This is a contribution to the dispensationalist-nondispensationalist debate. In this debate, not all dispensationalists use the word "literal" in the same way. The author examines this key word more closely, by way of examples, and then offers three plausible ways of talking about literal meaning.

Why does God communicate through symbolism in the book of Revelation? Is Revelation to be understood primarily as literal or symbolic? Beale argues that the popular approach to Revelation—interpret literally unless you are forced to interpret symbolically—should be overturned.