Despite a persistent longing for peace, humanity continues to be plagued by war.
Against our own professed desire, we cling to a logic that makes violence appear rational
and faithful to God. The book of Revelation has been read to support that logic, but
Dr. Mabee contends that, to the contrary, the book of Revelation urgently exposes the
irrationality of war and insists that rather than blaming God, humans accept the difficult
task of taking responsibility for our own violence. Dr. Mabee invites us to enter
into the ancient wisdom that aims to make war a thing of the past.

The Making Peace with Revelation workshop was held on Saturday Nov. 6, 2010, at the First Congregational Church of Wilmette, UCC, with keynote speakers Dr. Charles Mabee and Dr. Jim Papandrea. Small group sessions were led by Reverends Stephanie VanSlyke and Tripp Hudgins, Ann Frisch of Nonviolent Peaceforce, Tio Hardiman of CeaseFire and Joan Lundgren of CARE.

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This original video was created by Reverend Tripp Hudgins.

My basic perspective will be that the book of Revelation calls us to re-imagine the origins of the impulse of war, and to reconsider "the path (to peace) not taken."  It does this by imaginatively projecting the result of the actual path chosen, namely destruction and the dawn of a new age under the influence of faith in God.  The new age is really "the path not taken," nothing more, and nothing less.  In order to successfully reimagine all this, we have to learn the "dire consequences" of the path that we did take, and that is accomplished in the book of Revelation through allegorical figuration.  The book is, in the final analysis, a demonstration of "the folly of empire." - Dr. Mabee.

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Dr. Charles Mabee is full professor and director of the M.Div. program at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit and visiting professor and director of Religious Studies program at Oakland University, Rochester. Dr. Mabee initiated and edited the 16 volume series, Studies in American Biblical Hermeneutics at Mercer University Press and is the author of  Reading Sacred Texts Through American Eyes:  Biblical Interpretation as Cultural Critique (Macon, GA:  Mercer University Press, 1991) and Reimagining America:  A Theological Critique of the American Mythos and Biblical Hermeneutics (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985). Dr. Mabee is a founding member of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion.

The recording of Dr. Charles Mabee's lecture, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: A Spiritual Diagnosis of War, is available for download. The text  of his lecture is also available.

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Dr. Jim Papandrea is a teacher, author, speaker, and musician, and currently the Assistant Professor of Church History at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary at Northwestern University in Evanston and working as a freelance consultant in the area of adult formation. His most recent work is Spiritual Blueprint: How We Live, Work, Love, Play, and Pray (2010). New books that will be published within the next year include The Earliest Christologies: Trinitarian Orthodoxy Before Nicaea, Reading the Early Church Fathers, and Novatian of Rome: Theologian and Anti-Pope.

The recording of Dr. Papandrea's lecture, Looking Back on the Future, is available for download.

The workshop concluded with a question and answer session with all the speakers. Listen to this engaging conversation.

Learn More about Revelation

Director of Education Adam Ericksen and Board Member Tripp Hudgins led a five session class on The Revelation to John. Learn more and join the discussion via their vlogs.

Keynote speakers Dr. Mabee and Dr. Papandrea provide useful background information for the workshop.

Download  a list of additional resources.