Gluder Quispe, The Apocalypse in Seventh-Day Adventist Interpretation, Lima: Universidad Peruana Unión, 2013. xii + 354 pp. US$20.00.

Summary

This is the published version of the Ph.D. dissertation of Gluder Quispe, professor of Adventist Studies and New Testament Interpretation at the Peruvian Union University and director of the Ellen G. White Research Center in Peru. Published in 2013, it was presented at the Symposium on the Book of Revelation of the South American Division in Chile in the same year.

The book contains five major chapters along with a table of contents, an acknowledgment, various lists, and a bibliography. The first and last chapters are somewhat unusual insofar as the first chapter is called “Introduction” and consists of an extended introduction, which normally would be considered to go beyond an introduction, and the last chapter is named “Summary and Conclusions” and contains, among other things not previously mentioned, “Suggestions for Possible Improvement.”

In the first chapter, the author suggests that the study of Revelation in the Adventist Church can be divided into three periods, which he first calls “The Thought in the Revelation Period” (1862-1944), “The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary Period” (1944-1970), and “The Multiple Emphasis Period” (1970-). These periods are dealt with in chapters 2-4. However, they are later renamed “Biblical-Historical Emphasis,” “Biblical Theological Emphasis,” and “Biblical–Exegetical Emphasis.”

Quispe describes the purpose of his study as analyzing and assessing the different Adventist approaches to Revelation. In spite of differences, he calls all of them historicist (20). Yet it seems to this reviewer that Quispe intends to find out whether or not commitment to a historicist interpretation of the Apocalypse has changed and/or weakened over the years during the respective periods of interpretation of apocalyptic prophecy in the Adventist Church. For this purpose, he looks for a definition of historicism in each of the periods suggested by him and checks how the seven trumpets of Revelation 8-11 and 12 have been interpreted.

In chapter 2, the period of the biblical-historical emphasis, he deals with Miller’s interpretation and investigates how U. Smith, M. Maxwell, and A. Treiyer have interpreted the different symbols in Revelation 8-12.

Chapter 3 focuses on the biblical-theological emphasis. After having provided some background by discussing the role of L. F. Were and five Adventist commentaries on John’s Apocalypse, Quispe deals with the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary on Revelation, H. LaRondelle’s work, and R. Naden’s commentary in more detail.

Chapter 4 brings the author to the last phase, the period of biblical-exegetical emphasis. Again he provides background information, this time on K. Strand, the 1974 Bible Conference, four significant commentaries, and the Daniel and Revelation Committee (DARCOM). The author discusses more intensely the contributions of J. Paulien and R. Stefanovic to Adventist interpretation of Revelation.

In chapter 5, he claims that all three approaches remain alive, while each one has shortcomings. Therefore, they should be considered to be complementary (266). The biblical-historical emphasis is strong with regards to identifying historical entities that are mentioned in the text but overlooks aspects of the text. The biblical-theological emphasis avoids being dogmatic and stresses, for instance, the Christology of Revelation, tending toward “‘spiritualizing’ the message of the Apocalypse (270) and therefore resembling the idealist approach to apocalyptic prophecy. Quispe holds that the biblical-exegetical emphasis, found in a number of Adventist scholars, focuses primarily on the first-century setting of the text and therefore “can resemble the preterist approach” (271).

He concludes: “Without denying the valuable contributions of the biblical-theological and biblical-exegetical approaches, it seems that the Adventist identity is most directly rooted in the historicist interpretation of the prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation. It is the historicist concreteness of prophecies fulfilled in specific dates, events, and religious and political powers that grounds Adventist identity as a divinely called people with a mission to the world” (271).

So while pointing to the complementary nature of the three approaches, in reality he seems to prefer the biblical-historical emphasis. Since there may be a kind of departure from the historicist method in Adventism, he asks the question, “What should Adventists do?” (271) and answers, “The three different emphases are on the table, and as a Church we need to create a balance in the application of the historical method of the interpretation of the prophecies” (271). This leads him to make nine suggestions, among them the organization of a new Daniel and Revelation Committee by BRI (272), the creation of an interdisciplinary Revelation commentary, a refinement of our methodology, which includes hermeneutics and exegesis (273), a more thorough study of Ellen G. White (274), and an effort “for evangelists, pastors, preachers, and scholars to take the same language on the interpretation of the Apocalypse” (274).

Evaluation

Quispe’s renaming of the originally suggested periods of Adventist interpretation of Revelation has advantages since it portrays how one can assess and evaluate major emphases in the respective periods. However, it also has disadvantages because his taxonomy does not acknowledge the overlaps between the periods and dates assigned to each category. Categorization can certainly help in pointing out major emphases and problematic developments, but the reader has to keep in mind the limitations of the system. For instance, categorization does not cover all the data and such a neat division of Adventist history can only provide a rough outline. Quispe seems to acknowledge this fact. One wonders if it would not have been better to perform a diachronic analysis of major publications without ascribing to them specific approaches, or conversely to adopt a synchronic investigation of the several approaches independent of dates such as 1944-1970.¹

The volume contains a number of problems—some minor, some more serious: (1) The work contains quite a number of typographical errors, some of them annoying.² (2) At times there is a lack of precision in terminology, historical data, and quoting.³ (3) References are missing or are incomplete.⁴ (4) Some scholarly works mentioned in the text and endnotes do not appear in the bibliography.⁵ (5) Summaries and tables are very helpful, but result in too much repetition. In addition, sometimes too many details are provided of what major representatives published, preached, and recorded. (6) At times Quispe seems not to correctly present the view of some authors. This may be due to a limited literary context considered or available. Nevertheless, one has to be cautious when evaluating persons and adding them to a category.⁶ (7) The title of the dissertation seems somewhat misleading and probably should be limited to the English-speaking, Adventist world because, with a few exceptions, non-English works have hardly been considered; although quite a number, even on a scholarly level, are available. (8) It would have been better to distinguish between interpretations of Revelation by individuals and semi-official interpretations (211). For instance, the DARCOM meetings have a different character than a private initiative organized by 3ABN, a ministry that is not part of the official Church (211). Under the heading “SDA Church’s Definition of Historicism” we find the definitions of K. Strand, F. Hardy, K. Arasola, and others. This arrangement tends to distort the picture.

Some questions remain: (1) Would it have been better to separate scholarly commentaries from non-scholarly treatments in order to provide a snapshot of what was and is going on in the Adventist scholarly world, in addition to what happens in churches, public evangelism, etc.? (2) Is the “spiritual meaning” or theological meaning of a passage in Revelation really more subjective than the historical meaning, namely attempting to find historical entities as fulfillment of prophecy (169, 172)? Even representatives of the biblical-historical approach did not agree completely on the interpretation of the fifth and sixth trumpet. The “spiritual meaning” is one important aspect of the text but not the only one. The historical meaning is another important part and again not the only one. (3) Should it not have been mentioned that one of the strengths of the Adventist Bible Commentary on Revelation was to list two or three interpretations among Adventists in cases where a definite decision could not be made—at least not at the time of publication—and still favoring one, while not necessarily ruling out the others?

Contribution

In spite of the issues mentioned, this tome contains a lot of information on the Adventist interpretation of Revelation. The review of history is extremely helpful and contains interesting details. This history of interpretation also shows that some issues that caused problems later (e.g., the apotelesmatic principle, multiple fulfillments) had occurred earlier (141, 142, 171) and did not necessarily arise out of a vacuum.

The work is generally very thorough. Many sources have been used. The extensive endnotes at the end of each chapter contain a wealth of material, although this reviewer would have preferred footnotes that fit better the scholarly interest.

While some other characters and their work could have been investigated, major players have been identified and discussed. Again, summaries and tables are extremely helpful, condensing the flood of information and allowing for a quick comparison of the various views.

A closer look at the relevance of historicism and its use in the Adventist Church was overdue. The author must be commended for having tackled this issue. His attempt to be balanced by making room for thorough exegesis, in-depth exploration of Revelation’s theology, and careful identification of the book’s historical fulfillment must be applauded. Persons interested in the study of the Apocalypse may wish to consult this important contribution to Adventist theology.