Who Wrote Revelation In The Bible? – 6 Logical Views

When asking children in a Sunday school class (or even adults during a church service), “Who wrote Revelation in the Bible?” the expected, and traditionally, correct answer would be “John,” specifically the Apostle John. But the matter of debate among Biblical scholars regarding the authorship of the Book of Revelation is not concerning John as the author of the Book of Revelation, but rather, the precise identity of the man behind the name John.

Who Wrote Revelation in the Bible? — Summary of Revelation

Revelation is a mysterious book. The writer of Revelation says that he had a vision that he recorded. John’s vision vividly describes end times and future events, using symbolic imagery. The topics coved in this book include the end of the world, the final victory of the risen Christ, and a glimpse of the new heaven and the new Earth.

But as an added bonus, this final book of the Bible is the only biblical book which distinctly promises a blessing to the reader. This promise is found in Revelation 1:3. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (KJV)

The fact is, that the Book of Revelation from the heavenly vision given and the writer of the manuscript by way of the Holy Spirit was preserved in Holy Writ, not only for the seven churches it was addressed to, but for all humanity. Nevertheless, the actual identity of this “John” referenced in Revelation has been debated by biblical scholars.

Who Wrote Revelation in the Bible? — Internal Evidence

The writer of the prophetic Book of Revelation reveals himself as John five different times throughout the book. The very first verse of this prophetic book both proclaims that this is “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” but was given to His servants through God’s servant, John.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” Revelation 1:1-2 (KJV)

John, the writer of the Book of Revelation, identified himself as a “brother,” and as “a companion” to the recipients of this book. He says this in Revelation 1:9. “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (KJV) Never does this John identify himself as an apostle. But nowhere in the five different verses that names John as the writer of the book does the author confirm that the John of Patmos was also the Apostle John, the brother of James, and the son of Zebedee.

The recipients of this writing, specifically, the seven churches in Asia Minor, knew him well enough so that he did not have to introduce himself any further. They knew exactly who this particular man was and who wrote this letter to them. Most of the recipients also may have been aware that he was on the Isle of Patmos at that time.

Who Wrote Revelation in the Bible? — Traditional Answer

Tradition says that the man John identified with writing the Book of Revelation was the Apostle John. This view was held by some of the early church fathers, including names like Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Clement of Alexandria. Other books attributed to the Apostle John are the Gospel of John, and the three eponymous epistles.

Bible scholars says that the Apostle John had been banished to live the rest of his natural life in exile on the Island of Patmos by Roman authorities. It was there on Patmos that John saw the heavenly vision and obeyed the divine instruction to write what he had seen and heard in letter form as a message to the seven churches of Asia Minor.

Who Wrote Revelation in the Bible? — Criticism of Tradition

However, the precise identity of this John who took credit for the final book of the Bible is a matter of debate. Many scholars believe that John of Patmos, the writer of Revelation, was a different John than the apostle who followed Christ. Therefore, the authorship of Revelation has been questioned in church history for nearly 2,000 years.

According to some modern scholars, the Gospel of John, and even the epistles of John, are different in both style and theology when compared to the Book of Revelation. Even the message of Revelation is vastly different from the other works associated with the Apostle John. But this is a very weak argument since the message of Revelation is a vision that John saw and heard.

There is some Biblical evidence to support the theory that another John wrote Revelation. When the Apostle John lived, only a minority of the Roman Empire’s population could read and write. It would seem that the man who earned his living as a fisherman with his father Zebedee and brother James did not have much or any education. John most likely was not able to write.

Biblical evidence to support that John was illiterate is in this telling verse in Acts 4:13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (KJV) The word “unlearned” is from the Greek word agrammatos, which means “unlettered,” or unable to read or write.

Jesus, Himself, according to the Scripture account as recorded (interestingly) in the Gospel of John, says that He, too, had no had formal education and was considered illiterate. This is recorded in John 7:15. “And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (KJV)

Jesus, being God, and doing the miracles that He did, makes it no stretch of the imagination to believe that He didn’t need formal education to know how to read and write.

If the fact is that the Apostle John could not read or write, and yet God chose him to record the Gospel that bears his name, and the three epistles credited to him, Jesus could have given this special man the ability to both read and write.

Another possibility, which would allow John to be the author of his Gospel, the three epistles, and the Book of Revelation, despite being illiterate, is that he used an amanuensis. An amanuensis is a person who writes what another person dictates. Another word for this would be a “scribe.”

The blessed Apostle Paul, who was a learned scholar, yet possibly because of bad eyesight, used an amanuensis for all of his epistles except for the Book of Galatians, where he specifically said that he wrote this letter himself in Galatians 6:11. “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.” (KJV)

In Paul’s ending of his letter to the Romans, his amanuensis, Tertius, inserted a greeting from himself in Romans 16:22. “I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.” (KJV)

Using an amanuensis would easily enable the Apostle John to write Revelation. It would also explain the argument that the sentence structure of Revelation is different from John’s other writings. He simply may have used different people, some who were better writers than others. Also, the astonishing subject matter of the vision John saw could very easily have shaken the writer as he may have hastily scribbled sentences, recording John’s awestruck words as John recounted his apocalyptic vision.

Who Write Revelation in the Bible? — Why the Apostle John?

There is more support to the argument that John of Patmos was truly the Apostle John and the author of Revelation. Sometimes a clue can be found by looking at past evidence. There is evidence from the Old Testament to support that this vision of the risen Christ was given to none other than the Apostle John. Whether or not this apostle physically formed the letters to record his heavenly vision, or dictated what he saw for someone else to write is a moot point.

The logic that the Apostle John, and not another John, was privy to this heavenly vision comes from the Old Testament Book of Daniel. It has been accurately said that the Book of Daniel is the Old Testament “Revelation” since the man Daniel was also given a series of prophetic visions, many which dovetail with what John saw.

Three times in the book of Daniel, Daniel is told by the angel that he is a man “beloved.” These references are Daniel 9:23 “Thou art greatly beloved”; Daniel 10:11 “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved”; and Daniel 10:19 “O man greatly beloved.” No other Old Testament character is so praised. But the man Daniel was the single recipient who was given visions of future events by God. These future events, which Daniel recorded, spanned centuries to the end of time.

It seems that God blesses those Who are closer to Him with greater truth. Like the beloved man Daniel, the Apostle John also had a special and very close place near the heart of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John was one of the “inner three,” along with Peter and James, among the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. But of the three, John was very special to Jesus. In the Gospel credited to John, he never referred to himself by name. Rather, and unlike the narrator of Revelation, he referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Here are the references:

At the Last Supper, it was John who leaned on Jesus breast in John 13:23. “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.” (KJV)

Jesus entrusted the care of His mother to the Apostle John in John 19:26. “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” (KJV)

John and Peter were at the empty grave in John 20:2. “Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved” (KJV)

John recognized the risen Christ in John 21:7. “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.” (KJV)

And the last reference in John 21:20. “Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper.” (KJV)

Daniel, “the man greatly beloved,” and the Apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” both had the privilege of having a vision of the risen Christ. God blessed both with visions of future events.

Therefore, the answer to the question, “Who wrote Revelation in the Bible?” is, to this writer, undoubtedly the Apostle John.

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