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For the Book of Revelation, there generally three methods of interpretation. Let's consider the word "method" for a moment.

When I hear the word "method" I think of steps and procedures, formalized or not, by which someone accomplishes a task. For Bible interpretation, this use of the word "method" might include rules like "Re-read" or "Get the context" or "Consider the first audience."

When scholars talk about the interpretation of Revelation, however, the word "method" takes on additional meaning. A method of interpretation in Revelation becomes a pre-decided over-arching paradigm which guides the interpretation of all the smaller pieces, a predetermined frame that is prerequisite for fitting in all the puzzle pieces, a system of presuppositions that guides subsequent interpretation.