This episode of The “Center” features Dr. Ryan Hansen. Dr. Hansen is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, having served churches in Chicago, Nashville, and northeastern Wisconsin. Ryan also serves as the Minister of Visitation at a Presbyterian church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Ryan has received a PhD from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and his dissertation focuses on images of cosmic upheaval and worship in the Book of Revelation. That work has been published by Fortress Press as Silence and Praise: Rhetorical Cosmology and Political Theology in the Book of Revelation. Dr. Hansen teaches online at several universities and seminaries around the US.
On today’s podcast, Ryan and host Marsha Thrall discuss the context and metaphorical nature of the book of Revelation, also known as The Revelation of John. Revelation was written in the late 1st or early 2nd century, CE and uses metaphors to illuminate the violence of the Roman Empire at the time, while also asserting that following the nonviolent ways of Jesus is the most effective tool to overcome the violence of empire.
Please note: The views expressed here are individual views that do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa.
Podcast Resources:
If you’d like to read Dr. Hansen’s book, you can find it here:
https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781451470116/Silence-and-Praise
Other Books Referenced in this Podcast:
The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation – by Barbara R. Rossing
The Theology of the Book of Revelation – by Richard Bauckham
https://www.waytoemmaus.com/product/9780521356916
Can I Get a Witness – Reading Revelation Through African American Culture – by Brian Blount
https://www.pcusastore.com/Products/0664228690/can-i-get-a-witness.aspx
Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation – by Elaine Pagels
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292906/revelations-by-elaine-pagels/