Today’s question is from a Sanctuary Collective member who wanted to learn more about Revelation and its historical context. She also wants to know how learning about history would help make the book and its message more meaningful. Do we think Revelation should be taken literally? Tune in to find out.
We also queered the text from 2 Peter that implies how we are to stay “pure” and wait for the “new heaven” and “new earth”. You already know that we’re going to relate this text to being queer and the work that we do. And while that’s not surprising, you might be surprised by how this text isn’t what it seems.
Key takeaways:
- Fr. Shay’s Advent update and the feeling of nesting [0:50]
- Brian’s excitement about Queers the Word [4:14]
- Reader/listener/Sanctuary Collective question about the historical context of Revelation [5:52]
- Revelation is a weird book and how it’s not meant to be a fortune-telling manual [6:30]
- What John is depicting in the book of Revelations [9:02]
- How we use “stories” in the current times [10:35]
- Queer the Bible: 2 Peter 3:8-15 [13:10]
- Queer couples laying the groundwork years ago [16:21]
- How this text was understood and taught in the past [19:33]
- Destruction vs. reconciliation [20:56]
Link mentioned in this post:
Self-study course: Journey into the Bible
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2 Peter 3:8-15
Don’t let it escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him,
Photo by Hudson Hintze