Fr. Skiadaresis John, John’s Apocalypse. Hermeneutic and theological Studies A΄, Thessaloniki: Pournaras Publications, 2005, pages 213.
The book is a collection of four articles on the theme of the hermeneutic and theological problems of John’s Revelation (Apocalypse).
The first essay is titled: “syntactic otherness in the text of John’s Revelation and their rationalizations in the scripted tradition”. The writer examines the peculiarity of the language and syntax of the Apocalypse, referring to its special linguistic “errors”, analyzes the differences in the scripted tradition and, finally, makes an evaluation of all these particularities of the text.
The second study deals with the relationship between Genesis and the Apocalypse. Worth mentioning papers, mostly by foreign researchers, have shown that the Apocalypse, both in terms of its content and means of expression, is remarkably related to the Old Testament and apocalyptic (biblical and outer-biblical) literature. The writer, analyzing at the same time texts of the two books concludes that the Apocalypse, by using shapes and symbols of Genesis, but also by transcending its data, projects visually the life of the eschata as the perfect fulfillment in Christ not only of those not realized in the garden of Eden but even “more” (περισσόν).
In the third study, the author deals with the relation of the Apocalypse with Gnosticism or better with its anti-Gnostic character. The writer analyses all these references of the Apocalypse that seem to be arguments against Gnosticism and claims that, according to the study of the sources, the juxtaposition between Gnosticism and Christianity must have been ideological and the Gnostics were not the first or direct moral perpetrators to the killing of Christians.
The last unit is titled “John’s Apocalypse and Spirituality” and as the writer states from the beginning his aim is to indicate those sections, which the book of the Apocalypse has influenced or may have a diachronic effect on the thoughts and lives of the faithful, contributing to their spirituality.
The book closes with an index of passages from biblical and outer-biblical ancient Greek, Judean and Christian texts.