Getting Revelation -Part 5- Dating the Vision

Disclaimer: This short post only scratches the surface of this subject, and is meant to be only a peek into the dating of Revelation. It is not quite as exciting as other posts, but it is important -- as the popular dating of this book is usually the first question a modern Bible student has concerning this more audience-relevant interpretation of this book... (this post is also a bit longer than I plan making them going forward - sorry!)

There are two common dates ascribed to the penning of this book - the mid 60's AD or mid 90's AD. To decide when the book was originally written, we examine both internal and external evidences. Internal evidence is evidence found within the text itself which gives clues as to when the book was penned. External is evidence from external sources which vouch for when the book was penned. Both are taken into consideration when attempting to determine when an ancient writing was originally written, but let us not forget that only the internal evidence is 100% reliable. The dating of the book of Revelation has always been of special interest because when this book was written helps lend weight to its proper interpretation.

A BRIEF LOOK AT EXTERNAL EVIDENCE:
The mid-90's AD date comes from a single, fairly ambiguous statement made by Irenaeus, an early church father in the 2nd century (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 30, last sentence in Section 3) where he states "that (the vision, an original copy of the vision, or John himself?) was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign." In his book, Irenaeus also said that Jesus lived to be 50 years old (Book 2, Chapter 22, opening sentence). So to take a single unclear statement from a writer whose dating abilities are clearly questionable and use it as the singular authority for dating such an important book as Revelation, would be a mistake for obvious reasons. Irenaeus' quote above is the only original external source for the "late" (Domitianic) date of Revelation (and all other early church fathers who propose this late date are simply quoting Irenaeus!).

However, there are a variety of different external sources for a mid-60's AD dating of Revelation.
-Clement (150-215) "For the teaching of our Lord at His advent, beginning with Augustus and Tiberius,was completed in the middle of the times of Tiberius. And that of the apostles, embracing the ministry of Paul, end with Nero." (Miscellanies 7:17.)
-Epiphanius of Salamis (fourth century)"[John], who prophesied in the time of Claudius [Nero]...the prophetic word according to the Apocalypse being disclosed." (Epiphanius, Panarion/Heresies 51:12,33)
-Syriac Vulgate Bible (sixth century) "The Apocalypse of St. John, written in Patmos, whither John was sent by Nero Caesar." (Opening Title for the Book of Revelation)
-Arethas (sixth century) "Arethas in the sixth century, applies the sixth seal to the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), adding that the Apocalypse was written before that event" (From Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, 1871, under section titled "Date and Place of Writing")

Other early sources supporting the mid-60's AD date of Revelation are Tertullian, Papias, Jerome, The Muratorian Canon, and the Shephard of Hermas.
More modern early-date proponents include Greg L. Bahnsen; Adam Clarke; F. W. Farrar; John A. T. Robinson; Henry Barclay Swete; Milton S. Terry; Wilhelm Bousset; F. F. Bruce; Rudolf Bultmann; Samuel Davidson; Alfred Edersheim; Johann Eichorn; Joseph A. Fitzmyer; J. B. Lightfoot; C. F. D. Moule; R. C. Sproul; and Augustus H. Strong, just to name a few.
Philip Schaaf, the well known 19th century church historian said, "On two points I have changed my opinion--the second Roman captivity of Paul (which I am disposed to admit in the interest of the Pastoral Epistles), and the date of the Apocalypse (which I now assign, with the majority of modern critics, to the year 68 or 69 instead of 95, as before)." (1882, The History of the Christian Church, Vol. I, Preface to the Revised Edition, 4th paragraph)
Dr Kenneth Gentry, a reputable 21st century Bible scholar, recently wrote a thorough and scholarly work defending the early date of Revelation, and it is a free e-book here, which I recommend for further study on early date evidence (or watch the youtube videos based on this book -especially parts 4 and forward here).

AN INITIAL PEEK AT THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE
Now a brief peek at evidence found within the text of Revelation itself which testifies as to when the book was penned:
1. The book opens and closes with clear statements that the events signified would "soon" take place (1:1,3, 22:6), that His coming would occur "quickly" (2:16, 22:7,12,20), and the Revelator was even told to "Seal not the sayings of this book, for the time is at hand." (22:10) The awful persecution and slaughter of the Christians for 3.5 years under Nero Caesar (62-66AD) and the terrible siege and destruction of Jerusalem for 3.5 years (66-70AD) were the only events involving both the church, the Jews, and the Romans worthy of such cataclysmic descriptions to take place in the first few hundred years following Christ. The book had to have been written before or during this awesome string of events.
2. The Jewish persecution of the church was still a reality when the book was penned. In John's messages to Smyrna and Philadelphia in chapters 2 and 3 (both verse 9), he encourages them to stand strong in the face of this intense Jewish persecution. This Jewish persecution of the church ended according to history when the unbelieving Jews were slaughtered and thoroughly scattered at the end of the siege on Jerusalem in 70AD. Revelation had to have been written before this event.
3. Rev. 17:10 says that the seven headed beast (also from chapter 13) represents seven kings, of whom the 6th is currently reigning, and the "seventh has not yet come," but when the 7th comes he will "remain a little while." This perfectly fits the line of Roman Caesars as listed by first century historians: Julius(1), Augustus(2), Tiberius(3), Caligula(4), Claudius(5), Nero(6), and Galba(7). The 6th emperor of Rome was Nero (who was the first emperor to turn against the Christians) and furthermore in chapter 13 (vs 18), the reader is told to "count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man - six hundred and sixty-six." The Hebrew letters which spell Nero Caesar (NRWN QSR) add up to six hundred sixty-six. Galba (the seventh), who followed Nero, only reigned 6 months - a very "little while" when compared to his predecessors. Again, further internal evidence that this book was written between 62 and 66 AD during the intense Neronic persecution of the early church, in order to give the Christians hope and assurance that their Lord Jesus would soon come to judge to their oppressors and give them their promised deliverance.
These three points I give as a simple introduction to internal evidence. As we travel through this book, peering at the text through the eyes of a first century Christian (to whom the book was written), I submit that it becomes abundantly apparent that the events signified throughout match the events in and around Judea which the persecuted first-century church personally witnessed from 62-70AD -- and they match them so closely that after seeing all the evidence together, its hard to imagine Revelation referring to anything else!

In the next installment, we will dive in and begin examining Revelation from chapter 1, verse 11 and forward... now comes the fun part!