This is the word of god and the testimony of jesus christ. For he doesnt call himself the disciple whom the lord lovedas happens often in the gospelnor does he say that he was the one who leaned on jesus breast or that he was the brother of. The early church fathers, after disputing who this john really was, finally decided to include revelation in case the author was the apostle john, son of zebedee. The new testament books of john, 1 john, 2 john, 3 john and revelation are sometimes called the johannine literature and are traditionally assigned to john the son of zebedee, one of the twelve disciples of jesus. Tradition has long held that john the apostle, whom we have seen penned the fourth gospel and the three letters attributed to him, wrote. John is also said to have lain near the fissures, holding himself up, as he dictated the book, indicating perhaps physical discomfort. John of patmos is the name given to the author of the book of revelation apocalypse of john in the new testament. After reading book of revelation overview, you may wish to consider some of the following questions. Revelation to john, also called book of revelation or apocalypse of john, last book of the new testament. And, indeed, john was said to receive his revelations from a triple fissure in the rock, through which he was spoken to by his divine being. The author was probably a christian from ephesus known as john the elder. Yes, revelation is physically the last book in the holy bible, but not the last book written in the bible. That is the internal evidence of the book and the external testimony of early church fathers. While church tradition has attributed the gospel of john, the letters of john, and the book of revelation to the same authorjohn the apostle and son of.
The church does not have an official stance on who the author is. John, who was exiled on the island of patmos by the romans for his testimony about jesus christ and nearing the end of his life, wrote the book in approximately a. When is st john believed to have written the book of revelation. This has been a question at the back of my mind for some time and its great to hear your reasons for believing john to be the author. The book of revelation was written to seven churches as both encouragement and challenge. The lord has given many of his prophets great views of things to come.
John of patmos could be the author named as john in the book of revelation, the apocalyptic text forming the final book of. John wrote revelation when he was a prisoner on the isle of patmos for preaching about. Revelation, apocalypse, john, patmos, nero, domitian. This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true john 21. 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. The author of revelation mentioned his name, john, four times throughout the book revelation 1. Patmos was a quarry mine for the roman empire, and was home to. All of his books were written later in life and after all the other books in the bible were recorded. The book of revelation is traditionally said to be written by john.
Book of revelation apocalypse written on patmos island greeka. 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 connection with future events. Tradition has long held that john the apostle, whom we have seen penned the fourth gospel and the three letters attributed to him, wrote the last book of. Traditionally, the book of revelation has been dated near the end of the first century, around a. This obviously lent a lot of weight to the final book of the bible, if someone as important as one of the original 12 disciples wrote it. The author names himself as john, but modern scholars consider it unlikely that the author of revelation also wrote the gospel of john. Patmos was a quarry mine for the roman empire, and was home to many political and religious prisoners or slaves. Apostle john was supposedly exiled to the greek island. 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 book of revelation, a prophecy of warning and hope. As a writer, the theory presented for how john wrote revelation taught me invaluable lessons about literary craft, and i began to think of things from a brand new.
Some modern scholars characterize revelations author as a putative figure whom they call john of patmos. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the. The name revelation comes from the first word of the book in koine greek. The book of revelation was written sometime around 96 ce in asia minor. The opening verses of the book of revelation state that john wrote it v. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant john, 2 who testifies to everything he sawthat is, the word of god and the testimony 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 theory in this book is solidly and expertly proven, and presented in an approachable way. The person who wrote the gospel according to john and the book of revelation was beheaded. This means that i therefore also believe that saint john the apostle was indeed john of patmos. He wrote five books against marcion hippolytus 170235 a. The text of revelation states that john was on patmos, a greek island where. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant john, who is the witness of all that he saw the. Book of revelation overview church of jesus christ. Yes, but i believe the apostle john is the author of both the book of john and revelations.
The apocalyptic book of revelation is a symbolic glimpse. While there were skeptics, even early on, about the authorship of the text most. John of patmos also called john the revelator, john the divine, john the theologian, and possibly john the apostle. Johns visions reveal that jesus has overcome evil by his death and resurrection, and will return one day as the true king of the world. This is a fascinating book and im grateful that i got the opportunity to read it. John mentioned this in his gospel, referring to it 5 times without mentioning his name. Personally i choose to believe that st john the apostle actually wrote everything attributed to him i. Note that each of them required some additional designation to distinguish them from others with the same name. For whom was the book of revelation written and why. Revelation 1 new international version niv prologue. The book of revelation was written by the apostle john revelation 1. John was known to the people as john the baptist, and on the lords day, april 20, 33 ad, john the baptist was in spirit, dead. Surely origen knew only one john who wrote scripture, and that was john the apostle. The book will cover the time from the late first century when st.
Thus, the most blessed and beautiful description we have of any disciple is that john was the one whom jesus loved. John, the favorite disciple of jesus christ and the author of the fourth gospel. Before making these two points, i need to explain the traditional view. The gospel of john, the epistles of john, and the book of revelations. He wrote the gospel according to john, first, second and third john, and he was the penman of the book of the revelation of jesus christ. This book cracks the mystery of the elaborate, and highly formulaic procedure john used, and gives readers the opportunity to observe how the book of revelation was written, line by line, as though they were peering. The apostle john is the author of the book of revelation. 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. Why was john chosen to write the book of revelation. From the first century to the present day, almost all orthodox scholars have concluded that this means the apostle john. According to new world encyclopedia, the traditional view is that the john who wrote the book of john and the john who wrote revelation are the same guy. If so, john penned much of the new testament, with only paul and luke writing more than him.
He was a jewish christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets, and was accepted by the. John wrote the apocalypse to a time as yet unknown in the future, and show how some predicted events affecting gods people have come to pass, such as the arian heresy, the barbarian invasions, the rise of islam, the greek schism, martin luther and protestantism. Was the book of revelation written before the gospel of john. Although john literally wrote revelation, the book makes it clear that the source of the revelations is jesus revelation 1.
Revelation to john appears to be a collection of separate. This will be discussed in the study of revelation and will be more. The book of revelation was likely written between a. Revelation 1 niv prologue the revelation from jesus. Thank you very much for your recent post about whether the apostle john was the author of the gospel of john. How john wrote the book of revelation is a behindthescenes look at the literary process used to create the book of revelation. Speaking of the apocalypse from the previous post giving that odd video. This book is filled with mysteries about things to come. We read about several johns in the new testament, including john the baptist and john the apostle, the son of zebedee. This article will conclude our series titled who wrote the new testament. The muratorian fragment, an early document listing most of the books belonging to the new testament, states that the apostle john wrote the apocalypse or revelation. 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.
The revelation of jesus christ was given to john by god to show his servants what must soon take place. I was also wondering about the authorship of the book of revelation. Who wrote the book of revelation and the fourth gospel. The book should be rightfully called the revelation according to jesus christ. The revelation of the lord in chapter one also teaches us much about the nature and qualifications of the one who heads the church and drives history. Some writers, however, have advanced the preterist from a latin word meaning that which is past view, contending that the apocalypse was penned around a. An apocalyptic letter, it relies on visions, symbols, and old testament references to reveal the ultimate fulfillment. John occupied a chief place in the heart of christ. While he may not reveal more, the author identifies himself as john the slave of god rev. Johns book, however, shows him working not only through the holy spirit but also and more directly through inspiration to the church leaders whom he symbolically lovingly cups in his hands. The early church fathers, after disputing who this john really was, finally decided. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
One gospel, three letters, and the book of revelation are all attributed to john. It would perhaps be best to first establish the case that the same author is responsible for all the books associated with john. The only other clue to the authors identity is that he states he received his visions while on the island of patmos rev. Was this person the same john that wrote 1, 2, and 3 john.
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