Current date/time is Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:23 am
Topic review
JOHN’S VISION ON PATMOS--pg. 15
by pjpearl50 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:33 am
The author of the Book of Revelation identifies himself only as John, a servant of God, a prophet, and “your brother (Rev.1:9).” He addresses his opening remarks to the “seven churches that are in Asia (Rev. 1:4)”—meaning the Roman province of that name in western Asia Minor. His manner is that of a Church leader writing reassure his flock, in fact, he names the congregations in the same order a courier would follow carrying a letter from city to city. John also says he is “on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:9).Banished to that Aegean island by Roman authorities for preaching Jesus’ message. His exile occurred at a time of official persecution, most likely under the emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96), through possibly under Nero (A.D. 54—68), or Vespasian (A.D. 69—79).
This much has been deduced about the author of Revelation—but much remains uncertain. One question is whether John of Patmos was the same person traditionally identified as Jesus’ beloved disciple, believed to be the author of the Gospel of John and the three Epistles of John. Since at least the time of the Christian bishop Irenaeus (A.D. 180-200), an influential school of thought has held that John of Patmos and John the disciple of Jesus were indeed the same man. Many scholars have challenged this conclusion, however, finding the Fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation to different in both writing style and intellectual tone to have been produced by the same author.
In the end, modern readers of Revelation are probably less concerned with such questions than with gaining some insight into John of Patmos and his message. Revelation not only records the dramatic visions God commanded John to write down, but also conveys the burning intensity of his spirit, the passion for Christian truth and for the inevitable day of judgment. Indeed, it is difficult not to feel John’s overpowering wrath against those who persecuted the church and exiled him—against Rome itself, “the great harlot… bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations….drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:1).”
This much has been deduced about the author of Revelation—but much remains uncertain. One question is whether John of Patmos was the same person traditionally identified as Jesus’ beloved disciple, believed to be the author of the Gospel of John and the three Epistles of John. Since at least the time of the Christian bishop Irenaeus (A.D. 180-200), an influential school of thought has held that John of Patmos and John the disciple of Jesus were indeed the same man. Many scholars have challenged this conclusion, however, finding the Fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation to different in both writing style and intellectual tone to have been produced by the same author.
In the end, modern readers of Revelation are probably less concerned with such questions than with gaining some insight into John of Patmos and his message. Revelation not only records the dramatic visions God commanded John to write down, but also conveys the burning intensity of his spirit, the passion for Christian truth and for the inevitable day of judgment. Indeed, it is difficult not to feel John’s overpowering wrath against those who persecuted the church and exiled him—against Rome itself, “the great harlot… bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations….drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:1).”