Spirituality of conflict

an approach according to the Book of Revelation

Abstract

This article proposes to approach the spirituality of the conflict based on the Apocalypse of Saint
John. If, on the one hand, there is a growing need to understand spirituality as that which drives
Christian life, on the other hand, the book of Revelation has often done a disservice to spirituality, creating fear and further increasing human dramas, due to its fundamentalist interpretations. Therefore, the central objective of the article is to verify how this biblical book contains a radical spirituality, because it makes a prophetic critique of confronting the Roman Empire, the great oppressor of Christians at the end of the first century of the Christian era. Because of that, the interest of this reflection is, firstly, starting from a bibliographical approach, to develop a reading key that assumes a liberating spiritual perspective. Next, the interest is in understanding John’s prophetic proposal, particularly considering lucid resistance, active hope, the rescue of utopia and the Apocalypse as an open book. From these two elements, we want to conclude by stating that the book of Revelation offers a spirituality of conflict, uncomfortable, as a consequence of the mission assumed by Christians following the Lamb sacrificed, killed and resurrected.