pages 101-176

Summary  
     This part of the book is about the problems of the book of Revelation. The person who translated the Revelation into Latin during the 4th century is known as Jerome. Jerome faced a great challenge when he translated the Revelation, because it is hard to actually understand the significance of John´s words and symbolism. Jerome also had to face contradictions, since John shows a vengeful Jesus but Jesus "says to love your enemies first". Kirsch also says that John thinks that 144,000 men will be saved ; Only those who have done merits and "have not defiled themselves with women" (Kirsch 102). Then saints and martyrs will be raised from dead during the first resurrection. After that Jesus is king of Earth for a millennium and then Satan is released from the bottomless pit and he is defeated. The rest of the dead are judged based on what they have done and those that have been bad go to hell for eternity.
        Some Christian authorities regard the Revelation as a dangerous book that can stir up emotions of its readers and can even make one go crazy. Including the Revelation in the Bible was a controversy, because John was basically implying that Christians emperors were sitting in "Satan's throne". Another huge problem is that John's prophecy did not occur and it has been centuries after he wrote his book.  According to some people Jesus also said in the Gospels that some of his contemporaries would witness the end, but the did not know the day or hour. The world still exists today. Another problem is that some people tend to read it literally. A group called me Montanus read the Revelation as "absolute and literal truth.", even though John say the Revelation's text must be read "spiritually". Another reason why including the Revelation in the bible was such a big debate is that some argue only an author who was an apostle/disciple of Jesus could have their writing in the Bible. For Christians it made no sense include the Revelation book in the New Testament after Constantine became emperor. Constantine supported Christianity, so Christians were not forced to abandon their faith.
             The Revelation book did not make the first cut in early version of the Bible, but it began to appear in the 10th century. The Revelation was eventually added to the New Testament many European countries and even America. Initially it was tolerated but put off by most preachers and religious teachers. They argued that it did not offer any moral instruction on how to live a decent life in the "here and now". For example, reformer Martin Luther argued that the book of Revelation be excluded from the Bible. The book is also bloody and contains a lot of "violent persecutions and sexual excess". In the 4th century a rule stating that the Revelation must be read spiritually was passed by Christian authorities that stated the book had to be read spiritually. For instance, John wrote that there will a seven headed beast. The seven headed beast represents 7 kings. People are also obsessed over trying to find out who 666 (the Antichrist). John also predicts that Jesus will be king of Earth in Jerusalem for 1000 years and then earth will be replaced by a heaven for saints and martyrs.
              In chapter 5 Kirsch discusses how many people thought the world would end in the year of 1000, because they thought it was the anniversary of Jesus's death that year. However the book does not regard the birth-death of Jesus as a significant time. Then people started believing clerical marriage was a crime because a bishop with kids would probably give his property and money to his family. As time passed some people started claiming they had visions. Hildegard, a female visionary, claimed she had a vision of a beautiful women giving worth to a beast. The women represented the church and beast represented the Antichrist. Women became big fans of the Revelation book. Protestants also used the Revelation to fight for their cause. They made it seem like the Roman Catholic Church was the Antichrist.

Quote "Indeed, an obsessive concern with when and how and why the world will come to an end can be seen as a dominant habit of the Western mind, no less in the third millennium than in the first, and no less in popular culture of the twenty-first century than in the religious art and letter of medieval Europe. And the obsession begins here and now."

Reactions The quote above depicts how the book of Revelation has impacted the mentalities of so many people in the West. People obsess over the end of the world coming and there is groups of people that actually move in mountains to stay safe. It is funny how the Revelation has made people over analyze things for so many years. It is true that the Revelation has influenced pop-culture. The Revelation has led to the creation of certain movies and it is also a big factor of some religions. There is even a movie called The Seventh Seal, which relates to the end as shown in the Revelation. There is also a book called Carmina Burana, which  is a collection of songs, religious poetry, and satires that make reference to the Revelation.
           This book made me think about who really John is and more about his life. I can also understand why Christian authorities had a hard time accepting the Revelation. Just by reading quotes from the Revelation I can see the disturbing images used by John. It is also true that there are times where people truly believe the world is going to end. For example, there are groups of people who are waiting for 2012 in fear. I agree with Jesus's statement about how people should not try to find the exact date of the end of the world. Sometimes it is just better not to know stuff that may one go crazy. I also agree with Kirsch´s statement about how the Revelation allowed people to come up with their own visions, since people came up with their own interpretations.