John’s Apocalypse has been a troublesome book since the beginning. Many interpreters, taking their cue from the Revelator’s promise to “show what must soon take place,” have seen in Revelation a coded sequence of end-time events. The only work remaining is to decode the symbols to reveal the book’s one true meaning. Or is it?
What Christians could learn about power from Jesus’ temptations.
In the wilderness, Jesus faced three temptations and triumphed. In Brothers Karamazov, through the Grand Inquisitor, Dostoevsky claimed the Church has faced these same temptations and soundly failed. Historically, many commentators have seen the temptations as individual sins, such as gluttony or greed. Dostoevsky perceives something different: All three temptations are about power. Jesus refused […]