon, most particularly the books deemed heretical and which were lost until copies were found in the Egyptian desert in 1945 at Nag Hammadi.

Pagels traces the changes in how each generation in the early centuries of Christianity interpreted Revelations, and how these interpretations were used in the politics of the early church. It was these political issues that caused Revelations to be included in the canon, whereas other, similar books of prophesy were declared heretical.

Pagels brings broad research to bear on her subject, producing a fascinating, illuminating, and comprehensible history that's a must-read for anyone interested in the history of early Christianity.

Expanded my Horizon

Im a Christian with a lot of questions and most have to do with Revelation. Thank you Elaine for helping me to put into perspective what i hope the Lord has been trying to tell me on a personal level. Youve enlightened me. Happy New Year and God Bless.

Very informative.

Very informative. I love this book and highly recommend it. The historical breakdown was most fascinating.

Not What I EXpected

Note first of all that the title is plural. This is not primarily an exposition or commentary on the book of Revelation. Instead, it is a history of so called revelatory writings, both Apocalyptic and Apocryphal throughout ancient history and the early Church age. Little is offered to the modern reader but a history lesson. And to the faithful, Pagels only offers a deconstruction that undermines canonical unity. I had hoped for a critical reading of John's Apocalypse that would give light to modern interpretations which have largely failed to inspire the Church toward her purpose and mission. There's none to be found here.

Revelations??

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I turned this book off several weeks ago so I don't remember details of why I didn't like it but I do remember the main reason - in my opinion it goes here and there and everywhere and little time is actually spent examining the Book of Revelations. I don't recommend the book.

What could Elaine Pagels have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Spent more time going through Revelations in a step by step way.

How could the performance have been better?

Performance was fine, it was the material that I didn't like.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disgust that I purchased it.

Any additional comments?

None

🤔 Confused

I thought this was going to explain revelation not the relationship among apostles.
I would like to trade it in.
I have 4 hours to finish but I won't.

no revelation

it does not look like the writer was a believer and therefore did not dig into the truth found in the whole Bible and how it related to Revelation.