Featured Last book of the Bible to be written - is NOT Revelation

R.C. Sproul and many others propose a writing for the book of Revelation in the 60's and not the 90's with all other letters and the Gospel of John written after he left Patmos and went back to Ephesus.

However after looking into it more - I think that while it is true that after John left Patmos he did go to Ephesus and write the Gospel of John -- still the book of Revelation was written in the 80's or 90s while at Patmos under the orders of Domitian.

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[FONT=&quot]External Evidence[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The external evidence for the late dating of Revelation is of the highest quality.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Irenaeus[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Irenaeus (A.D. 180), a student of Polycarp[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (who was a disciple of the apostle John), wrote that the apocalyptic vision “was seen not very long ago, almost in our own generation, at the close of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 30). The testimony of Irenaeus, not far removed from the apostolic age, is first rate. He places the book near the end of Domitian’s reign, and that ruler died in A.D. 96. Irenaeus seems to be unaware of any other view for the date of the book of Revelation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Clement of Alexandria[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 155-215) says that John returned from the isle of Patmos “after the tyrant was dead” (Who Is the Rich Man? 42), and Eusebius, known as the “Father of Church History,” identifies the “tyrant” as Domitian (Ecclesiastical History III.23).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Even Moses Stuart, America’s most prominent preterist, admitted that the “tyrant here meant is probably Domitian.” Within this narrative, Clement further speaks of John as an “old man.” If Revelation was written prior to A.D. 70, it would scarcely seem appropriate to refer to John as an old man, since he would only have been in his early sixties at this time.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Victorinus[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Victorinus (late third century), author of the earliest commentary on the book of Revelation, wrote:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When John said these things, he was in the island of Patmos, condemned to the mines by Caesar Domitian[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. There he saw the Apocalypse; and when at length grown old, he thought that he should receive his release by suffering; but Domitian being killed, he was liberated (Commentary on Revelation 10:11).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Jerome[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Jerome (A.D. 340-420) said,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In the fourteenth then after Nero, Domitian having raised up a second persecution, he [John] was banished to the island of Patmos, and wrote the Apocalypse (Lives of Illustrious Men 9).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To all of this may be added the comment of Eusebius, who contends that the historical tradition of his time (A.D. 324) placed the writing of the Apocalypse at the close of Domitian’s reign (III.18). McClintock and Strong, in contending for the later date, declare that “there is no mention in any writer of the first three centuries of any other time or place” (1969, 1064). Upon the basis of external evidence, therefore, there is little contest between the earlier and later dates.[/FONT]

 

I am not preterist or amil -- I am historicist.

But in this case - the issue is the order of the books

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[FONT=&quot]Irenaeus[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Irenaeus (A.D. 180), a student of Polycarp[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (who was a disciple of the apostle John), wrote that the apocalyptic vision “was seen not very long ago, almost in our own generation, at the close of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 30). The testimony of Irenaeus, not far removed from the apostolic age, is first rate. He places the book near the end of Domitian’s reign, and that ruler died in A.D. 96. Irenaeus seems to be unaware of any other view for the date of the book of Revelation.
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The main issue is the order in which the books were written -- not the date that they were written. Polycarp is claiming that the Gospel of John was written after the book of Revelation.

in Christ,

Bob
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He is a preterist and I am not. My claim is that there are a number of people who accept the statement by Polycarp (John's disciple) that John went to Ephesus and wrote the gospel of John after he wrote Revelation while on Patmos.

Sproul also thinks the book of Revelation was written in the 60's - and that it applies only to events in the first century. I think he is wrong on both counts.

in Christ,

Bob

 

The Gospel of John was written about 98 A.D. and as Polycarp notes - John goes to Ephesus and writes the Gospel of John -- after writing the book of Revelation at Patmos.

Almost every scholar you will ever meet - admits that Polycarp was a disciple of John.

in Christ,

Bob

 

I would hope that is the case.

 

That man-made tradition might work - until you read history and find out that Polycarp reports that John wrote the Gospel of John when he returned to Ephesus - after being released from Patmos.

in Christ,

Bob