A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I I : Mas ter i ng the New Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

A. Authorship and date

1. The author names himself to be “John,” “God’s servant,” (1.1; 1.4; 21.2; 22.8).

a. Alluded to as one of the prophets, Rev. 22.9

b. Spoken of as “your brother” in reference to the readers of the vision, Rev. 1.9

2. Affirmed in tradition to be identical to John the Apostle, the author of the Fourth Gospel, and the three Johannine epistles (goes back to Justin Martryr [A.D. 140], and is supported by Irenaeus and others)

3. Written during a time of intense persecution, trial, and difficulty for the Messianic community. Historically, could have been either the reign of Nero, (A. D. 60s) or Domitian (A.D. 81-96). Tradition ascribes it to the Domitian persecution.

B. Basic information

1. A difficult book, rarely read and consulted . “The last book of the Bible, is for most Christians, one of the least read and most difficult. A few passages from it are well known and well loved (e.g., 7.9-17); but for the most part modern readers find the book unintelligible,” New Bible Dictionary , p. 1016.

a. Abundance of difficult symbolic imagery that we do not use