The Apocalypse has rung many a bell far beyond the confines of the Christian congregation which John originally intended to console with its message....

No other document in history has managed to articulate so urgently the realization that the world is facing a catastrophe; or to conjure up such a convincing picture of the glorious future that awaits mankind after the last, final, and decisive conflict.

One way or another, the symbols John uses to depict reality express it much better than abstract concepts. Imaginative thinking, such as that which can be found in the Apocalypse, bestows upon man's wounded soul a profound feeling of liberation; but it also embraces eternal truth.

All these words and all these images are his warning to us that we should remain faithful to the earth because the Kingdom of God is indeed coming into this world.