The Revelation ofSt. John the Divine The author is not the John who wrote the Gospel. The themeof Revelation is apocalypse: the end of the world and the coming of Christ injudgment. The style and imagery have been unkindly described as ‘deranged’(A.N. Wilson), and they are certainly entirely unlike anything else in the NewTestament. It should be remembered, however, that for the earliest Christians,the Second Coming was expected at any time, and in any case, in the very nearfuture: Revelation is the work of a prophet, uniquely in the New Testament. Itbears vivid witness to this sense of an apocalyptic atmosphere and undoubtedlypossesses a terrible beauty. The author is on the island of Patmos andaddresses the seven churches of Asia Minor. The date of composition is likelyto be some time in the nineties AD. John’s Salutation to the Seven Churches (Chapter 1) What John was Commanded to Write to the Seven Churches(Chapters 2-3)John’s Vision: The Book Sealed with Seven Seals (Chapters4-7)The Opening of the Seventh Seal (Chapters 8-11)War in Heaven (Chapters 12-13)The Hour of God’s Judgment is Come (Chapters 14-16)Babylon the Great is Fallen (Chapters 17-18)King of Kings, and Lord of Lords (Chapter 19)The Book of Life (Chapter 20)The New Jerusalem (Chapters 21-22) Notes by Perry Keenlyside Heathcote Williams Heathcote Williams, poet, playwright and actor, is bestknown for his extended poems on environmental subjects: Whale Nation, Fallingfor a Dolphin, Sacred Elephant and Autogeddon. His plays have also won acclaim,notably AC/DC and Hancock’s Last Half Hour. As an actor he has been equallyversatile — taking memorable roles in Orlando, Wish You Were Here, The Odysseyand Derek Jarman’s The Tempest, in which he played Prospero. Whale Nation andSacred Elephant are also available on Naxos AudioBooks, read by HeathcoteWilliams.