I really enjoyed how she gave tons of historical details to the time period when the books were written. I still really enjoyed it - but it definitely could be another hundred pages or so. I couldn't tell if she was trying to just write for other religious scholars who she assumed already knew most of it or was oversimplifying it for everyone. It was fairly short and just went by too fast. " It was a really good read, but I also felt like she just blew through a lot of stuff. Her book, _The Origin of Satan_, is also excellent. I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in early Christian history, the formation of the church, the creed, or the canon. This short treatise goes well beyond the Book of Revelation attributed to John of Patmos, delving into Pagels' main area of speciality, formative Christianity. Rife with copious notes, her scholarship is impressive yet delivered in an accessible and interesting way. Overall Performance: Narration Rating: Story Rating:.Brilliantly weaving scholarship with a deep understanding of the human needs to which religion speaks, Pagels has written what may be the masterwork in her unique career. Even after John’s prophecies seemed disproven-instead of being destroyed, Rome became a Christian empire-those who loved John’s visions refused to discard them and instead reinterpreted them-as Christians have done for two thousand years.
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Others seized on the Book of Revelation as a weapon against heretics and infidels of all kinds. Soon after, Christians fearing arrest and execution championed John’s prophecies as offering hope for deliverance from evil. In the aftermath of that war, John of Patmos, a Jewish prophet and follower of Jesus, wrote the Book of Revelation, prophesying God’s judgment on the pagan empire that devastated and dominated his people. In the waning days of the Roman Empire, militant Jews in Jerusalem had waged an all-out war against Rome’s occupation of Judea, and their defeat resulted in the desecration of the Great Temple in Jerusalem.
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Elaine Pagels explores the surprising history of the most controversial book of the Bible.