Revelation: When was it written?

[Psalm 51:17]

http://russkellyphd.blogspot.com/2010/06/revelation-when-was-it-written.html
Revelation: When was it written?
When was Revelation written?

The following information is from An Introduction to the New Testament, D. Edmond Hiebert, Moody Press, 1977, pages 253-257.

“It was the testimony of the early church that the Apocalypse was written during the latter part of the reign of Domitian who was emperor from AD81-96.”

1. Irenaeus (150-200): “For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.” Against Heresies, 5.30.3 Note: Some think that Irenaeus was quoting Papias around AD130.

2. Clement of Alexander:, “For when on the tyrant’s death he returned to Ephesus from the isle of Patmos…” Who was This Rich Man?, XLII

3. Victoinas of Pettau (D304): “… in the isle of Patmos condemned by Caesar Domitian.” Commentary on the Apocalypse, 10:11

4. Eusebius agreed with Irenaeus: John was imprisoned in the 15th year of Domitian (AD95-96) and returned during the reign of Nerva, Eccliastical History, 3.18 and 3.20

5. Jerome (d420): Agreed with Domitian date, Lives of Illustrious Men (ch 9)

6. Making the transliterated name of Nero equal 666 requires misspelling the transliterated name by adding a second letter “n.”

7. The churches of Asia were not in decline in the AD60s but had declined by the AD90s (Rev 2:4; 3:1; 3:15-18).

8. The Nicolaitan party was not present in Paul’s letters of the AD60s but was very strong in the AD90s (Rev 2:6, 15).

9. John seems to have a long intimate knowledge of the churches. This was not possible for the AD60s because he only went to Asia in AD67. The AD96 date best explains this.

10. The expression “synagogue of Satan” would have been inappropriate for the AD60s but not for the AD90s.

11. The phrase “the Lord’s day” (1:9) as a reference to Sunday had replaced “the first day of the week” in the AD90s and not in the AD60s.

12. Live emperor worship seen throughout Revelation and especially in chapter 13 does not fit Nero because Domitian was the first Emperor who demanded worship of a living emperor.

13. Laodicea had been destroyed by an earthquake in AD62 and could not have been wealthy between AD67-70. It was wealthy again in AD96.

14. Polycarp implies that there was no church in Smyrna as of AD63. Therefore AD96 better fits the description.

15. If Revelation were written in Nero’s age, why did the early church have such a strong tradition that it had been written under Domitian? (Hiebert, p257)

[Psalm 51:17]

FYI, the new, perverted versions changed good parts of the New Testament scriptures, albeit very subtlely, to make it like certain prophecies have past tenses. No, not necessarily in Revelation, but in the other NT books, which is pretty much why the seminaries and modern-day church/pastors have this misperception that Daniel and Revelation happened in the past, so therefore escatology views like A-Mill, Historicism, Preterism, etc are somehow the proper ones.

Pretty much it's as if they didn't bother reading the books of Daniel and Revelation for themselves, as alot of scripture in the NT was made in the past tense, hence assuming everything was already fulfilled.

It's a known fact the last book of the bible(Revelation) was written well after 70 AD, and Nero didn't exactly come with "lying signs and wonders". And if Rev 13 was really talking about the Pope...doesn't the Pope still exist in Rome in this present day...which would make it some 1500 years since Constantine founded this political power, and not 1260 like the A-Mill and Historicism crowd want to claim?

As for some of our earlier "influential" evangelists like Matthew Henry, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Eliott, etc having the A-Mill/Historicism view? Well...Henry was a LICENSED preacher in England(which is the same as 501c3 in America today). The whole idea of women preachers came under the Methodist church during JOHN WESLEY's day(and it wasn't some "recent" thing like most would want to make you believe). Spurgeon was a Calvinist who at one time had some 8000 members in his church(and he was also a paid pastor to boot). 8000 members? Isn't this the same number Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar have in their churches? This is seriously bad fruit. Why alot of ministries, including KJV-only ones, endorse Spurgeon is really surprising. Don't know much about Eliott, other than Spurgeon endorsing his non-futurist escotology views.