The book of Revelation continues to baffle and confound present-day readers. Its strange imagery and the bewildering number of interpretations of the book have left most readers paralyzed with fear. What is needed is a book that introduces the reader to the most important keys to keep in mind when interpreting the last book of the Bible. This book provides just that: it offers, explains, and illustrates five of the most crucial keys for unlocking the message of the Apocalypse. These keys grow directly out of the kind of book Revelation is and reads it as the word of God for the church. It leads the reader to take Revelation seriously as a message first addressed to seven historical churches in the first century, before reading it as the word of God for today. These five keys can instill greater confidence in understanding the book that has always been out of the reach of most readers.

The goal of this volume is to explore the social and political dynamics of rumor and the related concept of urban or contemporary legend. These forms of communication often appear in tandem with social problems, including riots, racial or political violence, and social and economic upheavals. The volume emphasizes the connection of rumor to a set of social concerns from government corruption and corporate scandal, to racial, religious, and other prejudices. Central to the dialogue are issues of truth, belief, history, public policy, and evidence.Rumor has been recognized as one of the most important contributing factors to violence and discrimination. Yet, despite its significance in exacerbating social discord and mistrust, little systematic scholarly attention has been paid to the political origins and consequences of rumor. Rumor is defined as a proposition for belief that is not backed by secure standards of evidence. Rumor can be traditional or not, and can be expressed as a simple claim of fact. In both instances groups of claim-makers, operating out of their own interests and with a set of resources, attempt to depict reality, and if possible, impact the future.The need for this book is underscored by changing patterns of technology. What in the past was grounded in face- to-face interaction is now often found on the Internet, which is a major source of rumor. An appreciation of how new electronic forms of communication affect communal belief is essential for explicating rumor dynamics. The volume is comprehensive. Essays cover race and ethnicity, migration and globalization, corporate malfeasance, and state and government corruption. While editors and contributors well appreciate the dynamic nature of rumors and legends, the high quality of the effort make it evident that the issues that are raised and reoccur will serve to channel and inspire research in this major field of communications research for years to come.

The book of Revelation continues to baffle and confound present-day readers. Its strange imagery and the bewildering number of interpretations of the book have left most readers paralyzed with fear. What is needed is a book that introduces the reader to the most important keys to keep in mind when interpreting the last book of the Bible. This book provides just that: it offers, explains, and illustrates five of the most crucial keys for unlocking the message of the Apocalypse. These keys grow directly out of the kind of book Revelation is and reads it as the word of God for the church. It leads the reader to take Revelation seriously as a message first addressed to seven historical churches in the first century, before reading it as the word of God for today. These five keys can instill greater confidence in understanding the book that has always been out of the reach of most readers.

First published in 1960, The Treasure of the Copper Scroll is the companion volume to John Marco Allegro’s People of the Dead Sea Scrolls and tells the story of this unusual, buried treasure. Allegro here reveals much hitherto unknown information – the location of many of the cities of the Old Testament, events of the second Jewish Revolt, and the relation between the Essene community at Qumran and the New Testament interest in healing. With facsimiles of the scroll, translations of its texts, and a thorough discussion of its significance, with maps indicating many of the probable present-day hiding places, the book is a truly fascinating report on this unusual document and a first long step toward the unravelling of its secrets.

Study the meaning of biblical words in the original languages without spending years learning Greek. W. E. Vine’s New Testament Word Pictures places every key word from Vine’s classic Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words in Bible book and verse-by-verse order. The text of the King James Version of the Bible is included for context, but W. E. Vine’s New Testament Word Pictures is keyed to the Strong’s numbering system and can be used with any Bible translation. A great tool for students, pastors, teachers, and anyone who enjoys biblical word studies, this unique resource explains the meaning behind the key words and contains elements of a dictionary, concordance, and commentary. Edited by Martin Manser, W. E. Vine’s New Testament Word Pictures is available in two companion volumes:Matthew to Acts and Romans to Revelation. Features include: Every key word from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words explained Verse-by-verse order for ease of use King James Version text with keys to Strong’s numbers W.E. Vine's original comments on alternative readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible Inspirational quotes to add a fresh edge to teaching

Revelation: Deception, Judgment And The Coming Kingdom is a verse by verse explanation of one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible, designed to take students deeper into the book of Revelation. Written in easy to understand, conversational language, Jon gives insight into such complex topics as the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Armageddon and more! From the disciple John's first greeting to the Church Age churches to the final destruction of Satan and the creation of a new Heaven and new Earth, Revelation: Deception, Judgment And The Coming Kingdom illuminates God's message of the coming final days of this world as we know it. Each chapter contains a summary paragraph at the beginning, key points highlighted throughout and discussion questions at the end. Ideal for home school curriculum, individual or group Bible studies, this unique commentary will help students, young and old, learn more about the unfolding of the last days events and the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ! www.youngmindscommentary.com

The strange Book of Revelation, written in about 95 AD, opens up a world in which Christian people were under threat from the Roman Empire; some were suffering for their faith. Was it easier to fall in with the ways of the empire in all its wealth and prosperity, as well as cruelty, than to hold fast in their faith? The prophet John records a vision of the risen Jesus which opens up for him God’s perspective on the Christian assemblies and on the empire. Written in the sort of poetic literature sometimes called “apocalyptic,” John conveys his message encouraging the Christians to stay strong in their witness, while at the same time opening up the demonic realities behind the workings of totalitarian empire and looking towards God’s ultimate victory over all that is evil, in the establishment of God’s kingdom. Today we are subject to the allurements of many different sorts of godless “empires,” tempting us to put other gods in the place of Jesus Christ. Can Revelation encourage us in our struggles and our witness in our very different world?

In the early twentieth century, a new, American scripture appeared on the scene. It was the product of a school of theological thinking known as Dispensationalism, which offered a striking new way of reading the Bible, one that focused attention squarely on the end-times. That scripture, The Scofield Reference Bible, would become the ur-text of American apocalyptic evangelicalism. But while the Scofield took hold in the United States, the belief system from which it emerged, Dispensationalism, was not primarily a homegrown American phenomenon. In The Americanization of the Apocalypse: Creating America's Own Bible Donald Harman Akenson examines the creation and spread of Dispensationalism. The story is a transnational one: created in southern Ireland by evangelical Anglicans, who were terrified by the rise of Catholicism, then transferred to England, where it was expanded upon and next carried to British North America by "Brethren" missionaries and then subsequently embraced by American evangelicals. Akenson combines a respect for individual human agency with an equal recognition of the complex and persuasive ideational system that apocalyptic Dispensationalism presented. For believers, the system explained the world and its future. For the wider culture, the product of this rich evolution was a series of concepts that became part of the everyday vocabulary of American life: end-times, apocalypse, Second Coming, Rapture, and millennium. The Americanization of the Apocalypse is the first book to document, using direct archival evidence, the invention of the epochal Scofield Reference Bible, and thus the provenance of modern American evangelicalism.