THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
AN INTERPRETATION
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THE
REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
AN INTERPRETATION
BY
A. H. AMES, M.D., D.D.
Illustration: (‡ colophon)
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: CURTS & JENNINGS
Copyright by
EATON & MAINS,
1897.
EATON & MAINS PRESS,
150 Fifth Avenue, New York.
Preface
THE essay which follows is based upon a conviction that the closing
book of the canon of the New Testament, known as the Revelation of
Saint John, presents the thoughts of that holy man and inspired apostle
upon the subject of the kingdom of Christ, as derived by him from the
Old Testament Scriptures and from the teachings of Christ or as drawn
from direct revelations made to himself. The book presents a single
theme and has a well-preserved unity.
With those theories of interpretation which would make of the book an
epitome of history, either as confined to particular epochs or as a
whole, and which presuppose its design to be the prediction of events,
great or small, in the progress of the world or the Church, the writer
of this essay is not in sympathy. It is mainly because of the vagaries
and conceits to which these theories have opened the way, which have
clouded rather than cleared the mysteries of the Apocalypse and been
more promotive of strife than of salvation, that so many thoughtful
and pious minds have been driven from the study of what is one of the
most beautiful, as it is one of the most practical, parts of the word
of God. How readily the coincidences, for such they are, which have
been appealed to as verifications of these theories may be explained
and accounted for will be shown in the course of the essay.
Questions of criticism or scholarship do not lie within the scope
of the essay. It is assumed, not, however, without examination and
reflection, that the Revelation is the work of John, the son of Zebedee,
one of the twelve, and “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” It is also
assumed that he was the author of the fourth gospel and of the epistles
which bear his name.
Commentaries upon the Revelation have been so numerous that their
titles would fill a volume. It is not likely that anything can be said
concerning it which is entirely new and has not been somewhere set
forth. The writer of this essay claims originality so far as that he
has not seen the views here expressed elsewhere presented, although
they may have appeared previously. It is not possible for him to say
whence he has gathered the material which has grown into the essay,
so as to make formal acknowledgment. Alford, Bengel, Hengstenberg,
Wordsworth, _The Speaker’s Commentary_, Ellicott’s _Commentary_, _The
Expositor’s Bible_ have been consulted freely, and also _The Symbolic
Parables of the Apocalypse_, published by T. and T. Clark. The best
commentary upon the Revelation he has found to be the Scriptures
themselves.
_Washington, D. C._
Contents
INTRODUCTION
Rules of Interpretation――The Structure of the Book――Reference
to Old Testament――Emblems Interpreted by Light of Jewish
Scriptures and Ritual――Particular Attention to Numbers
PART I
The Seven Churches of Asia, or the Kingdom as it Actually was in
the Days of the Apostles and is Now