Authors Dr Daniel Reynaud and Pastor Ian Howie admit that there was reluctance to take it on when it was suggested that their home church study group work through the Book of Revelation. Revelation was “too hard, too scary, too negative,” according to various group members.
“I think churches have created way too much fear through Revelation, when I think the purpose was to alleviate fear and provide assurance,” reflects Pastor Howie, who agreed to lead out in this study in collaboration with Dr Reynaud.
“Once we got going, the response from the group was that this was fantastic,” adds Dr Reynaud. “Revelation made sense, wasn’t scary and wasn’t negative. Ian and I were asked to write down what we were presenting so that others could have the same experience.”
The result of their partnership and the collective study of their group has now been published as Jesus, Not Beasts: Reading Revelation for Who Matters Most, released last month by Signs Publishing. Both now retired, Dr Reynaud was professor of history at Avondale University and Pastor Howie served the church as a teach, administrator and pastor.
They admit that their writing partnership was “never meant to happen,” rather that “we were cajoled into it,” according to Pastor Howie. Drawing on the introduction in Revelation 1:1 as the Revelation of Jesus Christ, “we wanted to see how Jesus set out to reveal Himself more effectively,” he explains. “It turned out to be an interesting ride.”
For many years, Dr Reynaud has taught the subject “Bible as Literature” at Avondale University and drew on this literary and “common-sense” approach to Revelation in this new book. “While Ian and I owe a lot to the scholars that have written on Revelation, we haven’t tried to be scholars—we’ve written as lay people for lay people. Where things didn’t make sense to us, we didn’t try to force meaning into it, happy with the notion that we don’t have to understand it all.”
“Suddenly Revelation was less about the details of the future and more about the big-picture story of God’s victory over evil and how He went about it,” Pastor Howie continues enthusiastically. “We are happy to leave the interpretation of future events to those who specialise in that, but always with the caveat that the real purpose of predictive prophecy is to reveal that God has foreknowledge rather than to reveal what that foreknowledge actually is. Sadly, some endeavours to reveal what His foreknowledge is have been very inaccurate and lead too many to doubt, rather than have confidence in, His knowledge.”
In their introduction to Jesus, Not Beasts, Dr Reynaud and Pastor Howie reported that as their study progressed, members of their group reported “a deeper understanding of Jesus’ character” and that “a book that once evoked fear and dread now feels like a triumphant and joyful celebration of a sovereign God.”
Thinking of their new readers, “I’d like this book to begin to do that again,” reflects Pastor Howie.Jesus, Not Beasts is available now from Adventist bookshops in Australia and New Zealand, or online.
