by jimwalton » Wed Dec 08, 2021 1:42 pm
Revelation 1.1, 4, 9; 22.8 identify the author as God/Jesus's servant, John. Four possibilities have been suggested as to who this "John" is:
1. Jesus’s disciple, the son of Zebedee, the writer of the 4th gospel. Justin Martyr (c. AD 135) attributed its authorship to the Apostle John. (But the language and expression of Revelation is vastly different from that of the gospel and the 3 epistles bearing his name. The difference may not be relevant since Revelation is a different style/genre based on what Jesus revealed to the writer. Its terminology coincides with that of the Gospel on many points, but it also has many expressions that don't sound like John at all.) Besides Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian also attribute it to the Apostle John.
2. John the Presbyter, who is known from literary references around AD 130. He was an elder in the churches of Asia who is said to have been taught by the disciples of Jesus. Eusebius (4th c. church historian) identifies John the Presbyter as the one who “saw the revelation which passes under the name of John.” Dionysius of Alexandria also says it was John the Presbyter.
3. A Christian prophet named John, otherwise unknown.
4. Followers of John the Baptist who record his teachings
Revelation 1.1, 4, 9; 22.8 identify the author as God/Jesus's servant, John. Four possibilities have been suggested as to who this "John" is:
[list]1. Jesus’s disciple, the son of Zebedee, the writer of the 4th gospel. Justin Martyr (c. AD 135) attributed its authorship to the Apostle John. (But the language and expression of Revelation is vastly different from that of the gospel and the 3 epistles bearing his name. The difference may not be relevant since Revelation is a different style/genre based on what Jesus revealed to the writer. Its terminology coincides with that of the Gospel on many points, but it also has many expressions that don't sound like John at all.) Besides Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian also attribute it to the Apostle John.
2. John the Presbyter, who is known from literary references around AD 130. He was an elder in the churches of Asia who is said to have been taught by the disciples of Jesus. Eusebius (4th c. church historian) identifies John the Presbyter as the one who “saw the revelation which passes under the name of John.” Dionysius of Alexandria also says it was John the Presbyter.
3. A Christian prophet named John, otherwise unknown.
4. Followers of John the Baptist who record his teachings[/list]