I really like how the book is written. Kirsch is very eloquent and speaks in a voice that does not feel too academic or dense of difficult, but it is easy to follow. It is as if he is dragging the reader along for the ride, as he himself finds out these historical facts about the world that surround the Book of Revelation, and he certainly succeeds in bringing me along for it.
Reading the historical context of the Book of Revelation is very interesting, especially as a so-called catholic. I have heard many of the passages from Revelation at church, but I have never paid much attention to them. Nor have I taken the time to think about how this book came about. I pick and choose what I like about the church or the religion and discard what I don’t like; but there is a lot about the Bible itself that I do not know, and have never really considered. Even now after having read this few first chapters of Kirsch’s book, I’m not sure about how I view the Bible as a whole, or even just the book of Revelation, but I certainly will now begin to think of about it more.
The bible in general confuses. I am catholic and a Lit major, and I’m not sure if I look at the Bible as literary piece of work or as history of the world, and in the case of the book of Revelation, the future. But just like Kirsch points out, this future may have already happened, and people that read it today still wait got it. What if it is not to be taken literally? I found the section where Kirsch talked about the book of Daniel very interesting. That particular book in the Bible makes it clear that all of the events are symbolic. If book that has such a big impact on Revelation, than how is Revelation to be taken? The author of Revelation is like other authors, you have a motive in telling a story and the elements of the story must convey the motive. The mystery in Revelation is: what is the motive?
Hi Grecia,
Thanks for being the first to post! As you read the next few chapters, you will discover more about the controversies that took place in the Catholic Church, as it became a powerful ruling institution. Over the centuries, there was much debate about whether the Book of Revelation was to be understood literally or symbolically and about how it was wielded as a tool of power in conquest.
For your future posts—and this goes for each member of the class—move away from the appreciation of the reading to a more analytical approach. In other words, take a major argument that is made in the reading and analyze its implications more fully. You have begun to do this here but I want to “push” you further each time. For example, once you point out the literal or symbolic question, the next step is to ask: what are the implications of either of these approaches? Kirsch’s book is a good model for this because he does so in a way that is both analytical and clearly written (as you point out). For Tuesday, why don’t you come in prepared to do this for us—and you take a specific passage from the Book of Revelation as a case in point.