First Glance

Is Bible scholarship relevant to today’s world? Emphatically yes, says James D. Tabor in “Apocalypse at Waco.” Tabor, who advised the FBI during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, argues that the deaths of David Koresh and his followers could have been averted if the FBI had understood the Book of Revelation. Using their biblical expertise, Tabor and a colleague apparently convinced Koresh to alter his interpretation of Revelation and to agree to surrender after writing a commentary on the Seven Seals. Shortly after the deal was made, however, the final raid took place.

Tabor, associate professor in the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, specializes in Christian origins and Second Temple Judaism. His main scholarly interests in the past few years have been the newly released Dead Sea Scrolls and the apocalyptic movement during Second Temple times. He and Arthur J. Droge recently published A Noble Death (Harper Collins, 1992), a study of suicide and martyrdom during the Second Temple period.