This document has given rise to voluminous controversy as to its author, its origin, its purpose, and its interpretation. It has been held to be a forgery in the name of John; to have been composed by another writer in the apostle’s name, not in order to deceive, but in order to record an oral revelation of John; or to have been the work of another John. Some who deny that John wrote the Gospel, have attributed the A poca- lypse to him, and the authenticity of the latter is maintained by some prominent rationalistic critics.
The Apostle John was banished to the Island of Patmos, probably by the Emperor Domitian, a.v. 95 or 96, and the
book, composed either during his exile, or, as is more likely, after his return to Ephesus, contains the revelation given him there in a series of visions. It is directly addressed to the Seven Churches of Proconsular Asia; the number seven being representative, and not including all the Asiatic Churches. Its design was to encourage the Church during that trying period, predicted by Jesus himself, between the close of direct revela- tion and the second coming of the Lord. This encouragement centres in the return of Jesus to give His people eternal life and to trample down His foes. As related to the progress of doctrine in the New Testament, it represents the final con- summation in the redeemed Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is foreshadowed in the rise and growth of the Apostolic Church.
The style is figurative and symbolical. It deals with princi- ples rather than with particular events. To the neglect of this characteristic, and the corresponding attempt to link the sym- bols and prophecies with specific historical incidents or person- ages, are due most of the extravagances of interpretation. No satisfactory argument against its authenticity can be drawn from its contents as related to the other writings of John. It pro- claims the same eternal truths which are asserted and vindi- cated in the Gospel and in the Epistles—the sovereignty of God, the conflict of sin with righteousness, the temporary triumph of evil, and the final, decisive victory of holiness. As in the other writings, Christ is the central figure, the conqueror of sin and death, the crowning joy of the redeemed, and the object of their adoration. It emphasizes the divine hatred of sin and the certainty of the divine judgment of the wicked and of the future bliss of believers in Jesus. The main idea of the Gos- pel and of the Apocalypse is the same—that of a decisive con- flict between the powers of good and evil.
The symbolism of the Apocalypse is Jewish, and not Greek or Roman. It is pervaded with the style and imagery of the Dld Testament, and is moulded by its historical and propheti- cal books. “The book,” says Professor Milligan, “is abso- lutely steeped in the memories, the incidents, the thoughts, and the language of the Church’s past. To such an extent is this
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