The Historical Reliability of the New Testament: Countering the Challenges to Evangelical Christian Beliefs (B&h Studies in Christian Apologetics) by Craig L. Blomberg

Author:Craig L. Blomberg [Blomberg, Craig L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Religion/Christian Theology/Apologetics
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2016-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

Circumstances of Composition

We have spoken already of the author of Revelation as John. Of all the writings traditionally ascribed to the apostle, the son of Zebedee, this is the only one in which the name John actually appears within the text itself (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). From these passages we learn that this John considers himself a servant of Christ, detailing the revelations he has seen that represent “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” (v. 2).[1333] He recounts them to seven churches representing the entire spectrum of Christianity, good and bad, in the province of Asia Minor (what we would call western Turkey).[1334] John describes himself as a Christian brother from these churches and a “companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus” (v. 9). He declares that he is in exile on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, suggesting that he has been exiled from the mainland and the environs of Ephesus, as various individuals in the Roman Empire were punished with the ruling of relegatio ad insulam (“relegation to an island”).[1335] Verse 10 adds that he was in the Spirit “on the Lord’s Day.” In other words, when he began receiving these revelations, he was experiencing some kind of communion with God through the Holy Spirit on a Sunday, possibly having the same experience as Ezekiel, who uses the same language to describe his prophetic ministry (e.g., Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1).[1336]

Other passages do not use John’s name but the first person singular, “I,” “me,” or “my” forms, most commonly in the contexts of what John saw or heard in his revelations, since he was largely a passive recipient of them. Occasionally, he has a short give-and-take with a heavenly messenger or angel, and on two occasions Jesus himself addresses him (1:10–20; 22:12–16). The one thing we never learn is which John is behind this apocalypse. Because of his experiences, he is sometimes called John the seer, but that doesn’t answer more specific questions about his identity. The early church testimonies, with only one major exception, equate this John with the apostle by that name (Justin Martyr, Dial. 81.15; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 4.14.1, 5.26.1; Tertullian, Contra Marc. 3.14, 24; Clement of Alexandria, Misc. 6.106–7, Tutor 2.119).[1337] The circumstances fit the ancient conviction that John lived to a ripe old age while ministering in and around Ephesus, the first of the seven cities addressed, and the major port from which one would travel to the island of Patmos. If John were the apostle, it would clearly explain why he would be a target of persecution.

The same swath of scholars that dispute apostolic authorship for the Gospel and/or the Epistles ascribed to John typically assert that an otherwise unknown John, an end-of-the-first-century Christian with close ties to the apostolic tradition but about whom we know nothing else, was the author of Revelation.[1338] The similarities of vocabulary, themes, and style lead some to

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