The Beast (Revelation)
The Beast may refer to one of two beasts described in the Book of Revelation. The first beast is given authority and power by the dragon; this first beast is mentioned in Revelation 11:7 as coming out of the abyss. His appearance is described in detail in Revelation 13:1-10, some of the mystery behind his appearance is revealed in Revelation 17:7-18; the second beast comes "out of the earth" and directs all peoples of the earth to worship the first beast. The second beast is described in Revelation 13:11-18 and is referred to as the false prophet; the two beasts are aligned with the dragon in opposition to God. They persecute the "saints" and those who do "not worship the image of the beast " and influence the kings of the earth to gather for the battle of Armageddon; the two beasts are defeated by Christ and are thrown into the lake of fire mentioned in Revelation 19:18-20. The description of the beast is found in Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen. Chapter thirteen gives the fullest description.
John saw it "rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, upon his horns ten crowns, upon his heads the name of blasphemy." It was like a leopard, with feet like the feet of a bear, had a mouth like a lion. One of its heads had a mortal wound which healed itself, causing people to wonder at it and follow it; this description draws many parallels with a vision in the Book of Daniel where four beasts symbolizing a succession of kingdoms come out of the sea in the forms of a lion, leopard and a beast with ten horns. In Revelation chapter seventeen we learn of a third beast, scarlet in color and some of the symbols are explained; the prevailing view is that the scarlet beast is another, visualisation of the same subject as the beast of the sea, pictured with crowns on its horns, unlike the scarlet beast. The scarlet beast is shown being ridden by a harlot who "reigns over the kings of the earth", whereas the beast of the sea is not described as being ridden, is given "power and great authority."
The seven heads represent both seven mountains and seven kings, the ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received kingdoms. Of the seven kings, five have fallen, one is; the beast itself is an eighth king, of the seven and was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, go into perdition." The second beast is described in Revelation chapter thirteen. This second beast comes out of the earth whose overall appearance is not described, other than having "two horns like a lamb", speaking "like a dragon", his purpose is to promote the authority of the first beast with the ability to perform great signs making fire come down out of Heaven. This second beast is called the false prophet, he speaks like a dragon commanding the people of the Earth to make an image "to" the beast, wounded by a sword. It is declared that anyone who does not worship its image would be killed; the lamb-horned beast from the earth causes all people to receive the mark of the beast "in their right hand or in their forehead."
Those who dwell on the Earth are deceived into making an image of the beast as a means to worship his authority. It is the lamb-horned beast who breathes life into the "image of the beast", so that the image becomes alive and is able to speak, it declares death to anyone who does not worship the authority of the beast. Those who are killed for not conforming to the authority of the beast are blessed through the "first resurrection" that allows them to rule in Christ's presence as priests during the one thousand-year reign; the second death has no power over these individuals who were victorious over the beast by not being deceived though they lost their lives on Earth by his authority. The Beast from the sea bears a name, but this name is not given anywhere in the book of Revelation. However, his name corresponds to a numerical value, that of the number 666 or 616; this number is associated with that of a man. The "mark" can be identified by the numerical value of his name. Without this identification, one could not sell.
The beast and the false prophet gather the kings of the earth and their armies to prepare for war against "He who sits on a white horse". The battle results in the beast being seized, along with the false prophet, where they are thrown alive into "the lake of fire"; those against the "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" are killed and left for the fowls. In the lake of fire, the beast and the false prophet are tormented night forever and ever; the dragon joins them a little more than a millennium after the great war. Preterism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets prophecies of the Bible the Books of Daniel and Revelation, as events which have happened in the first century AD. Preterist academic scholars identify the first beast from the sea with the Roman Empire with Emperor Nero; the beast from the earth is identified with the Roman imperial cult or the Jewish religious system of the first century that conspired with the Roman state to suppress and persecute the early church. Sometimes there is a particular identification with a personage such as a chief administrator of Roman rule in Ephesus and Asia Minor.
This is the provincial governor who would have overseen the political and religious operations of the area from his capital in Ephesus or the High Priest of the provincial imperial cult. The imperial cult in Ephesus was set up by Domitian in 89 AD. (Ephesus is the location of one of the Seven Churches in Asia to whom th
Historicism (Christianity)
Christian Historicism is a method of interpretation of Biblical prophecies which associates symbols with historical persons, nations or events. The main primary texts of interest to Christian historicists include apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, it sees the prophecies of Daniel as being fulfilled throughout history, extending from the past through the present to the future. It is sometimes called the continuous historical view. Commentators have applied historicist methods to ancient Jewish history, to the Roman Empire, to Islam, to the Papacy, to the Modern era, to the end time; the historicist method starts with Daniel 2 and works progressively through consecutive prophecies of the book–chapters 7, 8 and 11–resulting in a view of Daniel's prophecies different from preterism and futurism. According to William Shea, Antiochus is thus scaled down to a modest subheading under the Greek kingdom. "This is the most ancient system of interpretation in both Christian traditions.
So far it is the only one. The preterist approach makes the Bible lie, the futurist approach makes the Bible a work of science fiction. Historicists claim that prophetic interpretation reveals the entire course of history of the church from the writing of the Book of Daniel, some centuries before the close of the 1st century, to the end of time. Historicist interpretations have been criticized for inconsistencies and speculations and historicist readings of the Book of Revelation have been revised as new events occur and new figures emerge on the world scene. Historicism was the belief held by the majority of the Protestant Reformers, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, others including John Thomas, John Knox, Cotton Mather; the Catholic church tried to counter it with Futurism during the Counter-Reformation. This alternate view served to bolster the Catholic Church's position against attacks by Protestants, is viewed as a Catholic defense against the Protestant Historicist view which identified the Roman Catholic Church as a persecuting apostasy and the Pope with the antichrist.
One of the most influential aspects of the Protestant historicist paradigm was the speculation that the Pope could be the antichrist. Martin Luther wrote this view, not novel, into the Smalcald Articles of 1537, it was widely popularized in the 16th century, via sermons and drama and broadside publication. Jesuit commentators developed alternate approaches that would become known as preterism and futurism, applied them to apocalyptic literature; the historicist approach has been used in attempts to predict the date of the end of the world. An example in post-Reformation Britain is in the works of Charles Wesley, who predicted that the end of the world would occur in 1794, based on his analysis of the Book of Revelation. Adam Clarke, whose commentary was published in 1831, proposed a possible date of 2015 for the end of the papal power. In 19th-century America, William Miller proposed that the end of the world would occur on October 22, 1844, based on a historicist model used with Daniel 8:14.
Miller’s historicist approach to the Book of Daniel spawned a national movement in the United States known as Millerism. After the Great Disappointment some of the Millerites organized the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which continues to maintain a historicist reading of biblical prophecy as essential to its eschatology. Millerites formed other Adventist bodies, including the one that spawned the Watch Tower movement, better known as Jehovah's Witnesses, who hold to their own unique historicist interpretations of Bible prophecy. Prophetic commentaries in the early church interpreted individual passages rather than entire books; the earliest complete commentary on the Book of Revelation was carried out by Victorinus of Pettau, considered to be one of the earliest historicist commentators, around 300 AD. Edward Bishop Elliott, a proponent of the historicist interpretation, wrote that it was modified and developed by the expositions of Andreas, Bede, Arethas, Haimo of Auxerre, Berengaudus; the 10th-century Catholic bishop Arnulf of Orléans was, according to Elliott, the first to apply the Man of Sin prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–9 to the papacy.
Joachim of Floris gave the same interpretation in 1190, the archbishop Eberhard II, Archbishop of Salzburg|Eberhard II, in 1240. Traditional Protestant historicism interprets the four kingdoms in the Book of Daniel as Neo-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece under Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire. Protestant Reformers had a major interest in historicism, with a direct application to their struggle against the Papacy. Prominent leaders and scholars among them, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Thomas, John Knox, Cotton Mather, identified the Roman Papacy as the antichrist; the Centuriators of Magdeburg, a group of Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg headed by Matthias Flacius, wrote the 12-volume "Magdeburg Centuries" to discredit the papacy and identify the pope as the antichrist. The fifth round of talks in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue notes, In calling the pope the "antichrist," the early Lutherans stood in a tradition that reached back into the eleventh century. Not only dissidents and heretics but saints had called the bishop of Rome the "antichrist" wh
Mark 13
Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains Jesus' predictions of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and disaster for Judea, as well as his eschatological discourse. After his teachings in the previous chapter, all set in the Temple courts, Jesus finishes his teaching in the Temple for the day and leaves. On his way out of the Temple an unnamed disciple remarks; the buildings might have reached up to 150 feet in height and they were adorned with gold and other precious items. In Mark, the scale of the Temple is emphasised. Replies Jesus; the word "all" is added in the Ethiopic version and the New International Version. Jesus predicts that "not one stone here will be left on another; this is the last reference made by Jesus to the Temple in Mark's narrative. Jesus seems to anticipate that it will be destroyed, although he does not say how. Jesus travels back to the Mount of Olives. Mark says that Peter, James and Andrew asked Jesus as he was sitting opposite the Temple on the mountain, "Tell us, when will these things happen?
And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?": Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be. For nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. Sorrows is translated today as birth pains, showing the necessity of pain in order to achieve a greater goal, it was the general belief that if the Messiah had arrived in Jerusalem, the final Messianic victory and the kingdom of God were close at hand. Jesus, seems to set up many additional things that will occur before his final triumph. Jesus predicts that they will be harassed by various governments, that they are to say whatever comes to mind, as it will be God speaking through them, that Jesus' message will be given to every nation. Families will be torn apart, that "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Jesus predicts a disastrous event in Judea: "When you see'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now— and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you,'Look, here is the Christ!' or,'Look, there he is!' Do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. So be on your guard; the warnings about false Christs are thought by some scholars to be warnings against others claiming to be the messiah or Christian teachers who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 5:36-37 contains a description given by Gamaliel about Theudas and Judas the Galilean, both mentioned by Josephus, who claimed to be leaders of new movements. Mark inserts his own comments to the reader about the abomination, suggesting the phrase was some kind of code between him and his audience, it is a quote from the Book of Daniel where it appears in 9:27 as part of a prophecy that the book claims was given to the prophet Daniel by Gabriel during the Babylonian captivity about Jerusalem's future. An "Anointed One" would come, be "cut off", another people would come and destroy Jerusalem and set up the abomination in the Temple. 11:31 speaks of it in context of a great battle of Kings, 12:11 uses it as part of Daniel's end time vision. Many modern scholars, who believe Daniel was pseudepigraphically written in the mid-2nd century BC, believe that these references refer to the shrine to Zeus set up by Antiochus IV Epiphanes with a Pagan altar on the Altar of Holocausts in the Second Temple in 168 BC.
What it meant to the Early Christians and Mark's audience is unknown, with some thinking it refers to Titus' destruction of the Temple, others that it might be a reference to Caligula's attempt to have a statue of himself put in the Temple. Others have seen the abomination as the Antichrist, it is unclear whether this refers to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but many Christians after that event have seen it that way. More it has been suggested that the abomination in Mark is a reference to the crucifixion itself. According to Mark, Jesus made this prediction years before the Temple was destroyed in 70. Acts 6:14 states that Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was falsely accused of claiming Jesus would destroy Israel and the Mosaic law before he was stoned to death, an event Acts claims Paul observed. Predictions of Jerusalem's destruction are found in Micah 3:12. Scholars who hold that this does refer to the Roman destruction of Je
Prewrath
The concept of a prewrath rapture is one of several premillennial views on the end times events among some evangelical Christians, states that Christians will be raptured at the end of a time called the Great Tribulation, before The Day of the Lord. The prewrath position emphasizes the biblical distinction between Satan's wrath in the Great Tribulation and the wrath of God. According to the prewrath perspective, the great tribulation begins three-and-a-half years after the Antichrist "makes a covenant with the many", in the middle of "Daniel's 70th week." The 70th week is a reference to Daniel 9:24-27. After the first three-and-a-half years, the Antichrist will make himself known with the abomination that causes desolation, he will reign for three-and-a-half years; the latter half of the three-and-a-half years is characterized by the Antichrist deceiving the world and persecuting the church. Although the exact timing of the rapture is not known, one of the key points to the prewrath view is that the rapture comes after the sixth seal is opened, when the moon is turned into blood.
The tribulation of God's people will be cut short with the second coming of Christ and the rapture, those who are left behind on Earth will face the trumpets and bowls of God's wrath. God's wrath against the ungodly will follow for the remainder of the seven years in what is known as the Day of the Lord; this view like pretribulationism, midtribulationism, posttribulationism falls under the larger umbrella of premillennialism was formally named and publicized by Marvin Rosenthal in his book The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church, published by The Thomas Nelson in 1990, at the prompting of his friend Robert Van Kampen I, who went on to write The Sign and The Rapture Question Answered: Plain & Simple. Much of the prewrath view is based on a linear, chronological interpretation of Jesus’ account of the end times in the Olivet Discourse. In contrast to the traditional Pre-Tribulation view, for example, the moon turning blood red only occurs once according to the prewrath perspective. Events subsequent to the rapture are based on face-value interpretations of the books of Revelation and Daniel.
The "beginning of birth pains" start with wars and earthquakes around the world. This duration is thought to cover the first 3.5 years of Daniel's 70th week, which starts when the Antichrist confirms or strengthens a seven year "covenant with the many". The Antichrist starts his reign with the “abomination of desolation” at the midpoint of the 70th week, putting an end to sacrifice and offering, his reign, along with the false prophet, lasts for 3.5 years. The Antichrist's rule begins the Great Tribulation, a worldwide distress unequaled to any across history. At this time the believers of God face persecution. During the latter half of the 3.5 years and prior to Jesus' return, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky. In Revelation 6:12, this coincides with the opening of the sixth seal, when the sun turns black and the moon turns blood red. Jesus appears coming on the clouds of the sky to all, angels will bring about the rapture of the Church. In Revelation, his appearance is signified by the people calling out, "hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!"
God's wrath falls on the remaining unbelievers, called the "day of the Lord". Since the Second Coming and the rapture of the Church occur before the Day of the Lord, they occur before God’s wrath – hence, the "prewrath rapture" of the Church; the 7th seal encompasses the wrath of the seven trumpets. Since the Antichrist’s reign lasts for 42 months according to Revelation 13:5, the Antichrist’s rule ceases at the end of the 70th week. At the battle of Armageddon, the Antichrist and the false prophet are defeated and cast into the lake of fire. Since the time of the Antichrist is 1290 days according to Daniel 12:11, his end is placed 30 days after Daniel’s 70th week. 45 days after the destruction of the Antichrist, Christ’s millennial reign is established. This is based on Daniel 12:11, which states, “Blessed is he who waits, comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” The 45 days is derived from taking 1335 and subtracting 1260 days and 30 days, or 1335-=45. Prewrath adherents affirm that Scriptures from throughout the Old and New Testaments confirm this timing of the rapture: A side-to-side comparison of the wording of the sixth seal and the signs in Matthew 24:29 announcing the Second Coming of Jesus and the rapture of the Church indicate that they are the same event.
After the sixth seal is opened in Revelation 6:17, the people of the earth cry out, "hide us from the face of the Lamb!”, indicating that they are viewing Jesus in the clouds. Since all of the people on earth are crying out of the wrath of God, this implies that all those on earth are unbelievers, that the believers have been raptured. Therefore
Matthew 25
Matthew 25, the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, consists of three parables of Jesus: Parable of the Ten Virgins Parable of the talents or minas The Sheep and the Goats According to Jason Hood, writing in the Journal of Biblical Literature, chapters 23 to 25 of the Gospel of Matthew “uniquely infuse Jesus’…teaching on discipleship and judgment with the dramatic tension…throughout Matthew’s plot”. The three parables in Matthew 25 examine the preparation required to enter heaven. Matthew 25:1-13, New American Bible translation Matthew 25:14-30, New American Bible translation The good servants are considered “good” by their master because they felt the responsibility of their assignment and went to work without delay; as a result of this work, the master increased their responsibility. It seems as though a part of the good servants’ reward included a share in the master’s joy for their work; this sets the good servants apart from the idle servant. The good servants diligently worked in the absence of the master.
The third servant is shamed by his master because his irresponsibility demonstrates his lack of love. Matthew 25:31-46, New American Bible translation Sigurd Grindheim, writing in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly suggests that this parable connects to the Sermon on the Mount because it shows the importance of right attitude leading to right action. Several Christian scriptures are addressed in this parable. Evangelical scholars believe that “least of my brothers” refers only to Christian believers and not to all peoples; this interpretation would mean that any act of kindness done to Christ’s followers is done for Christ. This implies a ramification: some people who receive salvation will be surprised because they did not follow Jesus, but supported his believers and helped Christ in this way. Scriptural commentator John Bollan said in regard to this passage, “the quality of our lives and our discipleship are measurable by the standards of love and the extent to which we translate this sentiment into action”.
Using this as a basis for scriptural interpretation, the love shown toward Jesus’ followers promotes his mission, allows for the pagans to be saved. There is a sense that judgment will come through God asking “what have you done for my people”; the key to this parable is that the sheep and the goats are not surprised at their placement in heaven and hell, but at the reasons for their placement. Biblical commentator George Arthur Buttrick said that this parable refers to unloving people, represented as goats, who never connected Jesus’ love for mankind to religion; the "goats" only had a ritual observance of their faith. In fact and love are essential to faith. In Christian tradition, the sheep are thought of as those who receive Christ, the goats are those who reject Christ. In American evangelical Frank Gaebelein’s commentary on this passage, he believes that this parable presents a test to eliminate hypocrisy. Jesus wants his followers to possess both righteousness and love, not just an outward display of righteousness.
The sheep did not show love only to gain reward. The original text is written in Koine Greek; some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are: Papyrus 45 Papyrus 35 Codex Vaticanus Codex Sinaiticus Codex Bezae Codex Washingtonianus Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus Codex Purpureus Rossanensis Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus Codex Sinopensis Papyrus 44 Quotes from early Christians: Irenaeus in "Adversus Haereses" This chapter is divided into 46 verses. Mount of Olives Olivet discourse Parables of Jesus Other related Bible parts: Matthew 24, Luke 19, Revelation 20
Events of Revelation
The events of Revelation are the events that occur in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. An outline follows below; the Revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated by an angel to a man named John when he was on the island of Patmos. John records the prophetic vision, in written text, is instructed to send the document to the seven churches of Asia. John addresses the church of Ephesus to repent from the ways of the Nicolaitans. John addresses the church of Smyrna to warn them of ten days of tribulation that may cost them their lives or imprisonment. John addresses the church of Pergamum to repent from the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. John addresses the church of Thyatira to repent from the teachings of the prophetess Jezebel. John addresses the church of Sardis for being "dead" or unaware of things to come, whose works are not perfect before God. John addresses the church of Philadelphia to persevere with what little strength. John addresses the church of Laodicea to repent from investing in material riches that make them miserable.
The heavenly throne with a rainbow around it, having the One seated in it, is revealed. Twenty-four surrounding thrones seated with twenty-four crowned elders appear; the four living creatures present themselves. The first vision that the author experiences is that of seeing God's throne. In Revelation, God is described as "having the appearance like that of jasper and carnelian with a rainbow-like halo as brilliant as emerald". Around God's throne are twenty four other thrones, on. From the throne come thunder and lightning and, in front of the throne, the author sees seven torches and a sea of crystal; the author sees four creatures which have six wings and are covered in eyes. The creatures are giving eternal thanks to God and, whenever one of them bows down to worship God, the twenty four elders around God's throne bow down to worship God. A book secured by seven seals is revealed in the right hand of Him, it is made known that only "the Lion, from the tribe of Judah" is worthy to open this book.
The Lamb, with seven horns and seven eyes, takes the book from Him. All heavenly beings honor the Lamb; the first seal is broken and the first of the four living creatures introduces a white horse whose crowned rider, equipped with a bow, goes out to conquer. The second seal is broken and the second of the four living creatures introduces a red horse, whose rider wields a great sword; the third seal is broken and the third of the four living creatures introduces a black horse, whose rider carries a pair of scales, goes out. The fourth seal is broken and the fourth of the four living creatures introduces an ashen horse comes out, whose rider has the name Death and Hades follows him; the fifth seal is broken revealing the souls of those, slain for the "Word of God". The sixth seal is broken "and there was a great earthquake; the sky was split apart, every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Mankind hides themselves in the caves and mountains acknowledging the presence of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb.
The servants of God are revealed, those. The number of these servants is given as one hundred and forty-four thousand who are from twelve tribes of Israel. Twelve thousand from each tribe are sealed: from Judah, Gad, Naphtali, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin. A great multitude who came out of the Great Tribulation present themselves in white robes, with palm branches in their hands; the seventh seal is opened and heaven is silent for about a half an hour. An angel offers the prayers of all the saints, at the golden altar before the throne. After the smoke and the prayers ascend to God, the angel fills the censer with fire, from the altar, throws it to the Earth causing noises, lightnings, an earthquake; the first angel of seven sounded his trumpet: "And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, they were thrown to the earth" burning a third of the Earth's flora, scorching all green grass. The second angel sounded his trumpet: "And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown in the sea, a third of the sea became blood" killing a third of everything in the ocean, including ships.
The third angel sounded: And a great star, named "Wormwood", fell from heaven poisoning the water from rivers and water springs. The fourth angel sounded: The sun, the moon and stars are struck, so that a third of their light diminished to the point of complete darkness for a third of a day during the night. Another angel appears to declare three "Woes" for the next three trumpet blasts; the fifth angel sounds his trumpet. A star is given the key to the bottomless pit, it opens the smoke rises, darkening the air and sunlight. The Locusts come out of the smoke, from the pit, Abaddon commands them to torment any man who does not have the seal of God on his forehead for five months; the sixth angel sounds his trumpet for the "Second woe". The four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates are released; the four angels of the Euphrates raise an army of 200 million cavalry. Another mighty an
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation called the Revelation to John, the Apocalypse of John, The Revelation, or Revelation, the Revelation of Jesus Christ or the Apocalypse, is the final book of the New Testament, therefore the final book of the Christian Bible. It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology, its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek: apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon; the author names himself in the text as "John", but his precise identity remains a point of academic debate. Second-century Christian writers such as Justin Martyr, Melito the bishop of Sardis, Clement of Alexandria and the author of the Muratorian fragment identify John the Apostle as the "John" of Revelation. Modern scholarship takes a different view, many consider that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet; some modern scholars characterise Revelation's author as a putative figure whom they call "John of Patmos".
The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the emperor Domitian, the evidence tends to confirm this. The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary, the apocalyptic, the prophetic, it begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, addressing a letter to the "Seven Churches of Asia". He describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Seven Headed Dragon, The Serpent and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus; the obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations: historicist interpretations see in Revelation a broad view of history. The name Revelation comes from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις, which means "unveiling" or "revelation"; the author names himself as "John", but modern scholars consider it unlikely that the author of Revelation wrote the Gospel of John. Pope Dionysius of Alexandria set out some of the evidence for this view as early as the second half of the third century, noting that the gospel and the epistles attributed to John, unlike Revelation, do not name their author, that the Greek of the gospel is stylistically correct and elegant while that of Revelation is neither.
Tradition ascribes the authorship to John the Apostle, but it seems unlikely that the apostle could have lived into the most time for the book's composition, the reign of Domitian, the author never states that he knew Jesus. All, known is that this John was a Jewish Christian prophet belonging to a group of such prophets, was accepted as such by the congregations to whom he addresses his letter, his precise identity remains unknown, modern scholarship refers to him as "John of Patmos". The book has been written about 95 AD; the date is suggested by clues in the visions pointing to the reign of the emperor Domitian. The beast with seven heads and the number 666 seem to allude directly to the emperor Nero, but this does not require that Revelation was written in the 60s, as there was a widespread belief in decades that Nero would return. Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. "Apocalypse" means the revealing of divine mysteries.
The entire book constitutes the letter—the letters to the seven individual churches are introductions to the rest of the book, addressed to all seven. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author sees himself as a Christian prophet: Revelation uses the word in various forms twenty-one times, more than any other New Testament book; the predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the exact number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation quotes directly from the Old Testament, yet every verse alludes to or echoes older scriptures. Over half of the references stem from Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah, with Daniel providing the largest number in proportion to length and Ezekiel standing out as the most influential; because these references appear as allusions rather than as quotes, it is difficult to know whether the author used the Hebrew or the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures, but he was often influenced by the Greek.
He frequently combines multiple references, again the allusional style makes it impossible to be certain to what extent he did so consciously. According to several studies including a review by Dr James Tabor and Dr J. Mass
Book:Life of Jesus
