Publish to Logos

I would be great if you could work out a way for writers to publish to Logos in the same way we can publish to Kindle.

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I would be great if you could work out a way for writers to publish to Logos in the same way we can publish to Kindle.

I agree. In fact, several years ago I wrote to Bob about the possibility of publishing my still unfinished commentary on Revelation in Logos. At the time he seemed hesitant or reluctant to do that raising difffculties about electronic publishing in general. Of course, I get the impression that Logos likes me as a customer but doesn't wish to be associated with me otherwise (I can't imagine why since I'm such an affable person [;)]). In a few years howver, the climate seems to have changed regarding direct to electronic publishing. Steve Runge's discourse work first appeared in Logos and then by Hendrickson. There is a pre-pub listed now which appears to be a direct to electronic publication (http://www.logos.com/product/27750/the-collision-of-early-christianity-and-judaism-in-revelation-11). While I tend to think that his apparent equation of two of the Seven Churches of Revelation with the two witnesses is without foundation, I'm eager to see what he does in a attempt to establish what I consider to be an unsupportable conclusion (unless my guess regarding his thesis is wrong). In any case, the pendulum seems to be swinging in the direction of direct electronic publishing.

Milford Charles Murray

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/437448#Comment_437448

In any case, the pendulum seems to be swinging in the direction of direct electronic publishing.

Peace and Every Blessing, George! *smile*

Thanks for the info re. "The Collision"! I just ordered it as a pre-pub! I'd love to purchase your commentary on Revelation also when it becomes available! Maybe you could self-publish it as an e-book?? *smile* If you have a list of potential customers, please put me on it.

One of my Favourites on Revelation is Louis Brighton, Concordia Commentary Series, Concordia Publishing House. Have you had a chance to peruse it?

http://www.logos.com/product/17357/concordia-commentary-revelation

Here's a short quote: (It's a section of the book that I find quite interesting and very helpful!)

"Divine Confirmation of the Message (1:4–6)

These verses give a trinitarian imprimatur by which God himself confirms the validity of the message of Revelation. It is given in the form of a greeting benediction in which John speaks the blessing of God’s grace and peace to his recipients, the seven churches.

The trinitarian formula is presented in the words "the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming, and from the seven Spirits … and from Jesus Christ" (1:4–5). In these words John names the triune God: Father, Spirit, and Jesus Christ. At first glance it would appear that already in the first phrase, "the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming," there is a representation of the triune God. Both Oecumenius¹⁸ (sixth century) and Andreas¹⁹ (sixth century) in their Greek commentaries on Revelation interpret it thus: the "One Who Is" is the Father; the one "Who Was" is the Son, the Logos; and the one "Who Is Coming" is the Comforter, the Spirit. Victorinus (third century) in his Latin commentary apparently believed that this entire threefold first phrase is not a reference to the Trinity but to Jesus Christ,²⁰ and Athanasius also so interpreted this first three-part title.²¹ However, neither of those ancient interpretations is accepted by this commentary. It is better to hear 1:4–5 as naming three distinct persons: (1) "the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming"; (2) the ὁ ὤν ("the One Who Is") in the phrase ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming") leads one to the LXX’s rendering of the holy name (the tetragrammaton, Yahweh) in Exodus 3. In Ex 3:14 the LXX translates אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה ("I Am Who I Am") with ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν ("I Am the One Who Is"). After God identifies himself, he then tells Moses to say to the children of Israel that, in the LXX’s rendering, ὁ ὤν ("the One Who Is") sent him.²² In Rev 1:4 John follows the LXX rendering of the holy name by his use of ὁ ὤν; in the context of 1:4–6ὁ ὤν then refers to God the Father.²³
But what are the referents of

sense since it contrasts with the imperfect past tense of

John, in his own way, uses

ὁ ἦν ("Who Was") and ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("Who Is Coming"), for these expressions do not appear in the LXX’s rendering of Exodus 3? Could ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("Who Is Coming") be in the same or a similar tradition as the rendering of אֶהְיֶה ("I Am") with a future tense, as Aquila and Theodotion do in Ex 3:14?²⁴ (Here in Rev 1:4 John uses the present participle ἐρχόμενος ["is coming"] in a future ἦν ["was"] and with the present tense of ὤν ["is"].) That might possibly be part of the answer, but the full tripartite title seems to be unprecedented.ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming") for the holy name in Exodus 3. He takes ὁ ὤν ("the One Who Is") from the LXX of Ex 3:14 and then expands it by adding καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("and Who Was and Who Is Coming"). By so doing he states that the ever present One is continually present now, as he was in the past and as he always will be in the future. The entire three-part phrase, then, is really a rendition ofאֶהְיֶה ("I Am," which is in the Hebrew Qal imperfect tense) in Ex 3:14, which is God’s own explanation for the tetragrammaton,יהוה, the holy name, Yahweh (Ex 3:13–16). John may not have been the only one to interpret the holy name in this way, for a rabbinic tradition also interprets אֶהְיֶה as "I am He Who has been, Who is now, and Who will be in the future."²⁵
Why does John have
change of that name,²⁶ can only be surmised. Certainly John, because of his Jewish background, would be aware of Jewish practices in deference toward the holy name. But more likely, if not also in addition, John wanted to make and emphasize a theological truth that the Father is the first among equals. The Father, while equal in essence with the Spirit and Jesus Christ, is nevertheless the primus of the three persons (cf. 1 Cor 15:28; Jn 14:16-17, 26). In deference to the holy name, that is, in deference to God the Father, through worship of Jesus Christ by means of the Spirit, John keeps this Greek rendering of the holy name in the nominative and does not put it in an oblique case such as the genitive.
Wherever this Greek form of the holy name (
verses. Here in 1:4 this Greek rendering of the holy name points to the fact that the message of Revelation comes first of all from God the Father.
Second, the prophetic message of Revelation comes from "the seven Spirits" (1:4). Because of the number seven, commentators have wondered whether these are seven angels, corresponding to the seven archangels in Jewish tradition (see 1 Enoch 19:1; 20:1–7, where seven archangels are listed and named), or corresponding to the seven angels of the seven churches (and thus also to the seven angels with the trumpets [Rev 8:6–11:19] and censers [Revelation 15–16]).²⁷ Against this identification is the fact that "the seven Spirits" (1:4) are on the same level of authority as God the Father and Jesus Christ. If these "Spirits" were angels, they would never be accorded the same status as God and Jesus Christ in Christian theology. (In Revelation angels are never worshiped, only God; cf. 19:10; 22:8–9.) Rather, these "seven Spirits" are a reference to the Holy Spirit.²⁸
In biblical thought, the number seven symbolizes God. It is the sum of
the number three, which symbolizes God himself (cf. Gen 18:1–2; Is 6:3), and the number four, which symbolizes creation (cf., e.g., Ezek 37:9; 1 Chr 9:24). Seven thus symbolizes the God of creation.²⁹ Because God rested on the seventh day (Gen 2:2–3), the number is also used to picture or refer to perfection, completion, and holiness, especially in reference to God’s activities and creative works.
Here in Rev 1:4 the "seven Spirits" are also a reflection of the seven lamps and seven eyes in Zech 3:9–4:10, where they represent the Spirit of God, by which God sees the whole earth. That is, God is present with his creation through the sevenfold presence of his Spirit. In Is 11:1–2 the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit from God will rest upon the Branch of Jesse, the Messiah. In Rev 5:6 the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. And in Moses’ tabernacle there was the menorah, the sevenfold lampstand (Ex 25:31–40), which represented God’s presence with his people by way of his Spirit (cf. Zech 4:2–6). The seven Spirits of Rev 1:4 represent the Holy Spirit in his sevenfold presence. God, by his Spirit, is always present with his people—fully present. Throughout Revelation the number seven represents God’s presence by his Spirit. Thus the church, when represented in Revelation by the seven churches (Revelation 2–3), is pictured as always under the Spirit of God. The heavenly hosts worship God by the presence of the seven Spirits before God’s throne (4:5). The Lamb of God, with the seven horns and eyes (5:6), is he on whom the sevenfold Spirit rests

ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming") in the nominative after ἀπό ("from") instead of the genitive that normally follows that preposition? It is for the sake of emphasis. Whether John did this consciously in deference to the holy name, because to have used an oblique case would have necessitated a vocalized ὁ ὤν, "the One Who Is") appears in Revelation, John keeps to this theological principle, namely, that the Father is the first among equals; he also keeps to this principle throughout the book whenever the heavenly court worships God and the Lamb (in that order; e.g., 4:8–11; 5:9–14). ὁ ὤν appears a total of five times in Revelation, all in reference to the Father.^d In 1:4 and 1:8 the elements of the three-part title "the One Who Is and Who Was and Who Is Coming" appear in the same order, but in 4:8ὁ ἦν ("the One Who Was") comes first and then καὶ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("and Who Is and Who Is Coming"). In 11:17 and 16:5 only ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν ("the One Who Is and Who Was") is present; ὁ ἐρχόμενος ("Who Is Coming") is absent. In each case where there is a difference, the author is making a theological statement—each will be treated in the commentary on the respective
seven Spirits; and (3) Jesus Christ. Each refers to one of the persons of the Trinity.
First, the revelation comes from God the Father.