Every book has a story. And many of the books that I like to read are the product of research and lectures done by various scholars over a period of time that eventually ends up becoming a book. Often, before a scholar writes a book on a topic he or she will do intense research, give presentations at conferences, teach courses, even preach sermons on the topic in order to nuance their position and fine-tune their work. Additionally these types of venues allow them the opportunity to get feed-back and critique from their peers and fellow scholars. And then, often many months later, a book is finally published with the results of all the hard work. This is the beauty of theology done in community.

With the benefit of technology nowadays we often have the opportunity to watch/hear a presentation of material that eventually finds itself in book form.

Here is an example. 

One of the books on my wishlist this Christmas is Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation 

This book is the result of a conference at Duke University. It contains essays by scholars such as N. T. Wright, Richard B. Hays, Marianne Meye Thompson, etc. and explores the book of Revelation’s intertextual resonances with the Old Testament and its political implications.

But I recently discovered that I can watch a lecture by N. T. Wright (with response by C. Kavin Rowe) which gives the substance of what I think his essay in the book covers. So if you are thinking of buying the book, then why wait? Listen to this lecture and enjoy some of the material now!

YouTubeVideo: Revelation and Christian Hope: Political Implications of the Revelation to John