The Apocalypse of St. John, or the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is one of the most ominous and powerful of the Scriptures. Intriguing and mystifying to exegetes for almost two millennia, this vision of St. John the Divine has formed the basis of innumerable meditations, scriptural studies, prophecies, and predictions about the course of the world and the destiny of mankind and the Church.

Fr. Herman Bernhard Kramer's monumental piece of scholarly, theological, and exegetical work, The Book of Destiny, is one of the most impressive books in TAN's library. Giving academically precise and defensible evidence, it proceeds with the traditional understanding that the Apocalypse was indeed written by the writer of the fourth Gospel, none other than Saint John the Beloved Apostle, based on real supernatural visions of "present secrets and of future facts."  Proceeding from this solid, orthodox basis, Fr. Kramer explores in tremendous detail (over 500 pages) each and every verse of the Apocalypse of St. John, covering historical realities to which the apostolic prophecy referred and future realities yet to be. Most of all, Fr. Kramer emphasizes the "great world drama" that has been continually unfolding since the foundation of the Earth and especially in these last days since the foundation of the Church. He warns that, in our own time, at "any day may flash upon the consciousness of men the destiny towards which mankind is hastening."

Fr. Herman Kramer was born in Iowa in 1884. After earning a degree in accounting, he attended seminary in Wisconsin for five years and Austria for one year, finally being ordained in 1914 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Along with his academic success (he learned seven languages), Fr. Kramer was an active parish priest for 40 years, serving 37 as a pastor. His interest in the Apocalypse of St. John began in seminary and continued throughout his life, culminating in The Book of Destiny after 30 years of intensive work.