Views on the Book of Revelation

By Luke Lancaster

Futurist: This view states that everything within the book will occur in the future. So, the Beast, the plagues, the two prophets, Gog and Magog, etc. will occur later on in time and have not been fulfilled. This is a view that many within the early church held too.

Partial preterist: This is the view that typically states that the tribulation occurred within St. John’s time or around the few centuries after him. Many will say that the events of Revelation happened in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Empire, but that it will all come again, ultimately.

Full preterist: This is the fuller view which states that in 70 AD and that’s it. Everything within the book of Revelation occurred already. So, the prophecies of the tribulation happened within the first century of Roman persecution.

Historicist: This view states that the Book of Revelation speaks of a system that goes on throughout history. Those who hold this view may say that this system is the papacy.

Spiritual view: This view states that the Book of Revelation is all symbolic. They say that it signifies the struggle between good and evil.

Progressive parallel: This view states that the Book of Revelation portrays the church age between Christ’s first and second coming from seven different angles.