@mark noble,
Mark, from earliest times there was agreement about one thing related to the Book of Revelation, and you can find this in Bellarmine and in Calvin, namely that this book will prove itself when the things happen that it describes. Calvin commented on the whole Bible but refused to comment Revelation for that reason.
God has it there -- it seems -- so that when things happen in the Divine Plan we will recognize but not so that we can predict them.