Bible: Revelation

The book of Revelation, which is more properly called the Apocalypse of Saint John, is the last book in the Christian New Testament, placed there because of its symbolic imagery of the end of time. The book does not carry a date, but most scholars assume that it emerged around 94–96 CE, late in the reign of the emperor Domitian of Rome, at a time when some Christians anticipated persecution. Revelation was addressed to Christian churches around the city of Ephesus, a major urban center in Asia Minor (modern-day western Turkey), where Christianity took root at an early date through the efforts of the apostle Paul.

The book encouraged Christians to endure impending persecution secure in the knowledge that Jesus Christ was in charge of the world and that the unfolding plan of history would see the victory of the Christian faith. However, some interpreters believe that the author intended to address primarily complacent and lax second-generation Christians to remind them that their religious beliefs stood in contrast to the values of the Roman Empire and the popular culture around them. Either way, the book was read during later, more serious persecutions and encouraged many Christians to persevere in their faith. Christians believed that the book was ultimately fulfilled when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire in the late fourth century CE, and thus it was placed in the formal New Testament canon, a collection of twenty-seven books officially created in the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE. In later years many people used Revelation to predict the future and imminent arrival of Judgment Day. Invariably they were wrong, and the results often were heartbreak and sometimes death in attempted revolutionary endeavors. Modern biblical scholars and Christian theologians repeatedly stress that the symbols of this book refer to events of the first century CE or in general to any persecution of Christians and are not meant to be used to cast predictions about the future.