DCHindley

Not sure exactly what you are getting at there.

I've read R H Charles' 1912 (?) analysis of the Apocalypse (alternate name for the book of Revelation), and he identifies several parts which he thinks are fragments of Jewish sources, all apocalyptic texts, written in either Hebrew/Aramaic or Greek, and some Greek fragments he thinks were before the editor as translations from Hebrew/Aramaic sources. He dates all of these sources, I believe, to between 30 & 100 CE, possibly a little later (I have lost my notes).

This same critic did a really fine job with 1 Enoch, with most all of his conjectures confirmed by the DSS Enoch mss. However, I felt he was not quite as objective with the Apocalypse. Still, he seems to make some good points. I think David Aune has also done a recent study of the book, which is supposed to be the best so far, but I have not had an opportunity to read it.

The issue is, I believe, whether this is a slightly Christianized version of one or more Jewish apocalypses (there are other examples of this, such as Ascension of Isaiah and the Testament of the 12 Patriarchs, suggesting that Christianity was at that time a sub-sect within Judaism, and a bit on the rebellious/militaristic side to boot), or a unique new Christian way of looking at how Jesus fit into Jewish end time prophesies ("a much better way," of course, say the Christians, implying that they are WAY closer to understanding Gods will than those rebellious Jews were).

One thing I've noticed about Revelation is that there are a lot of passages that resemble the wording of the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul. As far as I know, these were not comonly linked together until after the mid 2nd century. Maybe it is pseudonymous after all! <g>

DCH

mountainman

Dear Investigators,

What is consistently relevant in all discussions - and again specifically in this discussion - but towards which no contributor attempts an answer is:

4) WHEN was the text originally authored.

Only when the answer to this question is known will the rest of the questions one to three (most particularly question one) be able to be answered in the appropriate (relative historical) context.


Consider the following possibilities:

1.1) The author (John?) was exiled in the first century by X1 because Y1.
1.2) The author (John?) was exiled in the second century by X2 because Y2.
1.3) The author (John?) was exiled in the third century by X3 because Y3.
1.1) The author (John?) was exiled in a subsequent century by Xn because Yn.

Obviously (or perhaps hopefully) we should be able to recognise the person X1, X2, X3, Xn if it was a politial exile. So in the absence of trying to establish the chronology of Revelations, what if different options were investigated on the basis that one of these options surely must be the correct one.


Best wishes

Pete