Eschatology

Revelation

• Most controversial book of the Bible
• During the apostolic age, there were more writings which were considered to be not apostolic, which did not become part of the canon of the Orthodox Catholic Church.

• If you look at the writings of the early Christian era, those which have been canonized are actually a very small number of writings. So not all writings of that time were considered to be part of the Church tradition.
• From the beginning, the Revelation of John was highly questioned for years. In certain lists of scripture it did not exist. In the council of Laodacia, in the 4th century, it is not listed as one of the books of the Bible. Many highly respeced figures in Church history were against this book.

• Anthelopious of Iconium (cousin of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa) - It is a spurious book and should not be in the canon.
• St John Chrysostom never mentions it.

• For those Christians whose faith is based on the Bible, the questionable nature of Revelation can be distressing. However, for the Orthodox, this is not the case, because the foundation of the life and teaching of the Church is in the ongoing spiritual life, tradition, worship, etc. of the Church community, and not in a book.
• After the 4th century Revelation was finally canonized. However it still holds special status because it is the only book of the New Testament which is never read in Church.

• Revelation is filled with references to the Old Testament. If one doesn't know the Bible well, one will never understand Revelation.
• Many things in Revelation are in the Church's life.

• The liturgy of the Church is inspiring Revelation and taken from Revelation. It helps to understand Orthodox liturgy to know Revelation.

In order to understand Orthodox liturgy, you have to know the book of Revelation. Because what is the main element of the Apocalypse, is the celestial liturgy and the worship of the risen lamb, who is crucified, together with God, through the Holy Spirit, in this cosmic, celestial liturgy in which one has insight into the deepest mysteries of God and into the very end of the whole of history. That's what Orthodox worship is all about, and that's what the book of Revelation is about, and the two come together. - Fr. Thomas Hopko, Great Tapes series, svspress.com

• The Book of Revelation had some notable advocates for inclusion into the canon as well.

• Justin the Martyr (2nd Century)
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Athanasius the Great

• The author of Revelation is traditionally identified with John the Evangelist (author of the fourth Gospel)

• There was question about the authorship from the beginning. No modern critic thinks that John wrote it.
• It is interesting to note that it is those who come from John are the defenders of Revelation.

• Irenaeus, for example, was the direct disciple and ordained by Polycarp of Smyrna, who was himself a direct disciple of John.
• Justin is also in the Johanine line.

• The official title of the book is The Apocalypse of John

• The term apocalypse means literally revelation, or disclosure
• Apocalypse is a particular type of revelation, however. It is a revelation to people capable of understanding the revelation, because they live within a certain spiritual, theological, liturgical, traditional world, which has its own history and language, and therefore its own mystical experience, so that this revelation, which is a revelation of God, which is a disclosure of an insight into truth -- and very particularly a truth of what is going on... It is written in cryptic language; it is written with images and symbols that only initiates can understand. It is not written for the world. It is written for the insiders. For those who belong. For those who are within God's realm. And it is given to them so that they would understand what's happening to them... But has an application larger, wider, deeper, and mor ultimate, than just to them - Fr. Thomas Hopko
• Revelation is an archetypal vision which has a historical reality and yet is a way to interpret the totality of reality. It shows what is happening to Christians at that time is also what is happening to Christians all the time until Christ's return.
• Revelation can only be properly understood from within the Orthodox catholic tradition.