Review of The Joy of Hearing: A Theology of the Book of Revelation by Schreiner

Schreiner, Thomas R. The Joy of Hearing: A Theology of the Book of Revelation. Wheaton, IL.: Crossway, 2021, 208 pp., $19.99, paperback.

Schreiner produces a worthy inaugural volume in Crossway’s New Testament Theology series. This volume represents beautiful biblical theology and the best kind of pastoral theology. It is academically responsible, pastorally sensitive, and well-written (a sometimes-rare characteristic in academic circles). The hidden gem of each chapter is the summary section, connecting the message of Revelation to believers today. The intended audience will discover troves of helpful material in these concluding remarks.

Thomas R. Schreiner (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, professor of Biblical Theology, and Associate Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Schreiner has published widely in biblical studies and theology. Schreiner has served extensively as a pastor, which flavors the purpose and tone of this work as an aid to students, preachers, and laypeople.

            In seven chapters, Schreiner overviews theological themes in Revelation. While he decisively interacts with other scholarship, lingering eschatological questions, and historical issues, he attempts to pursue the book’s arguments according to its inner logic and structure. The seven “blessed” sayings of Revelation (Rev 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9, 20:6; 22:7, 14) serve as a summary of the various aspects of God’s gift of revealing his plan to the faithful as they encompass revelation, alertness, martyrdom, resurrection, obedience, calling, and cleansing. The point of these apocalyptic visions and the corresponding apocalyptic text is to symbolically reveal the divine perspective on history and unseen realities usually inaccessible to human beings. This access, the ability to hear and receive the message God is trying to tell and the reality he is unveiling, produces joy in the hearer. Hearing serves as a metaphor for grasping God’s plan. However, the beatific vision of Revelation is not limited to understanding and comprehension but also obedience.

The first chapter explains the opponents of God, those who refuse to believe his message but have thrown in their lot with his enemies (e.g., false prophet, beast, Rome). The following chapter contrasts the spiritually deaf with those who can hear God’s call. They are charged to remain faithful amid tribulation (a threat not relegated to believers in another era but a reality through all of history). Chapter three is a thematic look at God’s sovereignty, holiness, and judgment, a necessary reminder for believers amid suffering. Judgment is comforting for the faithful. The next chapter focuses on Christ as lion and lamb and proceeds to demonstrate the high Christology of the letter. Chapter five stands out for its focus on the Holy Spirit, an often-underdeveloped theme in other treatments of Revelation. With chapter three focusing on the sovereign rule of God from his throne, the Son of God in chapter four, and the Spirit in chapter 5, Schreiner naturally highlights the Trinitarian flavor of the text (contra the unholy trinity of the dragon and two beasts). The penultimate chapter highlights the forward-focused nature of Revelation, meant to direct the reader’s heart toward the future. The final chapter serves as a self-described appendix dealing with millennial interpretations.

Schreiner produces a worthy inaugural volume in Crossway’s New Testament Theology series. This volume represents beautiful biblical theology and the best kind of pastoral theology. It is academically responsible, pastorally sensitive, and well-written (a sometimes-rare characteristic in academic circles). The hidden gem of each chapter is the summary section, connecting the message of Revelation to believers today. The intended audience will discover troves of helpful material in these concluding remarks.

Readers approaching this volume for answers to every eschatological lacuna will be disappointed. However, Schreiner’s volume is an unparalleled guide for the student of Revelation who wants to wade through its themes and goals.

If the book suffers from any challenge, it is simply the difficulty of remaining what it intends to be. Schreiner’s discipline in taking his cues from the themes of Revelation is noteworthy. Nevertheless, a book as debated and nebulous as Revelation with related eschatological questions and controversies is bound to push whatever limits the author intended. As such, the organization can sometimes be uneven. By trying to keep the volume thematic and readable, specific topics are bundled in odd places. For example, why is the discussion of the 144,000 elect and the dragon sandwiched in a chapter on Jesus Christ, the promised lamb that will overcome? The discussion itself is excellent, but the placement is perplexing, highlighting the challenge of this type of work.

In his chapter on the Holy Spirit, Schreiner highlights the often-underemphasized role of the Spirit in this text. However, this chapter, with the potential for a unique contribution to the field, is also the shortest. It seems that Schreiner has tapped into a vein ripe for more exploration, as demonstrated in recent works, such as Brandon Smith’s forthcoming The Trinity in the Book of Revelation: Seeing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in John’s Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL.: IVP Academic, 2022) and Jamieson and Wittman’s Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Rules for Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), mainly chapter three which uses Revelation as a test case for a trinitarian understanding of the theology of Holy Scripture.

Schreiner focuses on understanding the message revealed but I would be interested in more discussion regarding the form of the message as Scripture. Revelation opens with an admonition to read and hear (i.e., understand) in the first chapter and a warning not to add or take away from the “words of the book” (Rev 22:19) in the last. These prophetic bookends highlight the scriptural nature of this prophecy. John is relaying the message of Jesus, in the Spirit. What is the relation between John’s words and the Spirit’s words? How does the reader encounter the very words of God in the text of Revelation? For there is no “joy of hearing” unless the “words of this prophecy” are first “read” (Rev 1:3), and such a development has important implications for understanding the nature of Christian Scripture.

The author tries to relegate outside eschatological concerns to excurses (e.g., 144,000, Bauckham’s understanding of the seals). However, such questions continue to force themselves into the body of the work, most notably in the final chapter on the Millennial Kingdom and its various interpretations. One can hardly fault him for dealing with external theological questions, as most modern readers will come to a volume such as this looking for answers. Schreiner handles such questions fairly when they intrude (e.g., apocalyptic literature, preterism, great tribulation, millennial views, dispensationalism, etc.) but herein lies the challenge. Because this volume is a disciplined attempt to be a self-contained biblical theology of Revelation, it struggles to be what it is. As much as the inner logic of the text is the driving force, outside demands continue to infringe. Readers approaching this volume for answers to every eschatological lacuna will be disappointed. However, Schreiner’s volume is an unparalleled guide for the student of Revelation who wants to wade through its themes and goals. The sense of the text is clearly explained with a pastoral call for all believers to open their ears to God and follow him.

This volume serves as a helpful summary and introduction to one of the most challenging books to interpret in the New Testament. Furthermore, few handle the challenges this book poses with the author’s level of detail and concision.