Beyond Vengeance and Protest

The Author: Oliver O. Nwachukwu is a Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Okigwe in Nigeria. After lecturing in the seminary of his diocese for many years, Nwachukwu attended Central Connecticut State University to study mathematics and then Harvard University to earn his M.A. in New Testament and early Christianity. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament studies and early Christianity from Loyola University Chicago. In addition to some articles in scholarly journals, he is the author of Crisis in Sunday Celebration.

Father Oliver has made important historical, literary and theological contributions to our understanding of the neglected seven beatitudes which punctuate the Revelation of John, as well as to our understanding of beatitudes generally. Both scholars and students will find this book an enormously helpful and challenging guide in working through the many problems and issues found in these enigmatical texts in what is perhaps the most enigmatic of all Biblical books. (David E. Aune, Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity, University of Notre Dame) 'Beyond Vengeance and Protest' is the most thorough study of this literary form to date. His detailed analysis provides a useful new perspective on the macarisms. It is a perspective that refuses to force them into artificial categories but allows them to speak with all of their individuality. By stressing the necessity of interpreting them within their apocalyptic context, he makes clear that what could appear to some to be disjointed additions in fact form an integral part of the message of Revelation. Fr. Nwachukwu's book will be of interest, first, to specialists in the study of the Book of Revelation but also to scholars who study macarisms in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the sectarian documents from Qumran, and in the remainder of the New Testament. (Urban C. von Wahlde, Dept of Theology, Loyola University of Chicago)