Further Study

Review Questions

These questions are designed to help you review important material covered in the lecture.

1. What is the purpose of the Book of Revelation?
2. According to the lesson, who is the human author of the Book of Revelation?
3. From as early as what century did Christian authors identify the author of the Book of Revelation?
4. The Book of Revelation was probably written while the author was exiled on the island of _______.
5. According to the lesson, Revelation was probably written during the reign of one of two Roman emperors. What are their names?
6. Why do some theologians believe that Revelation was written before 70 AD?
7. Which Roman emperor persecuted Christians for supposedly causing a great fire in Rome?
8. Which Roman emperor was the first to persecute Christians even outside of Rome, who executed his own cousin because he was a Christian, and required his people to worship him?
9. What does the lesson suggest as the more probable view of when Revelation was written?
10. Who was the principle audience of the Book of Revelation?
11. During the first century AD, Christians were pressured to join _________ that had patron deities in order to do business.
12. Why were many Christians tempted to abandon their faith and conform to Judaism during the first century AD?
13. Why were Christians in danger of being considered atheists, a crime possibly resulting in execution, during the end of the first century AD?
14. What sect is mentioned by name in Revelation, that some wayward Christians joined during the first century AD?
15. What is “eschatology”?
16. How did the Jews of the first century AD divide history?
17. What new perspective did Jesus give to the first century Jewish concept of the periods of history?
18. While the word itself only appears once in the Book of Revelation, the concept shapes the whole book. What is this concept?
19. What was the primary concern of the prophets in the Old Testament?
20. Do both Arminians and Calvinists agree that man still has volition after the Fall?
21. Is it true that some prophecies were meant to call God’s people to respond in repentance and faith, and the way they were fulfilled depended on their response?
22. Where does man’s capacity to respond positively to God come from?
23. What is the literary genre of the Book of Revelation?
24. What was one of the most common forms of Old Testament prophecy?
25. “In fact, it would be hard to find a paragraph anywhere in the Book of Revelation that doesn’t contain some type of ________.”
26. What is a “contingent fulfillment” of a prophecy?
27. What is a “typological fulfillment” of a prophecy?
28. Mention the characteristics of “apocalyptic” literature.
29. In the Bible, are demons and angels associated only with the personal lives of individuals?
30. Dr. William Edgar says, “The theme of the book of Revelation is ‘__________.’”
31. Many features of apocalyptic literature appear as early as what book of the Old Testament?
32. What book of the Bible has the most developed form of apocalyptic literature?

Application Questions

Application questions are intended for group discussions.

1. What has been your general attitude toward the Book of Revelation, previous to studying this course?
2. What do you expect to gain from studying the Book of Revelation?
3. Are there any aspects of the original audience of the Book of Revelation with which you can identify? Give examples.
4. Do you ever experience any pressures that may tempt you to abandon your faith? What are they?
5. Do you ever experience any kind of persecution for your faith? In what way?
6. How would you describe the effects of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension on the history of the world?
7. What do you expect the last days to be like before Christ’s return?
8. How does knowing that Christ will return affect your life?
9. How does it affect you to realize that angels are involved in the political events of the world?
10. How does it change your life to know that “Jesus wins”?
11. What difference does it make in your life to know that God has planned all the events of the future?