James does not soft-pedal Guyon’s syntax, but allows her to speak as authentically in English as she did the French of her day.
As with her previous translations of Guyon, James writes with such clarity, precision, and natural grace that she makes English sound like the mystic’s first language. Indeed, what the reader most wants in a translator is invisibility—that is, we want to see straight through the translator to the original author. We want the translator to be a lens that allows us to see the object clearly. And the object here is never in question: Madame Jeanne Guyon’s explication of the Revelation of John, told from the perspective of a person of faith.
Did James gravitate naturally to Guyon scholarship because of their shared traits, or is James so saturated in Guyon that her speech and behavior have begun to reflect those of Guyon? Either way, the reader is in the hands of two women with mutual simpatico. They both handle biblical material with respect, with care, and with a believer’s devotion.
William Bradley Roberts
Virginia Theological Seminary
Alexandria, Virginia
Preface
I have long yearned to understand the book of Revelation and the mystery of the second coming of Jesus Christ. I have wanted to know what the experience of the apocalypse will be like with its endless strife, suffering, and tribulations, yet blessed with the glorious promise of the coming new heaven and new earth. In Jeanne Guyon’s Commentary on Revelation I found the faithful understanding of the second coming that I desired. I now present this commentary in its first full English translation. Guyon’s Commentary on Revelation describes the new and spiritual universe that is coming into being through the mediation of the crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification of our savior Jesus Christ.
Even as a child, I was curious about the second coming and wanted to have an interior understanding of this, our ultimate fulfillment in heaven. The passion for understanding the second coming came at least partially from my experience in Fairbanks, Alaska. I loved my years of living on the isolated Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska’s interior because of the spectacular astronomical events involved with the mysterious Northern Lights and the glorious Midnight Sun. I also loved reading the book of Revelation because it had all these elements of the natural world that I loved so deeply with its mention of the blood moon, powerful sun, and the spiritual rainbows, so like the universe in our northern globe. In my Alaskan years I saw the white snow glistening in the moon creating designs of light splashing with innate passion. I then read about Jesus Christ with eyes of fire, hair as white as snow, surrounded by living seas of crystal. The foundation of the New Jerusalem will shine with splendid colors of precious gems, not unlike the Northern Lights shining in the midnight black skies.
These Northern astronomical events are incredible and overwhelming and beautiful. The huge moon hung low on the horizon, providing the only light that we had in weeks of darkness. The Northern Lights in the winter danced as if the Holy Spirit made a secret and unannounced appearance, revealing beauty and grandeur and kindness. The compelling events in the skies showed me the truth of Psalm 19.
The heavens are telling the glory of God;and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.3 There is no speech, nor are there words;their voice is not heard. 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth,and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1–4)
I received the beauty of Alaska’s astronomy as signs of the goodness of God’s created universe. They helped create within me a yearning for the new and spiritual universe that will come into being through the mediation of Jesus Christ.
The Bible interprets these signs in our skies as showing the ultimate and trustworthy faithfulness of our God. Peter said, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed” (2 Pet 3:10). I had fully received that strong and secure message. The stars could be rolled up and disappear, the sun will not rise, and the moon will drip with blood, yet Jesus Christ will still be there, loving, merciful, and kind.
As I traversed the mystery we call reading the book of Revelation, I still find myself looking forward in the scriptures to the next astronomical event. Jesus Christ sends angels as messengers to say that the universe is changing and that everything will pass away. John of Patmos describes the face of Jesus Christ shining like a sun in full force, shows us an angel wrapped in a rainbow, and reveals the woman with the moon under her feet. I find these spiritual images comforting and hope that others will also understand that the coming universal changes are times of suffering, yes, but they are only birth pangs that precede the full revelation of Jesus Christ as the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.
I present this first full English translation with prayers of thanksgiving that our Lord shows us what must come before we enjoy eternity lived in the presence of Jesus Christ.
Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to this volume. I am grateful for the support of Dr. Carlos Eire during my dissertation work on Jeanne Guyon. I thank the Rev. William Roberts for his understanding of Jeanne Guyon’s theology and his foreword, which makes a substantial contribution to this book.
I want to thank the parishioners of St. John’s, Lafayette Square, Washington DC for their dialogue about Jeanne Guyon and her rich theology.
Many thanks go to my family who shares my passion for the work of Jeanne Guyon. Roger, Hannah, and Melora have read, explored and researched Jeanne Guyon along with me. I am grateful that we share this love.
Above all, I think my readers who share a love for Jeanne Guyon and her ideas about interior faith. Guyon’s books have been kept alive by those who continue to seek a profound interior life where Jesus Christ lives and moves and has his being. I hope that Guyon’s Christian interior faith lives for centuries yet to come.
Introduction
In Guyon’s commentary on Revelation we see the magnificent grace of Jesus Christ in action. Guyon creates rich and interwoven meanings of an entirely new understanding of the spiritual foundations of the universe. In the suffering of the apocalypse, the faithful know the fire of God revealing the meaning and purpose of human the history. Guyon builds on the scripture that says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 20:7 and 1 Pet 1:16). The faithful are called into living holiness, but this path includes suffering, war, and tribulation as the believer seeks the strong revelation of God. As she says, the plagues must come first to purify and prepare us. When we remain in living holiness, the faithful person rests in God’s goodness, while God recreates the living image of God within the interior life of the believer. This necessarily requires an annihilation of the sins of Adam and a disengagement of idols from our lives. This life of living holiness prepares us for the greatest of all blessings: union with Jesus Christ.
As Guyon knew from her own unjust incarcerations, the fight for this living holiness comes with intense attacks from evil. During the apocalypse, the abyss of evil sends out the beast, the dragon, the false prophet and others who lead humanity astray to fight against the truth of Jesus Christ. With the second coming of Jesus Christ, the source of evil is ultimately destroyed and the universe itself remade as a new heaven and earth. After these wars between good and evil, Guyon say there is victory for the persecuted church.
Guyon writes that Jesus Christ’s messages tell the church to express the faith with integrity. However, churches frequently have interior corruption that causes them to join with the world to persecute the faithful and bring untold suffering. John of Patmos testifies
