Essay --

Revelation No other book of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation, written by John, is the last book in the New Testament and perhaps the most important book of the Bible. Revelation enforces the importance of faith and obedience to the concept of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people. Revelation answers the question of what the future holds for this planet and its inhabitants. While it is a sobering reality for those who have fallen astray, it can be a great comfort for believers. The book of Revelation is somewhat troubling to read because it is a forecast of God’s wrath upon humanity, and it is filled with warnings to the church to remain loyal and obedient so that they may avoid eternal damnation. Most other books in the Bible are concerned with teaching the church how to live in such a way that we will be at home in the New Jerusalem. The book of Revelation, however, tells the church why it is important to live according to God’s will in hopes that the church will be on the favorable side of God’s judgment. In comparing the book of Revelation to the apocalyptic themed movie Contagion, it is important to realize that Contagion’s plot revolves around an event that causes widespread havoc and could have ended humanity, but never actually does. Revelation, on the other hand, speaks of God destroying the earth and then creating a new earth. The movie Contagion is about the threat posed by a deadly, highly communicable, flu-like virus that spreads a disease with no known cure, kills within hours of the onset of symptoms, and results in mass casualties. As you can imagine, this causes widespread panic and global ch... ...emain loyal and obedient to his teachings no matter what hardships they may face. I believe that this is God’s way of warning his people and attempting to save them from the fate of those who have fallen away from the Lord’s will. To be human means to always be faced with a choice of which path to go on. Whether we chose to follow God or to go our own way will ultimately decide our fate and that is something that we cannot say of animals or other life forms. What it means to be human cannot be answered without acknowledging the fate of humanity, and Revelation provides us a glimpse of what that is. For some, what is means to be human will mean to be thrown into the lake of fire with Satan being eternally separated from the goodness of God, and for others, what it means to be human will mean to live forever on a perfect earth surrounded by the love of a perfect God.