The author of the book of Revelation struggled, as we do today, to live out a Christian faith in the context of an empire that trampled and destroyed the earth and its creatures. In this book, Micah D. Kiel will look at how and why Revelation was written, along with how it has been interpreted across the centuries, to come to an understanding of its potential contribution to a modern environmental ethic. While the book of Revelation is replete with images of destruction of the earth, Kiel shows readers, through Revelation's ancient context, a message of hope that calls for the care of and respect for the environment.
"For many, the Book of Revelation is self-evidently detrimental to environmental concerns. In this engaging and provocative book, full of rich insights on every page, Micah Kiel forces readers to think again. Once we allow that Revelation's terrifying vision of environmental catastrophe is more descriptive than prescriptive, an ancient visionary response to deforestation and water and air pollutio
Ian Boxall, Associate Prof. of New Testament, Catholic University of America
"In this elegantly written and engaging book, Micah D. Kiel presents us with a kind of biography of the Book of Revelation, moving from its content, ancestors, and original context, through its legacy (as seen in some of its later illuminated manuscripts) and onto its contemporary message in an age of environmental crisis. Kiel not only provides an accessible introduction to Revelation but also po
David G. Horrell, Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Exeter
"In his innovative study of Revelation, Micah D. Kiel employs different strategies to show what Revelation's apocalyptic ecology can offer the environmental crisis. His most challenging question concerns the book's depiction of Earth's destruction. How can a book where the sea is annihilated contribute positively to ecological consciousness? In the refusal of John of Patmos to diminish his critiqu
Marie Turner, Flinders University of South Australia
