Do you believe that Revelation was written by John around 64-65 A.D, or do you hold to the more traditional date of 95 A.D? I know that the 95 A.D. date comes primarily from the evidence of Irenaeus' writings, but I have read that his mention of the date that John wrote his book is ambiguous. It appears to me that internal evidence, including the lack of mention of the destruction of the Temple, favors the earlier date. I would greatly value your opinion on this. --Michael Burns (Milwaukee)
Three separate time periods have been proposed for the date of the book of Revelation. The first, the Neronian period, is not very popular in our century, but used to enjoy fairly wide support. Nero reigned 54-68 AD. The association of Nero with persecution is well established from the extrabiblical literature, though it is not so clear that persecution in the 60s was empire-wide. (In fact, the greatest imperial persecutions came only in the 3rd and 4th centuries.)
The Domitianic period is most popular today for the setting of Revelation. Domitian ruled 81-96 AD, and it must be admitted that his reign better fits the internal and external evidence than Nero's. Domitian was more forward about arrogating divine honors, especially in the provinces. Accordingly, most New Testament scholars propose 96 AD as the approximate date for the writing of Revelation.
A third possibility is the Vespasianic period. This is the option I personally favor. Vespasian ruled 69-79 AD. Revelation 17 describes an "eighth king,"
who would be Domitian. He is the "resurrected Nero," or Nero Redivivus. But note that if this identification is right, then the vision was given to John in the reign of Vespasian. It would have been given in advance to prepare God's people for what would come in the time of Domitian.
Vespasian is "king number six," if we count Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian. (The year of civil war, 68-69 AD, actually saw several emperors who "reigned" for a short while, but order was not restored until Vespasian.) His son, Titus, reigned afterwards, for just two years ("a little while," Revelation 17:10). The eighth king then would be Domitian--and note that John says he is "yet to come." Such is my reasoning. On the other hand, in a book full of symbols and symbolic numbers, it is probably unwise to draw too hard historical conclusions.
Most folks don't agree with my view--they prefer the "safer" date of 96 AD over the Vespasianic period of 69-79 AD. If I am right, then Revelation may have been written as early as 69 AD.
Note that both the Domitianic and Vespasianic views agree that Domitian is the beast referred to by John as the eighth king. The difference is not over which king (emperor or Caesar) is referred to, but during whose reign the Apocalypse was penned.
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