Authorship and Authority
One of the criteria for recognizing canonicity is apostolic authorship. By
arguing against the Apostle John as author, the authority of the book
can be questioned.
Primary Reason
As discussed previously, the style of the Greek in Revelation is
less polished than in John's gospel.
Caution - Internal Evidence is Subjective
Analysis of the text apart from external historical witness
is fraught with difficulty and subjective interpretation.
External evidence, when available, is
more reliable.
Famous Book, Obscure Author?!
Some would have us believe this most famous book was
authored by someone lost to the record of history.
Unfavorable Doctrines
Jewish Emphasis
The mention of 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel
was seen as being inconsistent with the rejection of Israel
(Rev. 7;14).
Millennial Kingdom
The thousand-year reign
on earth
as the fulfillment of the promised
Messianic kingdom was seen as too earthly and sensual
(Rev. 20:4-9).
Early Opposition
Roman Presbyter Caius
Opposed Montanism, which emphasized the Millennial Kingdom.
Revelation seen as inconsistent with rest of the New Testament.
Attributed authorship to Cerinthus.
Marcion
A second-century Gnostic who rejected Jewish passages because
of an anti-Semitic stance.
Dionysius the Great
Bishop of Alexandria. Opposed millennarianism. Book inspired,
but not written by Apostle John. Had great influence
upon Eastern Church.
Eusebius of Caesarea
Bishop of Nicomedia. Opposed millennarianism. Believed author
was "John the Elder" mentioned by Papias.
Reformers
Apostolic authorship rejected by Erasmus, Luther, and Zwingli.
All opposed a literal thousand-year-reign of Christ on earth.
Suggested Authors
Claims of the Text
The text claims the author to simply be "John" (Rev. 1:1,
4,
9;
21:2;
22:8).
Proposed Alternatives
1)
John the Apostle;
2)
the elder John;
3)
John Mark;
4)
John the Baptist;
5)
some other John;
6)
Cerinthus;
7)
someone using the name "John" as a pseudonym.
8)
a composite work
Internal Evidence for the Apostle John
Simplicity of Title
Any other "John" would necessarily have had to distinguish himself from
the most famous John (the Apostle).
Authority of Author
Authority over seven churches exceeds that of a New Testament prophet.
His own Apostolic authority is implied
(Rev. 2:2).
Textual Similarities
There are striking similarities to the other writings of John the Apostle:
1)
Jesus called
logos .
2)
Jesus called
Lamb of God
(27 times in Revelation,
also
John 1:29,
36).
3)
Prominence of
marturia. 4)
Opening paragraphs,
Jesus called
the Word
(John 1:1;1Jn. 1:1;Rev. 1:2).
5)
Frequent use of "overcome" (nikan ).
6)
Unique use of Greek diminutive for "Lamb" (arnion,
literally "lambkin"). Occurs 29 times here, only other place is
John 21:15.
7)
Use of Greek verb
ekkenteo
from Septuagint version of
Zec. 12:10
appears in
John 19:37
and
Rev. 1:7
but nowhere else in New Testament.
John's Relationship to Jesus
John was the apostle "Jesus loved" (John 13:23;
John 20:2;
John 21:7,
20).
The pattern of divine intimacy for revelation: Daniel was "greatly beloved" (Dan. 9:23;
Dan. 10:11,
19);
Moses spoke with God "face to face" (Num. 12:8).
External Evidence for Apostle John
Testimony of Early Church
1)
Justin Martyr (c. 100-165),
lived at Ephesus
amidst the seven churches.
2)
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (c. 130-200)
3)
Tertullian (c. 150-212)
4)
Clement of Alexandria (c. 155-215)
5)
Origen (c. 185-254)
6)
Papias (c. 60-130), bishop of Hierapolis
near Laodicea
one of the seven churches.
7)
Victorinus (d.c. 304)
Testimony of Enemies of Early Church
1)
The
Alogi
opposed the doctrine of Jesus as "the Word" and rejected Revelation as they did
all literature by John the Apostle.
2)
Gnostic document
Apocryphon of John
cites
Rev. 1:19
as being written by "John, the brother of James, these who are sons of Zebedee."
For additional information on this topic, see the commentary.