New Testament
The Revelation
The Apocalypse of John · unveiling and consolation
Revelation belongs to the ancient genre of apocalyptic literature — visions, symbolic beasts, sealed scrolls — but is uniquely framed as a circular letter to real churches.
Its purpose is pastoral: to unmask the pretensions of empire and steady persecuted believers with the vision of the Lamb who conquers.
Period
Traditionally dated to the reign of Domitian, c. 95 CE, though some scholars argue for an earlier date under Nero (c. 68–69 CE).
Themes
- ·The Lamb enthroned
- ·Worship as resistance
- ·Judgment on empire
- ·The endurance of the saints
- ·A new heaven and a new earth
Authorship — traditional
Church tradition, from Justin and Irenaeus onward, identifies the author with John the apostle, writing from exile on the island of Patmos. The book itself names its author simply as 'John, your brother and companion in the tribulation.'
Authorship — historical-critical
Critical scholarship distinguishes the Greek and theology of Revelation from those of the Fourth Gospel; many attribute it to a different figure sometimes called 'John of Patmos' — a Jewish-Christian prophet writing to seven congregations of Roman Asia under imperial pressure.
The books
Click a book to open it in the reader at chapter 1.
- Revelation22 ch
c. 95 CE (traditional Domitianic dating) or c. 68–69 CE (Neronian).
John on Patmos writes to seven churches under imperial pressure, unveiling the throne of God, the Lamb, and the coming of a new heaven and new earth.