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THE BIBLE – NEW TESTAMENT – THE REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE. (Aka The Book Of Revelation, The Apocalypse).

The last book of the Christian half of the Bible, and given that it deals very graphically with the end of the World, it would be impossible to add another in its wake.

St. John, possibly the same one who wrote the Gospel of that name, is granted a startling vision of Armageddon. He is ushered to Heaven to watch the seals being broken from a number of books. As each seal breaks, terrible events ravage the Earth and humanity below. The Book also has the rather vague reference to the Number Of The Beast (Lucifer himself) as 666. This is generally taken to refer to lots of his followers, (also described elsewhere as 'Legion', (i.e., lots, which may make the six-hundred and sixty-six the leaders of the divisions presented at Meggido by the dammed). This may be interpreted as a metaphor for a nation waging Holy war against Christianity.

As things go from bad to worse, four riders set out to the corners of the World; Plague, Pestilence, Famine, and Death himself. Blood rains down on the World, everyone dies, horribly. The forecast does not look good. However, the war is not over. The forces of Good And Evil begin to wage war for our souls. A vast bottomless pit opens that is in effect the gateway to Hell. Lucifer and his demons wage war against God’s angels and archangels, of who we know only two by name, Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel has the crucial role of blowing the last trumpet blast. This calls on the dead to rise up. Rotted, disembodied corpses are reassembled. Humanity now forms an orderly queue to have the value of their lives assessed. Those who are deemed good Christians, join the forces of Heaven, who by now are winning the war if their propaganda is to be believed.

The likes of Hitler, (we might expect) get cast into the bottomless pit, which seals up forever once everyone who was not good has gone inside. The righteous now dwell in heaven forever, meeting Jesus and the Angels. So, it all turns out nicely in the end.

Revelations reads like a very gloomy weather forecast. It is not a cheerful read despite the promised happiness of the everlasting life for those who qualify in the end.

St. John clearly gets carried away with graphic gory imagery throwing in everything but the kitchen sink. http://etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html