Global Theological Education
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 66, No. 2 - Spring 2024
Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Thomas R. Schreiner. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023. 874 pp., $69.99.
Thomas Schreiner had big shoes to fill in this replacement volume on Revelation in the excellent BECNT series, one of my favorite New Testament commentary sets. The 2002 volume on Revelation by Grant Osborne was one of the best in the series. So, Schreiner is careful to mention in his introduction that he hopes Osborne’s “very fine commentary … will continue to be read and consulted for years to come” (xi).
James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and professor of biblical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Schreiner has written numerous scholarly works. It seems fitting Revelation is the seventh NT book on which Schreiner has written a commentary since the word “seven” is so important in it: “seven” or “seventh” occurs sixty-one times in Revelation—over half the number in the entire NT (42-43, 76, 82).
This commentary follows the user-friendly format of other commentaries in the BECNT series. Each section of text has 1-2 pages of overview, a large section of exegesis and exposition, and 1-2 pages of additional notes that mention grammatical and syntactical issues in the Greek text. There are three sections on the important passage about the woman and child in Revelation 12:1-6 (424-26, 426-35, 435-36). There are also two helpful excurses: “The Beast and the Antichrist” (457-62) and “The Millennium” (659-82).
An Unusual Millennial View. Schreiner does not claim to have resolved the millennial debate and rightly notes “dogmatism about the millennium … must be avoided” (677). He espouses a minority millennial view called new-creation millennialism (xi-xii, 677-82). J. Webb Mealy and Eckhard J. Schnabel influenced Schreiner with this mediation between historic pre-millennialism and idealism. Schreiner claims it takes the “best features” of both (677). New-creation millennialism says the millennium is the first stage of the new creation. All unbelievers are killed and cast into hell at the last battle when Christ returns. All believers are resurrected and reign with Christ, but it is not based in Jerusalem, nor is there any special emphasis on Jewish Christians. In this millennium of indeterminate length, there is no sin or death. Satan is released at the end and leads a rebellion of unbelievers who are raised from the dead. Then God casts them all into the lake of fire (677-79). This reviewer will refrain from critiquing this hybrid view. He admits his reading has problems (680-82) but believes it “has the fewest problems” (677). Time and more research will tell.
Strengths. Contrary to most current scholars, Schreiner opts for the apostle John as the author of Revelation. He briefly sketches why John wrote it and why the time of writing was toward the end of Domitian’s reign. This commentary is at home with conservative scholarship (12-19, 22). Schreiner interacts and deals fairly with the main interpretive views of Revelation. He often explains competing scholarly viewpoints about a passage and gently offers the reader his suggested solution. Yet, he shows refreshing candor about the difficulty in interpreting some passages, such as the beast who “was and is not, and is about to come” (Rev. 17:8 NASB). These constitute “some of the most difficult verses in the entire book” (582). Regarding the harlot on the beast, Schreiner notes, “interpreters have torn their hair out trying to unravel what John tells us here” (568).
Revelation is a complicated book, and Schreiner makes good use of charts to clarify material, such as lists of the twelve Jewish tribes (294- 95), the various lists of 3.5 years (383), descriptions of the three sets of judgments (263, 325, 543), and the kings in Revelation (585). Schreiner explaining how one must understand John’s many allusions and echoes to the Old Testament in Revelation order to properly interpret it. For instance, why does John tell those who do wrong to continue doing wrong (Rev. 22:11)? That command sounds counterproductive. The answer keys are found in John’s echoes of Ezekiel 3:27 and Daniel 12:10. We must recognize the “stubborn reality that some [people] will persist in evil” despite warnings (759).
Suggested Improvements. Additional charts or tables would be helpful, such as one showing all 3 sets of 7 judgments in relation to one another or charts listing groups of OT allusions in Revelation, such as the use of Isaiah 13 in Revelation 18. A table listing the charts would also help. Additionally, Schreiner gives short shrift to the dispensational premillennialism. He gives it only brief mention (662-63) in his excursus on millennial views. It ought to have a separate category apart from historical premillennialism rather than lumping the two views together under “premillennialism” (674-77).
Regardless of whether one buys into new-creation millennialism, Schreiner’s commentary is a welcome addition to the complicated and continuing conversation on millennialism. This commentary competently covers the text of Revelation, shares many helpful insights, and will benefit pastors, students, and anyone using it to dig deeply into Revelation.
