Resolution of Questions 112

Summary

Fr. Athanasios Mytilinaios criticizes the public Patmos celebrations surrounding the Revelation of John as a worldly event that obscured the book's spiritual message and wrongly centered it on ecology. He argues that Revelation presents environmental disasters as consequences of human apostasy and a summons to repentance, and that biblical language of God sending plagues should be read through the distinction between His good will and His permissive will, as in the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Citing pollution, ozone depletion, and radiation, he holds that humanity harms creation by its own sins rather than by divine malice. He insists that Orthodox interpretation must follow the Church's Tradition, prayer, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, describes Revelation as a consoling book leading to the Heavenly Jerusalem, and warns against occultism.