My old church had a library. I'll give them credit for that. Too bad it was held in such low esteem. They had a young seminary student clean it out, get rid of the old stuff. He did.
I think of how much a seminary student knows--one going to a university approved by my church at the time. What a horrible thought. But he discarded many books that were old and, in his esteemed judgement, no longer "relevant".
There was a nice basket on a table with a little book and a sign in it. The sign read "free discarded books". When I saw the title of a book in the basket, I grabbed it. It was The Chronology of Revelation, by Gary Cohen.
I just saw such a title listed on Amazon as "690" pages! I'm sure it was "69". It was just a little paperback, printed on the kind of paper that soon turned brown and brittle, the kind that no 690 page tome would be printed on. Wood pulp bleached by sulphur dioxide, not meant to last. So I photocopied this treasure and three-hole punched it for a notebook. It fit into the pocket of my guard jacket, so I could read it on company time.
I was so impressed with this book's careful exposition. The author had a degree from Wheaton. He was careful and thorough, not a speculation anywhere in his book. I taught a course on this book and gave boxes of it free to my classes.
My course was on the chronology of Revelation. The very subject was considered a heresy in my old church. I was ignoring some time-honored Presbyterian beliefs. These were: Revelation should never be taught or even mentioned. But If someone studies it, they must remember that the events in it are all past history.
When the sea turns red and all the animals in it die, this is NOT LITERAL, or at the very least, it was an algae bloom in the Red Sea, past and limited. The predicted Anti Christ was just Nero, limited in scope, and of the past.
Apparently God made a big mistake when He recorded the last words of Jesus to his church, as recorded by John. Even the oldest members did not remember the teaching of this blessed book. The church hated it. It was never to be read, studied, or preached on.
I have great respect for the knowledge of the Covenant people concerning salvation.They are the best. But when God speaks through His Word concerning the future they refuse to listen. To them, doctrine ends with Luther and Calvin. The 15 hundreds are a safe cut-off point.
They have no use for outsiders to their closed club. Gary Cohen ends up in the discard basket, and what does a security guard know anyway?
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