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Was Revelation written in the A.D. 90s . . . or the explosive 60s? In this gripping episode, Jimmy Akin tackles one of the Bible’s hottest debates: the true date of Revelation! He dissects early Church Fathers’ ambiguous clues, the still-standing Jerusalem temple, and the beast’s seven heads that may nail it close to Nero’s chaotic final days. Get ready for mind-blowing evidence that could transform how you read the Apocalypse! Don’t miss this detective-style dive!
TRANSCRIPT:
Coming Up
The most controversial book in the Bible is the book of Revelation.
One of the controversies is when it was written.
This is an important question because when you date the book of Revelation affects multiple issues regarding how it is to be interpreted.
So . . . can we figure it out? Can we determine when John wrote it?
Let’s get into it!
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Howdy, folks!
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Two Schools of Thought
The book of Revelation was written during the apostolic age, but precisely when is debated.
Today, there are two principal schools of thought.
The first school of thought dates Revelation to the reign of the emperor Domitian, which was between A.D. 81 and 96.
Advocates of this school tend to date Revelation toward the end of his reign, say around A.D. 95.
The second school of thought places Revelation earlier, in the A.D. 60s.
Currently, the first view—holding that Revelation was written in the 90s—is the most common. It gained popularity in the twentieth century.
However, in the nineteenth century, the earlier date of the A.D. 60s was the most common view.
So, which school is right?
The A.D. 90s?
The view that places Revelation in the 90s is based on statements in some of the early Church Fathers that John was banished to Patmos during the reign of Domitian.
This view is thought to have been held by Irenaeus of Lyons around A.D. 180.
In his 5-volume work Against Heresies, Irenaeus wrote:
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5:30:3
We will not . . . incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of the Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision [i.e., the book of Revelation]. For it was seen no very long time ago, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.
That translation makes it sound like John saw the vision that Revelation contains toward the end of Domitian’s reign in the A.D. 90s.
However, there is ambiguity in what Irenaeus said. Irenaeus’s Greek can be understood to say that “it”—meaning the vision of John—was seen during the reign of Domitian.
But it can also be translated as saying that “he”—meaning John himself—was seen during this time.
If that’s the case, Irenaeus is commenting not on when the book was written but on how long John lived.
Which Emperor?
You’d think that we might be able to clear up when Revelation was written based on John’s legal circumstances, because we know that he was in exile on the small Greek island of Patmos off the coast of modern Turkey when he wrote it.
In Revelation 1, John writes:
Revelation 1:9-10, ESV
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet . . .
He then goes on to describe the vision he had.
Many people mistakenly think that Patmos was a prison colony, and that John was in prison when he saw the vision, but this isn’t true. Patmos was not a prison colony.
Instead, John had been exiled or banished to the island. Banishing people to islands was a common way of dealing with people who the Romans didn’t want to execute but also didn’t want running around causing problems on the mainland.
So John was being punished by being confined to the island, but he wasn’t confined to a prison. He had free run of the island.
Early Christian literature indicates that he was banished by one of the Roman emperors, but this doesn’t let us figure out the date of the book because there is confusion in early Christian sources about which Roman emperor banished John to Patmos.
David Aune writes:
David Aune, Word Biblical Commentary, Revelation 1:9d
According to the confused tradition in Epiphanius (Pan. 51.12.1–2), John left Patmos when he was over ninety years old during the reign of Claudius Caesar (A.D. 41–54). Some confusion results from the fact that Claudius was one of the names of Nero, who is referred to both as Nero Claudius and as Nero Claudius Caesar. There is therefore general agreement that John was banished to the island of Patmos by a Roman emperor, and some agreement that this emperor was Domitian. Some notices are ambiguous (e.g., Clement of Alexandria and Origen) and make it possible to argue that the emperor who banished John was Nero rather than Domitian.
If it was Nero who banished John, then he would have been on Patmos much earlier, for Nero reigned between A.D. 54 and 68.
As we will see later, including in future episodes, there are strong connections between Nero and Revelation.
The Temple of God
A piece of evidence supporting an earlier date is the fact that Revelation describes the Jerusalem temple as still operating, for in Revelation 11, John says,
Revelation 11:1-2, NAB:RE
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Come and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in it. But exclude the outer court of the temple; do not measure it, for it has been handed over to the Gentiles, who will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
This depicts “the temple of God” in Jerusalem (“the holy city”) in a state of operation.
“Those who are worshipping in it” is a good literal translation of the Greek.
But the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 when they conquered the city and it was “handed over to the Gentiles,” who trampled it.
The passage thus depicts the temple before its destruction and suggests a date for the book prior to 70.
The Seven Heads
The most precise clue to Revelation’s dating may be the interpretation it gives of the seven heads of the beast that John sees.
In chapter 13, John sees a beast with seven heads rising from the sea, and in chapter 17, these heads are interpreted for us. John writes:
Revelation 17:9-10
The seven heads are seven mountains. . . . They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while.
The seven mountains have been identified since ancient times as the seven hills of Rome, and so the seven kings involve a reference to Roman emperors.
This fits with other information in the book of Revelation. We are elsewhere told that—like the Roman emperors—the beast blasphemes God, persecutes the saints, rules the world, and receives worship from all but Christians. For example, see chapter Revelation 13:6-8.
If the seven heads are the line of first-century emperors, the five who “have fallen” would be
- Augustus,
- Tiberius,
- Caligula,
- Claudius,
- and Nero.
The one who “is” would be Nero’s successor,
- Galba,
and the other who “has not yet come” would be
- Otho,
And Otho did—indeed—reign “only a little while.” His reign lasted just three months.
This calculation would place the composition of Revelation during the reign of Galba, which was between June 9, 68-January 15, 69.
This also agrees with the fact we saw earlier that the Jerusalem temple was still in operation, since Galba reigned before the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.
This supports the older view that Revelation was written in the A.D. 60s.
For my money, this is the correct date for revelation: Most likely, it was in second half of A.D. 68 or—just possibly—in the first two weeks of 69.
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God bless you always!