Revelation And The Romans

The Book of Revelation has interested scholars for a long time, and was always thought about as such a dim topic. This mysterious passage strikes fear into the hearts of many people; no matter what religion or what someone's belief system is, the Book of Revelation shakes peoples' nerves. The times promised during the end years has been interpreted in numerous ways; it is either always imminent or already started. There are a number of things prophesized to mark the coming of the Battle of Armageddon, and they have all been interpreted differently as well. With so many mysteries and interpretations scattered about it is hard to tell what is really meant by Revelation. Scholars can not agree on much when it comes to the book; however, most scholars believe that the Book of Revelation was written about the abuse the Roman empire inflicted upon the newly founded religion of Christianity. Many scholars put an emphasis on the past history view of the book of Revelations. It in usually the accepted view that what was taking place during this time was the persecution of the Christians by the Roman emperor Domitian, and therefore that is what many scholars argue is what is really behind the events told of in the book (Robinson 1). The meaning behind to boost the confidence and spirit of the early Christian people (Robinson 1).

The actual author is for the most part unknown. Yes, he called himself John (White 1), but no scholar can say for sure if this John wrote any canon prior to the writing of the book of Revelations. Many believe that this John could be John the Apostle (Robinson 1); although they have no proof other than the men possess the same first name. For example, an early church father named Irenaeus concluded that the author of Revelations, John of Patmos, also penned the Gospel of John along with the epistles one, two, and three John (Robinson 1). Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Justin Martyr also held the belief that John f Patmos was John the Apostle (Robinson 1). Many also disbelieve it and form their own conclusions; Eusebius of Caesarea was among them (Robinson 1). The former, however, was the belief that held sway in the church ( Robinson 1). This is still quite an ongoing debate, and as far as is known the wider accepted belief is that the author of Revelations and John the Apostle are two different people.

The book takes on many different forms to many different people, and depending on ones religion the interpretations can be quite different. Technically there are four views; the past history, the symbolic history, the continuous history, and the future history view (White 1). The past history view is mainly categorized by the agreeing that the events described have already taken place, and that Revelation needs to be read in a historical context as something that happened long ago (White 1). A symbolic view likewise acknowledges that Revelations needs the be read in an ancient historical context, but it adds that even though the events have taken place long ago that the message

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