The Revelation of Jesus Christ
BACKGROUND
Author: John, the Apostle (Revelation 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). He wrote the fourth Gospel and three Epistles.
Witnesses: Justin Martyr (early Christian apologist, lived in Ephesus), Irenaeus (disciple of Polycarp, lived in Smyrna), Clement of Alexandria (Christian Theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria), and Tertullian (early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa-2nd or 3rd century).
Written: Last decade of the first century (c. A.D. 94-96), near the end of Emperor Domitian’s reign (A.D. 81-96). Domitian was the first Emperor to demand that he be addressed as “Lord and God.” He was self-centered and he persecuted the Christians physically and psychologically.
Written on: The island of Patmos; a small, rocky island off the southwest coast of Asia Minor (Turkey), which was 10 miles long by 6 miles wide in the Aegean Sea. It was used by the Romans as a place to banish criminals.
Written near: Asia Minor, which was bounded on the north by the Black sea, the Sea of Marmara, and the long, narrow strait of Dardanelles; the west by the Aegean Sea; and the south by Syria and the Mediterranean Sea. It was a high plateau crossed by mountains.
SUMMARY
John was the last surviving Apostle, and he was ministering to the church in Ephesus and the surrounding cities when he was arrested and banished to the barren island of Patmos by the Emperor Domitian. He was released after eighteen months by Emperor Nerva (A.D. 96-98), after which he returned to Ephesus to resume his leadership role there.
©2012 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.
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