Analyzing J. W. Colenso s Unpublished Comments on the Book of Revelation
- 삼육대학교 신학연구소
- 신학과 학문(구 신학리뷰)
- 신학리뷰 제22집
- : KCI등재후보
- 2018.04
- 153 - 182 (30 pages)
John W. Colenso was an Anglican missionary in South Africa in late 19th century who took a role as a philanthropic legal advocate for the uncivilized. He also contributed in pioneering linguistics of Zulu, one of the official languages used by many in South Africa. However, he is known for his destructive views on interpretation of the biblical texts, to be evaluated as one “smashing the Old Testament text,” (Charles Darwin) and it caused him to be disgraced by his own church. His unpublished comments on the Book of Revelation, personally acquired by this researcher, are selectively presented and analyzed in this study, and his methodology of interpretation on the biblical texts examined. It was found that he invented words that are not in the text, transformed those which are in the text, and conflated some nouns as identical that are syntactically separated. He foregrounded interpretation with a preteristic model but backgrounded it now and then with a historicistic model. These findings confirm the existing evaluations on his theology. His calculated attempt to break down the inspiration of the Scripture is one of the biggest ironies regarding his philanthropic services as a missionary
I. Introduction
II. Texts and Transcriptions of Colenso’s Notes on Revelation
1. On the First Beast of Revelation 13
2. On the Millennium in Revelation 20
3. On the 666
4. On the Day of the Lord (Revelation 1:10)
5. On the Letters to the Churches of Revelation 2
6. On the offices in the Church (Revelation 2:1)
7. An Overview of the Second Vision of Revelation 4-8:1
8. Bifocal Lapse (1) Mixing Preterism with Recapulated Historicism
9. Bifocal Lapse (2) Mixing Preterism with Recapulated Historicism
10. Multiplicity of Application
11. The Church as Starting not with Christ but with Abraham
12. Calculates Prophetic Days as Literal 24 Hours
13. On “Time, Times and Half a Time”
III. Conclusion: Summarizing Findings and Perspective on Colenso
IV. Appendix: Authenticating the Manuscript of Colenso