A Clue
that there is more than one writer of the Apocalypse. John is told to eat the little book and then is told he must prophesy again. It could be John the Apostle eating the little book written by John the Baptist. The Apostle would add Jesus, Antipas, and the seven churches.
A Conjecture
it is a reasonable explanation for the questions surrounding the Apocalypse. The original was about the first coming hence the time was near. Later in Ephesus there were John the Baptist followers who didn’t know Jesus. John the Apostle was well aware of this.
A Catholic Website
has this to say about the Apocalypse. “We cannot conclude without mentioning the theory advanced by the German scholar Vischer. He holds the Apocalypse to have been originally a purely Jewish composition, and to have been changed into a Christian work by the insertion of those sections that deal with Christian subjects. From a doctrinal point of view, we think, it cannot be objected to. There are other instances where inspired writers have availed themselves of non-canonical literature. Intrinsically considered it is not improbable. The Apocalypse abounds in passages which bear no specific Christian character but, on the contrary, show a decidedly Jewish complexion. Yet on the whole the theory is but a conjecture.”
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A Problem
with the Apocalypse. Why would he introduce himself three times at the beginning of the first chapter? There is only one reasonable explanation. They are three different Johns. John the Baptist, John the Apostle, and John Chrysostom. Nothing else makes sense. It must be considered.
A Reasonable Theory
posed by Josephine Massyngbaerde Ford was that John the Baptist wrote the first version. It was not well received even though many scholars have held that the Apocalypse was the work of more than one author. It has also been held that the Apocalypse was first written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek.
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A Bigger Problem
compared to the problem with interpretation if you are looking for the king of the north. There are eight different words in 52 different translations: princes 24, commanders 10, officers 7, officials 5, generals 2, leaders 2, principalities 1, subordinates 1. The word prince suggests a family member unlike the other seven words which have a common meaning. Makes you wonder about words used in other parts of the bible. These are major differences in words used before you get to the problem of interpreting them. Reader beware.
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A Design
“Amongst the Interpreters of the last age there is scarce one of note who hath not made some discovery worth knowing; and thence I seem to gather that God is about opening these mysteries. The success of others put me upon considering it; and if I have done any thing which may be useful to following writers, I have my design,” a quote that can be found in “Observations On Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John” by Sir Isaac Newton, an online book that is searchable. Newton spent a lot of time investigating the Apocalypse and his views should be considered by anyone who wants to understand.
A Historian
who did not appreciate interpretation. “The folly of Interpreters has been, to foretel times and things by this Prophecy, as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophecy also into contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the Prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men’s curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not the Interpreters, be then manifested thereby to the world.”
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A Valuable Source
for information on the Apocalypse and it is all online. The Newton Project for all his works.
“Observations On Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John” by Sir Isaac Newton, an online book that is searchable. Newton spent a lot of time investigating the Apocalypse and his views should be considered by anyone who wants to understand.
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A Mystery
and likely to remain so. Rome was not a mystery. Constantinople is even though it is a better fit. It has all the characteristics. No other city has them. Many waters, seven hills, trade, is fallen, is fallen, and can be found no more at all. Experts on the Apocalypse can’t find it.
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apocalypse 