For centuries the book of Revelation has been both an inspiration and a mystery to the Christian church. In hours of darkness it has given courage to its readers; but in periods of ease and prosperity it has become the subject of a bewildering assortment of approaches and interpretations.

Merrill C. Tenney has built his study on the thesis that Revelation had a definite message for those to whom it was first written, a meaning they could comprehend because they understood the structure, imagery, and contemporary allusions in the text in ways lost to modern readers.

Now available for the first time in paperback, Interpreting Revelation attempts to recover how the book as a whole would have spoken to the ancient Christian world. In so doing, Professor Tenney applies broad interpretative principles that will enable readers to think through the book for themselves and to formulate their own conclusions.