Watch: Ian Boxall's Live "City of Gods" Book Review


Last month, we held our first book review session of the Revelation Reception Network. I'm delighted that Ian Boxall, the famed scholar who works on New Testament (and especially Revelation) reception, agreed to review my book, City of Gods: The New Jerusalem of John's Revelation in Early Christianity (Brill, 2025). That's the book in which contains the research that came before the current DFG-funded Eigene Stelle project that this blog tracks.

I must admit that I was on needles and pins before the session, not knowing what to expect. This was especially the case because we'd organized these review sessions so that one scholar would review the book, and then the author of the book would have a chance to respond. 

And this was live, of course, and you never know what will happen on LIVE TV! Perhaps I was expecting the Spanish Inquisition, but then again, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

(If you know, you know.) 

Anyway, it turned out to be a very kind and indeed gratifying review, one that I myself learned a lot from, not least about the subtle art of the book review. If I could ever review a book as thoughtfully and precisely as Ian does, then I will have really accomplished something. 

It was also a special pleasure to be able to review the book of my colleague Martina Vercesi to begin the session. Her important book was also published last year and is called Revelation 19-21 in the Exegesis of Early Christian Roman Africa (Mohr Siebeck, 2025).

We've just uploaded the entire session to our YouTube channel, so feel free to tap on either of the following links to catch up on the action. 

Tap here for my review of Martina's book.  

And tap here for Ian Boxall's review of my book.  

Finally, to learn more about the Revelation Reception Network, which was founded as part of my current DFG project, please take a look here.

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