1. revelation (singular! ) is unlike other nt books (which are mostly narratives and letters). rev is a collection of apocalyptic visions which are difficult to interpret. today, few know about rev’s historical context (emperor worship), use of obscure ot passages, or the nature of apocalyptic literature. modern readers often read things into the book from elsewhere that are never mentioned in the book. unfortunately, the book is often either overused fanatically or neglected completely. in the early church, the book was favored by some (esp, chiliasts & montanists) and disliked and rejected by others.