Defusing Revelation’s Violent Predictions : Orthodox Christians Celebrate Scripture’s Anniversary as a Time for Positive Solutions

He is known by many names--John the Evangelist, John the Theologian, the Son of Thunder, John the Divine--but his identity is probably lost in the mists of time.

Whoever he was, Christian tradition holds that in A.D. 95 a revered elder of the persecuted Christian community of Asia Minor emerged from a cave on the barren Greek island of Patmos to dictate the details of an apocalyptic vision.

It was a vortex of violent images, a melange of Hebrew Scripture, Christian teaching and pagan iconography: an angry God with eyes of fire; a beast, whose numerical sign, “666,” might be a code for the Roman emperor Nero; armies of vengeful angels, and a woman clothed with the sun. In the chaos, human lives are reaped like sheaves of wheat and Earth is nearly destroyed. A new era then begins, absent of all evil, sorrow or death.

The Book of Revelation’s scenarios of catastrophe and deliverance have terrified and inspired generations of Christians, providing consolation for victims of war and persecution with the assurance that the day was soon coming when there would be no more trouble, no more tears.

Nineteen hundred years after John emerged from his cave, the Book of Revelation continues to shape contemporary ideas of Christianity and culture. For good or ill, it is read by many Christians as a map to the future and, as 2000 approaches, some are girding themselves for Armageddon, the final battle between good and evil.

It has spawned denominations and schools of theology; it has confounded biblical scholars who cannot reconcile its vengeful tone and wholesale condemnation of outsiders with the peaceful teachings of Jesus.

In its most extreme interpretations, Revelation’s hallucinatory images have fed the fevered dreams of latter-day charlatans and psychopaths. Charles Manson once carved “666” into his forehead with a razor; David Koresh alternately cast himself as the beast and the Lamb of God.

“It is a very problematic book for everybody. The Book of Revelation must be read in the context of the whole Bible, not in isolation,” said the Rev. Theodore Stylianopoulos, professor of New Testament at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary in Brookline, Mass.

“When Christians go overboard, they make it the thrust of all their thinking about life,” he said. “One gets the impression that some of these people would be very happy if the world ended in conflagration.”

But Orthodox Christians, who this year observe the 1,900th anniversary of John’s apocalyptic vision, look to Revelation for positive solutions. On Monday, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul--the “first among equals” in the Orthodox world--will arrive at Patmos, leading a floating symposium of Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican theologians and scientists.

The floating pilgrimage will visit the cave where John is believed to have seen the apocalyptic vision, but Bartholomew will teach a far different scriptural lesson from Revelation than biblical literalists might envision.

“[The Book of Revelation] presents a world of cruelty and injustice which is punished by God. But to the Orthodox, God is a God of love; he is never a punishing agent,” Bartholomew said.

“People may cut themselves off from him and punish each other with their cruelty. But to us, God is like the sun, emanating life, grace and honor. Those who cut themselves off from that light find themselves in a hell of their own making.”

An ardent environmentalist particularly concerned about the oceans, Bartholomew is using Revelation’s end-time scenario to spur Greeks and Turks, who have been historical adversaries, to work together to save the environment.

“The future seems to be as uncertain and insecure as it did to the people of the Eastern Mediterranean almost two millennia ago as they read God’s message relayed to them by St. John in the Book of Revelation,” said a statement issued by Bartholomew’s office in Istanbul. “Its significance has been reinterpreted by successive generations seeking truth and rational confidence in periods of crisis.”

The Orthodox Church, which took root in Asia Minor--roughly present-day Turkey--in the First Century, maintains a unique, if conflicted, relationship with the Book of Revelation.

Questions about the authenticity and significance of the Book of Revelation nearly resulted in its exclusion from the Orthodox version of the New Testament. And Revelation is the only part of the Bible that is not used in Orthodox worship services.

Nevertheless, Orthodox Christians claim the author of the Book of Revelation as their own.

In this country, mainline Protestants and Catholics tend to give the biblical imagery less importance than independent evangelicals and Pentecostals, who are further divided into those who believe most of the prophecies have come to pass and those convinced that the worst is yet to come.

John F. Walvoord, a conservative evangelical Christian and chancellor emeritus of Dallas Theological Seminary, has been teaching and writing about the Book of Revelation for more than 50 years. His book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” has been a cornerstone text in evangelical seminaries for more than 30 years.

Walvoord believes the Book of Revelation has an immediate and literal meaning and takes its prophecies very seriously, but says those who expect momentous events around 2000 are misinformed.

“There is a terrible scenario of great tribulation ahead. People don’t want to believe it,” he said. “The truth is, the church as a whole is ignorant on the subject and the great majority of laymen don’t take it seriously. Many capable scholars just toss it overboard.

“Those who regard the Book of Revelation as a map to the future keyed to the year 2000 are making a serious mistake,” he added. “The Book of Revelation describes how much of the world will be destroyed, but it says nothing about the year 2000--or any other year, for that matter. Such speculations have no scriptural basis.”