Preaching and Teaching the Book of Revelation Today
Ron Allen

Many people in congregations today are puzzled about the meaning of the Book of Revelation. Has the “Left Behind” series said everything that needs to be said? Is the book so loaded with symbolism that it is too hard to understand? Even if we understand it, can it provide positive guidance and encouragement for the church today? This seminar will explore how people in the first century understood the Book of Revelation by considering representative passages and will suggest ways that the Book is relevant to individuals and communities today. The instructor will use drawings to explain the Book. Participants are asked to bring a Bible.

RON ALLEN has taught preaching and New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis) since 1982. He is the author of more then 30 books on the subject of preaching. The most widely known is Patterns of Preaching: A Sermon Sampler (available from www.chalicepress.org) that explains 34 different ways to develop sermons. He and Clark Williamson have just published a three-volume commentary on the lectionary (Westminster John Knox Press): Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law, and Preaching the Old Testament (available from www.wjkbooks.org). He also directed the first in-depth and large-scale study of how lay people listen to sermons. What engages them? What moves them? The study has produced four books so far: Hearing the Sermon: Content, Relationship, and Feeling (how listeners respond to the content of the sermon, their sense of relationship of the preacher, and the role of emotion), Make the Word Come Alive (the top 12 things that people say they want in preaching), Believing in Preaching (how listeners view the authority of the Bible, the purpose of preaching, etc.), and Listening to Listeners (six detailed case studies). These books are available from www.chalicpress.org.