Christians throughout history have given almost unanimous affirmation to the identity of the books author as john the apostle, who had been exiled to the island of. This revelation was given to him by god the father, and it was communicated to the apostle john by an angel 1. But, who was it that penned the word of revelation. The theology of the book of revelation edition 1 by. The apocalypse, or revelation to john, the last book of the bible, is one of the most difficult to understand because it abounds in unfamiliar and extravagant symbolism, which at best appears unusual to the modern reader. Pope dionysius of alexandria set out some of the evidence for this view as early as the second half of the. John of patmos also called john the revelator, john the divine, john the theologian, and possibly john the apostle. The author of the book of revelation calls himself john rev. Traditionally, both books have been identified as coming from the same person, john the son. The last book of the new testament is also called the prophecy book and the revelation of jesus christ. Useful bible studies revelation commentary study guide. Of the new testament works, only revelation names its author explicitly as john. Jan 01, 2019 the book of revelation presents its author as john.
The book of revelation presents its author as john. Revelation is written in much poorer greek than the gospel and letters are, and. So when the author of the book of revelation sat down to write, there was a very strong paradigm of what revelation literature should look like and sound like. I like morriss study on the book of revelation, which is part of the tyndale new testament commentaries. The apostle john is the author of the book of revelation. Introduction some general comments about the book of revelation and its uniqueness. This summary of the book of revelation provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of revelation. Jul 04, 2016 in my personal opinion, the book of revelation was written by john the apostle who was the brother of james and disciple of jesus christ. He wrote it when he was about 92 years old, while a prisoner of rome on the remote desert penal colony of patmos, an island in the aegean sea. The dominant trend in recent scholarship, however, has been to view the author of revelation as simply a christian prophet named john who is otherwise unknown to us. However, the true author of revelation is god and jesus christ is the one who have the revelation to an angel to.
Tradition has long held that john the apostle, whom we have seen penned the fourth gospel and the three letters attributed to him, wrote. Dec 10, 2015 this 1742 oratorio concludes with a stirring chorus taken from the book of revelation 5. I found todds book to be encouraging and full of graphics and illustrations. John of patmos could be the author named as john in the book of revelation, the apocalyptic text forming the final book of the new testament. Most people know what i mean when i say john is the author of the book of revelation. John was one of the 12 disciples special students of jesus, who later became the apostles the first. Traditionally, this was often believed to be the same person as john, son of zebedee, one of the apostles of jesus, to whom the gospel of john was also attributed. The author of revelation in this post i want to explain why it is almost universally thought that the same author did not write the fourth gospel and the book of revelation, and then to show why the latter author was almost certainly not john the son of zebedee, jesus close disciple. While revelation holds mysterious and frightening images of the endtimes, the book of revelation was written to be an encouragement to christians of all times. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant john. Other church fathers such as dionysius of alexandria, eusebius. Revelation to john, also called book of revelation or apocalypse of john, last book of the new testament. Above i have listed all the evidence i could find and believe that the evidence points to the apostle john as the author of the book of revelation.
This post starts a series through the book of revelation. The book of revelation has always been a hard one for me to understand until i read todd hampsons book in conjunction with it. This book is filled with mysteries about things to come. Patmos was a quarry mine for the roman empire, and was home to. The book of revelation was written sometime around 96 ce in asia minor.
This runs counter to the conclusions of most christian intellectuals, but it is a verity which has been confirmed to us by latterday revelation. The elder, the seer, and the apostle bible odyssey. He begins the body of his book by saying that it is from john to the seven churches in asia rev. The first verse in the book of revelation does not say exactly who that particular john is, but it is naturally assumed to be john the apostle since it was the apostles that were given the authority by god to write scripture. Before starting in revelation 1 i want to give plenty of explanations for the authorship, textual design, interpretation, date, themes, and outlines for the book of revelation. The apostle of jesus and the author of the gospel of john and the three letters of nt. Four times the author identifies himself as john 1. Early tradition unanimously identified him as john the apostle, author of the fourth gospel and three epistles. Revelation a study guide about the book of revelation. The author of the book of revelation the lord jesus christ the book of revelation a study of the last prophetic book of holy scripture by clarence larkin author of the great book on dispensational truth self published philadelphia, pa. This 1919 book serves as a study guide for the book of revelation, the bibles prophetic final chapter. Finally, while there is little to commend the notion that a shadowy figure named john the elder wrote the book of revelation, there is ample evidence that it was written by john the apostle. This summary of the book of revelation provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and.
The word apocalypse means unveiling and thats exactly what the book of revelation isit is a prophetic book that discusses the unveiling of what is going to happen in the nearing end times and what will come with the final revelation of jesus christ. The author of the revelation i the revelation was written by a man called john. The name revelation comes from the first word of the book in koine greek. The very fact that the author of the apocalypse simply calls himself john is a dead giveaway that he was well known throughout the churches in asia minor. Revelation with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The revelation of jesus christ was given to john by god to show his servants what must soon take place. The early2ndcentury writer, justin martyr, was the first to equate the author of revelation with john the evangelist. Justin the martyr around 100 to 165 ac, irenaeus around 140 to 220 ac and the muratori canon end of 2 nd century confirm that the. He begins by saying that god sent the visions he is going to relate to his servant john rev. The only other clue to the authors identity is that he states he received his visions while on. This name indicates the meaning of revelation it uncovers matters that had been hidden and discloses events that would happen long after it was written. Complete overview of the book of revelation is less than 7 minutes. The greek name of the bible book of revelation, apoka.
The was the title given to the book in the latin vulgate3. Justin martyr, irenaeus, clement of alexandria, tertullian, cyprian, and hippolytus came to that conclusion. The text of revelation states that john was on patmos, a greek island where. Christians throughout history have given almost unanimous affirmation to the identity of the books author as john the apostle, who had been exiled to the island of patmos by the authorities for preaching the gospel in asia.
The writer of revelation identifies himself as john. The author was probably a christian from ephesus known as john the elder. Patmos was a quarry mine for the roman empire, and was home to many political and religious prisoners or slaves. This 1742 oratorio concludes with a stirring chorus taken from the book of revelation 5.
Book of revelation explained scripture by scripture. Speaking of the apocalypse from the previous post giving that odd video. The revelation is the only book in the nt mentioning john as author. The book of revelation starts with this is a revelation from jesus christ, which god gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. I found that revelation was oddly redundant within itself and it was difficult to gain any reliable sense of chronology. The author names himself as john, but modern scholars consider it unlikely that the author of revelation also wrote the gospel of john. Todays post looks at the evidence for and against john being the author of the book of revelation.
The author of revelation mentioned his name, john, four times throughout the book revelation 1. Whoever that john was has been a subject of debate. The very fact that the author of the apocalypse simply calls himself. Revelation is often described as a the revelation of john meaning the revelation to john 1. Apr, 2011 finally, while there is little to commend the notion that a shadowy figure named john the elder wrote the book of revelation, there is ample evidence that it was written by john the apostle. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the. John was one of the 12 disciples special students of jesus, who later became the apostles the first leaders of the christian church. So, the divine author of revelation is jesus christ and the human author is the apostle john.
Is this the same john who wrote the gospel account and three letters. The book of revelation is traditionally said to be written by john. The author of the book of revelation, saint john the divine, offers a transcription of seven letters and later describes strange beasts, visions of judgments, governments, demonic battles, heaven, and a new world order a prophetic vision for the end of the world. The traditional view holds that john, the apostle, was the author of revelation. Apr 16, 2011 obviously, god is the ultimate author of the book of revelation. The book of revelation was likely written between a. A number of ancient church fathers, notably irenaeus, believed that the author of revelation was also the author of the gospel of john, and the epistles of 1,2 and 3 john. The theology of the book of revelation edition 1 by richard. Someone recently asked me if the same author could have written both the book of revelation and the gospel of john. It is the only book of the new testament classified as apocalyptic literature rather than didactic or historical, indicating thereby its extensive use of visions, symbols, and allegory, especially in.
The author of the book of revelation identifies himself only as john. In keeping with the set, his volume on revelation helps the general bible reader understand what the text says and means, without a lot of the scholarly technicalities. Although there is some debate, the author is probably the apostle john of the sons of zebedee. This article will conclude our series titled who wrote the new testament. Who wrote the book of revelation and the fourth gospel. Obviously, god is the ultimate author of the book of revelation. Revelation is often described as a the revelation of john meaning the revelation to john1 b. The book of revelation lions leopards and bears oh my. Larkin explains the concepts of the beast and the false prophet, the seven seals and the seven trumpets, and the importance of the book of daniel in understanding the rapture. In sharp contrast, the book of revelation provides ample internal evidence.
The english title comes from the latin revelatio which in its verb form means to reveal or unveil that which has previously been hidden. Book of revelation overview insight for living ministries. God talked to john in his dream and gave all the revelations he wrote in the book. The author of the book of revelation christopher l. The book of revelation, a prophecy of warning and hope.
However, the prophecies concerning the future are scattered throughout the books of the bible, and the book that focuses the most on future prophecy revelation was not easily understood due to the symbolism and the peculiar way in which its prophecies are presented. Some modern scholars characterize revelations author as a putative figure whom they call john of patmos. I found the nonprophets guide to the book of revelation to be stimulating in getting me to dig deeper into studying revelation. John was one of the 12 disciples special students of jesus, who later became the. John the beloved, he who wrote the gospel of john and the three epistles that bear his name. The book of revelation often called the revelation to john, apocalypse of john, the revelation from jesus christ from its opening words, the apocalypse, the revelation, or simply revelation is the final book of the new testament, and consequently is also the final book of the christian bible.
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