Free Term Paper On Revelation

The book of Revelation is without a doubt the most cryptic or perplexing book in the Bible. It is for that reason that despite the number of years the Bible has been in existence, it has no single interpretation agreeable to believers and scholars alike. Various people have interpreted it differently and such there exists several schools of interpretation. These can be generally grouped into four; the idealist, the historic, the futurist and the preterist school of interpretation.
The idealist school also known as the spiritual view holds that the book of Revelation and more so the events, do not apply to a particular historical event. The book is in fact a presentation of the constant struggle all through the ages of the forces of good and evil and particularly of God and Satan. The school opines that though saints are hounded by the evil forces, a time is coming when they will be victorious. Importantly too is that God will ultimately defeat Satan.
The historic school on the other hand holds that the book contains the course of history from the time it was written to the end of age. It is of the view that some of the events the book records correspond to events that have occurred in history. This school is however not clear as to when the end of time is and as such its proponents also differ on it too.
The futuristic school takes a literal interpretation of the book. Essentially it divides the events in the book into three periods as contained in Chapter one of the book; the past, the present and the future. Proponents of the school emphasize a literal interpretation of the book with little focus to its symbols. The dangers of this view is that it may wrongly be interpreted as one tries to connect it to past, current or future events.
Finally, the preterist school views the book as set in the past. In fact the term preterist means to gaze back to the past. Proponents of the school look back in the past to ascertain whether a specific event has come to pass. However there those who believe that all the events have been fulfilled (full preterists) while others are of the view that only some events have (partial preterists).
Of these schools of interpretation, the idealist one appeals more. It does not create a timeline on the events whether occurred or yet to. This prevents a wrong interpretation when one tries to connect events in our world to those in the book. This is especially so as history tends to repeat itself. It also makes the book applicable to all periods of the history of the church. Similarly, it provides a better explanation to events that each believer faces irrespective of their time or place in history. Additionally, it presents the ultimate purpose of the book; that there will be persecutions, trials and tribulation in a believer’s life but God ultimately will deliver the believers. This sets the stage for the second coming of Christ as recorded in the book.