Page One Lit Author Interview
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The Book of Revelation has been interpreted many different ways. Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the
Church focuses on three concepts from Scripture: John the Baptist announced who the Messiah is; those who try to
destroy the Messiah’s mission will themselves be destroyed (Judea ceased to exist as a nation from A.D. 135 until recent
times); and Satan will be released after one thousand years to deceive the nations. Satan was released to deceive the
nations one thousand years after the Church was firmly established. As a result, the world today is filled with thousands
of conflicting Christian sects and with non-Christian, occult, even anti-Christian movements. Maurice A. Williams got his
inspiration from J. Massyngberde Ford who proposed that some visions of Revelation were originally preached by John
the Baptist. John the Evangelist was a disciple of the Baptist and incorporated those visions when the Evangelist put the
book of Revelation into writing near the end of his life. If this is correct, it provides a significant key to interpreting many
of the visions in Revelation. There’s no reason to doubt it. The Baptist certainly had much to say announcing Christ, but
very little of what he said has been directly attributed to him in Scripture. To drive his point home Williams compares
Scripture to historical documents throughout the book. |
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Maurice A. Williams
Maurice A. Williams is director of Research and Development for a company that
does business all over the world. He has traveled to many countries. He is a technical writer
experienced in researching literature. Williams has authored many technical articles in scientific
journals around the world and has contributed chapters to six international textbooks. He also
writes inspirational articles, poems, and book reviews. Coming from a different field with no
preconceived bias, he thinks he sees a more logical interpretation of Revelation than others
have seen. “Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of The Church” is his latest and most comprehensive
commentary on Revelation. Williams has four children and six grandchildren who bring him great
pride and joy. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife. His hobbies are history, Scripture,
reading, and writing.
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Author Interview
PageOneLit.com:
Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?
Maurice A. Williams: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I was always an avid reader. By time I was in high school,
I tried my hand at writing. I was also always interested in nature, always inquisitive about animals and woodlands, and I
read many books about these topics. I had a typical youthful interest in being free and being part of nature. In my youth,
I was very much influenced by authors such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Martin and Osa Johnson, Ivan T. Sanderson,
Immanuel Velikovsky, Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway, among others.
PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Maurice A. Williams: I like the challenge of writing. I like the opportunity to contribute my thoughts and experiences
for others to examine and consider. I hope what I write is as entertaining and informative to them as writings by other people
have been to me.
PageOneLit.com: Briefly describe your book "Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church"?
Maurice A. Williams: The Book of Revelation has been interpreted many different ways throughout history.
“Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church” focuses on three concepts from Scripture: John the Baptist announced
who the Messiah is; those who try to destroy the Messiah’s mission will themselves be destroyed (Judea ceased to
exist as a nation from A.D. 135 until recent times); and Satan will be released after one thousand years to deceive the
nations. Unlike many popular interpretations of Revelation that predict a future rapture and tribulation, I propose that
many of the predictions happened during the early Church age as unbelievers tried to destroy Christ’s Church. Satan,
as predicted, was released to deceive the nations approximately one thousand years after the Church was firmly established.
As a result, the world today is filled with thousands of conflicting Christian sects and with non-Christian, occult, even
anti-Christian movements that have propelled humans to as dangerous a rebellion against God as the one before the flood.
PageOneLit.com: Discuss your experiences and research that helped and motivated you to write "Revelation: Fall
of Judea, Rise of the Church”?
Maurice A. Williams: I had a conversion experience in 1978. My view of life had been a contradictory mixture of
revealed religion and scientific theories of evolution. I earned a degree in biology, so I have had more than a cursory
introduction to evolution. I was also educated in church-sponsored schools, so I was well-informed about Scripture. I
could never reconcile the two in my mind. Finally, I reached a crisis in my view of reality where I had to decide what is
really true and what is conjecture. I started reading books by Hal Lindsey and wound up reading most of them. I was very
much impressed with his books, and he did lead me back to God, but I had reservations about the rapture, the tribulation, and
the future millennial kingdom to be established on Earth with Christ reigning in the flesh.
PageOneLit.com: "Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church" is very well written -- Who was John the Baptist?
Who were the Judeans?
Maurice A. Williams: John the Baptist is the prophet who preceded Christ by a couple years. His mission was to
prepare people to recognize Christ when Christ began his ministry. He is the prophet who baptized people in the Jordan River
and criticized Herod Antipas for marrying his brother’s wife. Herod’s wife encouraged her daughter Salome to request the
Baptist’s head on a platter. I deliberately used the word “Judeans” to signify the Jews living during the time of Christ. I didn’t
want to use the word “Jews” because too much prejudice has already been directed against the Jews, and I didn’t want my
readers to think I am implying that today’s Jews are in the slightest way responsible for the decisions other people made two
thousand years ago. I found out after my book went to press that “Judahite” would have been a better word. It would have
been specific to people who, at that time, descended from the tribe of Judah, just as “Israelite” is specific to people who
descended from Israel (Jacob who was given the name “Israel” by God) who was the patriarch from whom the twelve tribes
of Israel descended.
PageoneLit.com: From your perspective what makes "Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church" different and
new compared to other books in the genre of religious interpretation?
Maurice A. Williams: I’m one of the few authors who argue that many prophecies in Revelation were meant for the
people who first heard the prophecies preached and that there are historical events that show how many of those prophecies
were fulfilled in first and second-century Judea. I’m the only author who includes an account of Bar Kochba in my commentary.
Bar Kochba led a rebellion against Rome in A.D. 131-35. Unlike the rebellion in A.D. 65-70, the Judeans were unified under the
single leader Bar Kochba and liberated all of Palestine early in the rebellion. Rome crushed the Judean nation in A.D. 135, killing
most of the combatants, exiling most of the non-combatants, and bringing in different peoples to settle in Palestine. I argue that
this is the fulfillment of the third woe “the end is here!” Judea ceased to exist as a nation of people settled in their own land. As
late as 1856, there were only 10,500 Jews residing in all of Palestine.
PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing "Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church”?
Maurice A. Williams: I learned a lot of history and enjoyed reading many interesting early historical writings. I have a much better
perception of early Roman history now that I had when I finished my schooling. I also came to a better understanding of Scripture
and why God has let humans experience so much grief during our earthly lives.
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with "Revelation: Fall of Judea, Rise of the Church”?
Maurice A. Williams: I hope to encourage a reexamination of what the Book of Revelation might really have predicted.
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Maurice A. Williams: At the moment, I have no plans for another book, but I plan to continue writing book reviews and
posting my thoughts on forums and blogs.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?
Maurice A. Williams: The last book I read was “The Upright Ape” by Dr. Aaron G. Filler. I posted two differently worded
book reviews about this book, one on BookIdeas.com, the other on Revish.com.
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?
Maurice A. Williams: In my younger years, my hobbies were hunting, fishing, taxidermy, photography, and
bookbinding. Now my hobbies are reading and writing. I especially like non-fiction writings that explain what nature is all
about. I’m still very interested in nature, science, and, later in my life, religion, in the sense of “What did God really
reveal?” I write and post book reviews both fiction and non-fiction. I think all the study and experience I gained through
my hobbies very much shape my perception of the books I review, and, of course, my own creative writing.