Book Write-Up: The Revelation Mandate, by Todd Lewis

Todd Lewis. The Revelation Mandate: The Foundations of the Priesthood of Every Believer. WestBow, 2012. See here to purchase the book.

This book mixes preterist and idealist approaches to the Book of Revelation. The book is preterist in that it holds that the Book of Revelation primarily concerns events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. It still seems to hold that God will judge the powers-that-be in the future. It is rather idealist in that it interprets several details in the Book of Revelation as general spiritual truths about the church, such as the idea that the church perseveres amidst a hostile world.

The book is not exactly a verse-by-verse commentary, but it does go through the Book of Revelation sequentially. The author is familiar with the Bible and brings in other biblical references.

The author also holds to a rather “Lordship” view of salvation: that mere intellectual assent to the Gospel is not enough, for one needs to obey God.

Some might see preterism as a bit of a stretch, thinking that it artificially forces the Book of Revelation into the events of 70 CE Jerusalem. That critique is valid. Some may not receive a lot of spiritual encouragement from a “Lordship” view of salvation, recognizing that they fall short.

This book is still a pleasure to read. The prose is elegant and also weighty. The paragraphs could get rather long, in places, and that was not always necessary. The author presents his views in a convincing manner: not so much in the sense that his arguments reflect the only legitimate way to interpret the Book of Revelation, but in the sense that readers could get inside his mind and see how he arrives at his conclusions.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through BookLook Bloggers. My review is honest.