The Christ of the Apocalypse (Emmaus Road Publishing)

One of the most controversial and confusing books in the Bible is the Book of Revelation. There is symbolism and strange descriptions in it that can't be found in other books. Because of this, a lot of Protestants started viewing this as a book purely about the end times and the coming Armageddon. However, this is not the way that the early Church viewed this book, and it is not the way that Catholics or Orthodox view this book either. Recently a book was published by by Emmaus Road Publishing called The Christ of the Apocalypse. In this unique look at Revelation, Msgr. A. Robert Nusca sees Revelation as a portrait of Jesus. The books is divided into six chapters:

1. The Faces of Jesus in the New Testament
2. Jesus the Glorified Angel Walks amid the Churches
3. The Messianic Lion/Lamb of God
4. Jesus Christ the Divine Warrior
5. A Fourth Face: A Reflection
6. Christian Hope in an Era of Posts

The opening chapter begins by giving us brief portraits of Jesus in the Four Gospels and the Book of Revelation. The rest of the chapter then sets the stage for how the rest of the book is laid out, showing us Jesus as Glorified Angel, Messianic Lion/Lamb of God, Divine Warrior, and even seeing Jesus reflected in humanity. When looking at Jesus as the Glorified Angel, we see that the descriptions given to Jesus are the same descriptions given to God. "Revelation 1 through 3 calls us to be attentive to the various presences of Jesus Christ in the midst of the contemporary life of the Church and to heed his voice as it speaks to us in so many different ways at the heart of everyday life." A particularly interesting section occurs between the two descriptors of the Glorified Angel and the Messianic Lion/Lamb. It is here that Msgr. Nusca elaborates on the "Topography of John's Heaven," and how it is comprised on concentric circles around the Throne of God.

The book continues to walk you through specific chapters of Revelation, explaining each time how we can see the Face of Jesus in that specific section. The book closes by encouraging people to continue to look for God in an age when most people have forgotten or ignored God. Reading through this book was a welcome challenge and one that I would recommend to all Catholics. Too often, we ignore the book of Revelation because we are afraid of what it might say, but this book reveals the truth to us. In Revelation, we see the many faces of Christ that invite us to communion with Him and His Father. Highly recommended.

This book was provided to me for free by Emmaus Road Publishing in exchange for an honest review.