Apocalipse 20
Alcuin of York
Apocalipse 20:1
QUESTION: And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. ANSWER: So, the Lord, equipped with the Father's power, came down in the flesh to wage war against the prince of the world, bind him, and take the latter's containers back. (20:2) THERE FOLLOWS: And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. ANSWER: Devil translates to "flowing downwards," and in Greek it means "slanderer;" Satan means "adversary" or "prevaricator." So, he is called a dragon because of his evilness in doing harm, a serpent because of his craft in deceiving, devil because of his fall from his status, and Satan because of his obstinacy in opposing the Lord. (20:4) THERE FOLLOWS: And the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God. ANSWER: Here is implied what he was going to say afterwards: reigned with Christ a thousand years. So, the Church reigns with Christ over the living and the dead, for, as the apostle says, to this end Christ died, that he might be Lord of the living and of the dead. [Rom. 14:9] Now, he mentioned only the souls of the martyrs because those who reign more than others after death are those who have fought unto death for the truth; because it is not those who merely start, but those who persevere who are promised eternal blessedness. — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION
Apocalipse 20:2-3
QUESTION: After having been bound for a thousand years, he must be loosed a little time. ANSWER: He will be loosed, as Saint Augustine says, when there is only a short time left. We read indeed that it is during three years and a half that he will rage with all his and his people's might, and those against whom he will have to wage war will be such that they cannot be overcome by his force and snares, great though they be. On the other hand, if he were never loosed, his evil power would be less apparent, the most faithful patience of the holy city would be less well proven, and, finally, it would be less well perceived how great the Devil's evil was that God Almighty had made so good use of; because the more powerful the Devil's evilness is, the better and more pleasant will God's power appear. — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION
Apocalipse 20:6
QUESTION: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. ANSWER: That is, he who keeps what he has gained in his second birth. THERE FOLLOWS: But they shall be saints of God and of Christ. ANSWER: Another edition has "priests of God and of Christ." This does not refer only to bishops and church ministers, who are the ones properly called priests in the Church, but, just as we are all called "christs" because of the mystical unction, so are we all called priests because we are the limbs of one priest; whence Peter says, a holy nation, a kingly priesthood. [1 Pet. 2:9] QUESTION: And shall reign with Christ a thousand years. ANSWER: When John was writing this, the Spirit announced that the Church would reign for a thousand years, that is until the end of the world. (20:7) THERE FOLLOWS: And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. ANSWER: Saying finished, he meant a part by the whole, for Satan shall be loosed when there are still left the three years and six months of the last battle; but apart from this trope, it is right to say that the time will be finished. (What he earlier defined as three years and a half, he here called three years and six months.) — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION
Apocalipse 20:11-12
QUESTION: And I saw a great throne, and one sitting upon it, and before him the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. ANSWER: Another edition has "which is the book of the life of each person." So, by the books opened he means the Testaments, for the world shall be judged according to both Testaments. By the book of the life of each person he means the memory of our actions, not that the Knower of secrets has a book to remind him of things. THERE FOLLOWS: And the dead were judged by those things which are written in the books, according to their works. ANSWER: That is, they were judged by the Testaments, according to what they had done or not done of what is in them. The books may also be understood to mean the acts of the just, by comparison with which the reprobates are damned, and, when this happens, it is as if they read in books exposed the good they themselves had refused to do. — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION
Apocalipse 20:14-15
QUESTION: And death and hell were cast into the pool of fire, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life. ANSWER: That is, whosoever was not judged by God as being alive. Whence it seems to me that the right interpretation for the books opened above is rather that of those who interpret them as being every single person's conscience and works being disclosed, and interpret the book of life as being God's foreknowledge, which cannot be mistaken concerning those who will be given eternal life, since they are written in that book, that is, foreknown. — QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION