Different Approaches in Hermeneutics of the Book of Revelation

Abstract

Desislava Panayotova, Different Approaches in Hermeneutics of the Book of Revelation. The various hermeneutical methods and challenges associated with the correct interpretation of the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) in the New Testament have provided a rich field for theological research throughout the ages. Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilineos is a well-known Greek cleric, theologian, and interpreter of the Holy Scriptures who has conducted a thorough revision of various hermeneutical approaches to this New Testament book, with a particular emphasis on the exegetical patristic method based on the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. For the first time in contemporary Bulgarian theology, the author presents a detailed comparison between Fr. Mitilineos’s exegetical methods and various scholarly and denominational approaches to interpreting and understanding the Book of Revelation. The key contribution of the author’s analysis is the juxtaposition of the comprehensive and authentic Orthodox hermeneutics of Revelation with secular or individual non-Orthodox interpretations of the same book.