When was it most likely written?

When the book of the Revelation was actually given to John on the isle of Patmos is of critical importance in unlocking its mysteries. Unfortunately, scholars have reached different conclusions after assessing the dating evidence. The majority contends for a date around A.D. 95 or 96. This date is termed the “late date.” But a sizeable and growing minority feels the Revelation was written prior to Jerusalem’s and the Temple’s destruction in A.D. 70. This is termed the “early date.” Adherence to the late date effectively rules out any contemporary and significant historical event as the soon-coming fulfillment or any relevance for its original and named recipients. But acceptance of the early date opens the possibility that it describes those events leading up to and including Jerusalem’s fall and the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.

Notably, Philip Schaff, who wrote History of the Christian Church in eight volumes, and in the Preface to his Revised Edition, admits that “on two points I have changed my opinion – the second Roman captivity of Paul . . . and the date of the Apocalypse (which I now assign, with the majority of modern critics, to the year 68 or 69 instead of 95, as before)” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 1910 [third revision]) vi, also 420, 834n).

Most interestingly, the major piece of dating evidence cited by the popular late-date theorists is an ambiguous and questionable passage written by Irenaeus, one of the early Church fathers who wrote around A.D. 180-190. But translation difficulties, precludes this passage from being used as evidence. Moreover, Irenaeus said nothing about the date of the writing of Revelation. The bigger issue with Irenaeus, however, is his credibility. He claimed that Jesus’ earthly ministry lasted approximately fifteen years and that Jesus lived to be almost fifty years old. Thus, the difficulties with Irenaeus’ writings in this dating matter are many and varied.

On the other hand, and in our opinion, arguments for the early date are superior, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to those advanced for the late date. For example, of the two types of dating evidence, scholars generally acknowledge internal evidence (contained inside a document) as preferable and taking precedence over external evidence (what others, like Irenaeus, have said about a document).

John A.T. Robinson in his book Redating the New Testament points out that Revelation, along with all New Testament books, says nothing about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. He terms this omission as “one of the oddest facts,” and questions why this event “is never once mentioned as a past fact” by any New Testament book, even though it is “predicted” and “would appear to be the single most datable and climactic event of the period” (John A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia, PA.: Westminster Press, 1976) 13).

This omission propelled Robinson’s re-dating study. His hypothesis and eventual conclusion was that “the whole of the New Testament was written before 70.” He places the writing of Revelation in A.D. 68 (Ibid., 10, 352). Admittedly, Robinson’s argument is an argument from silence. But those who claim that Revelation was written in AD 95-96 do have major difficulties explaining this omission.

For these and many other reasons (see John Noe’s article below in Sources), we agree with a growing number of reputable scholars who have seriously studied the dating issue that “a date in either AD 65 or early 66 would seem most suitable” (Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Before Jerusalem Fell (Atlanta, GA.: American Vision, 1998, 336). In our opinion, the weight of evidence greatly favors a pre-A.D.-70 writing. Therefore, and as Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul has suggested, “if Revelation was written before A.D. 70, then a case could be made that it describes chiefly those events leading up to Jerusalem’s fall” (R.C. Sproul, The Last Days According to Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books, 1998), 132).

Sources:

1 The Greater Jesus by John Noe

2 The Scene Behind the Seen (future book – est. 2017) by John Noe

3 “An Exegetical Basis for a Preterist-Idealist Understanding of the Book of Revelation,” article in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec. 2006) by John Noe

4 Before Jerusalem by Fellby Kenneth L. Gentry

5 Redating the New Testament by John A.T. Robinson

6 The Last Days According to Jesus by R.C. Sproul

7 Biblical Hermeneutics by Milton S. Terry

8 Biblical Apocalyptics by Milton S. Terry

9 Revelation by Grant R. Osborne

10 Revelation by Leon Morris

11The Book of Revelation by Robert H. Mounce