You will never understand the Book of Revelation ...
Denis O'Callaghan Ph.D.
Director Emeritus Theologian in residence at Scripture Institute
You will never understand the Book of Revelation with the kind of limited approach to biblical interpretation that is taught in Protestant seminaries. Midrash is like a quadratic equation or a very complex second order differential equation, a thirteen or fourteen step equation. Some people take the first step of grammatical-historical exegesis and think the equation is solved.
There is nothing wrong with what they do, but there is plenty wrong with what they don’t do.The equation is not solved. There is nothing wrong with grammatical-historical exegesis. It is a necessary first step, it is a necessary preliminary, and it is okay for reading the Epistles. But that is all.
It takes the wisdom of the ancients to really understand these things — Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast... (Revelation 13:18) — not the wisdom of the 16th century, but the wisdom of the first century.
As it is written in the book of Ben Sira, “Do not seek out what is too enigmatic for you and do not investigate what is concealed from you.” Contemplate that for which you have permission, but you have no business being occupied with hidden matters.
“A scholar must not only be capable of hard, often totally resultless work - he must actually relish it.”
"Gaze Upward, Look Inward, Reach Outward, Press Forward."
"It is not the answers you give, but the questions you ask."
"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you."