In seventeenth-century France, Jeanne Guyon (1648–1717) writes about the suffering of the apocalypse followed by the consummation of the second coming. Guyon believed that in our earthly pilgrimage, we may find the way to union with our Savior Jesus Christ. To read her commentary on Revelation—translated into English here for the first time—is to be caught up in her conversation with the living Lord. We experience the wonder and passion of this conversation which is her authenticity at its highest level. As Guyon expresses her love to Jesus Christ, the words carry the attentive reader into the heart of God while deepening our own interior being. In her commentary on Revelation, Guyon interprets Jesus Christ’s grace needed for living faithfully during the time of suffering in the apocalypse before the advent of the new heaven and new earth in which believers experience eternal union with God. Guyon writes, “It is your universal reign that I desire, O God, and about which I am passionate. . . . So come, Lord Jesus! Let the grace of the Lord Jesus prepare us all for the second coming. Amen."
"I heartily welcome the latest fruit of Nancy James' painstaking scholarship on the seventeenth-century French mystic Madame Jeanne Guyon. The book of Revelation has maintained a powerful hold on Christian imagination throughout the centuries, even today, especially in Evangelical and Pentecostal circles. We owe Dr. James a great debt of gratitude for making Guyon's commentary on Revelation available to English-speaking readers, not only for historical and scholarly reasons, but also for the contribution the book makes to fostering spirituality, especially devotion to Jesus, in times of trial and trouble.” —Peter Phan, Georgetown University “Nancy Carol James is the world expert on this remarkable mystic Jeanne Guyon; she is making available these key and important texts. Her translations are never wooden; she captures the meaning in a vibrant and beautiful way. This is an invitation into an extraordinary world. A key text from a key mystic made available to the world of scholarship and church life.” —Ian S. Markham, Virginia Theological Seminary |
Paperback at Amazon, or available from the Publisher, March 2019 Wipf and Stock ISBN 978-1532662829