apocalypse

based on what we know.  The bible was not really defined prior to the fifth century.  It could be said that Jerome defined the bible with the Vulgate at the end of the fourth century.  Augustine, later in the fifth century would finally comment on the Apocalypse in chapter 7 of Book XX  of his “City of God”.  Even though Augustine did not want another translation of the bible, he let Jerome know that, he did wait til Jerome validated the Apocalypse in the Vulgate before he commented on it.  To connect all the dots we need to look at John Chrysostom who was in Ephesus when Jerome was completing the Vulgate.

is what the German scholar Vischer called the Apocalypse.  It was changed into a Christian work simply by adding Jesus, the seven churches, and Antipas.  J. Massyngberde Ford argued that John the Baptist wrote the first one.  It was not accepted in the east.  Jerome was convinced it was written by the Apostle and included it in the Vulgate.  John Chrysostom who never quoted the Apocalypse was visiting Ephesus at the beginning of 401 and may have found copies of it.  I guess it is my job to connect all the dots.

does not contain the Apocalypse.  Codex Vaticanus is dated 325.  Codex Sinaiticus is dated 360 and the Apocalypse is “corrupted”.  What does that mean?  I don’t know.  Codex Alexandrinus is dated 440.  These bibles did not come with a date stamp.  The dates are estimates based on format and content.  The point being we do not know what the Apocalypse looked like prior to 440 but we do know that many didn’t believe it was written by John the Apostle and that would mean it didn’t belong in the bible.  So how did it get in the bible?

about the first coming, not the second, and we all know who prepared the way for the Lamb of God.  John bare record in the Gospel of John and, in the Apocalypse, the first John of the first chapter who bare record.  John the Baptist “bare record”.  John the Baptist knows the Lamb, a word used 27 times in the Apocalypse.

about the Apocalypse by Irenaeus.  There must have been copies that were not genuine or ancient.  Tertullian seems to be the only early Church Father who knows Antipas and the seven churches.  His copy is genuine but not ancient.  Antipas can be found in Scorpiace along with the churches.  Victorinus and Eusebius did not get that memo.  Just a genuine and ancient copy of something written by John the Baptist.  John Chrysostom may have seen both versions, the one written by the Baptist and the other by the Apostle, when he visited Ephesus in 401 just before Jerome completed the Vulgate which settled all the arguments about whether or not the Apocalypse belonged in the Bible.

for what we are looking at.  They were looking at the first version of the Apocalypse written by John the Baptist.  It was later updated by John the Apostle who added Jesus, Antipas, and the seven churches to address the followers of the Baptist in Ephesus when Paul was there.  Eusebius and Victorinus were looking at what Irenaeus called “ancient copies” of the Apocalypse.

in the Church History by Eusebius.  Martyr is mentioned 355 times.   Carpus and Papylus, and Agathonice are mentioned as martyrs in the city of Pergamus.  Antipas is not mentioned.  Eusebius mentions six of the seven churches of the Apocalypse but never associates any of them with the Apocalypse.  We have the same problem with Victorinus, who mentions the spirits but not the churches.  So what were Eusebius and Victorinus looking at?

that can only be attributed to John the Babtist.  The word lamb is used 27 times in the Apocalypse and only 4 times in the rest of the New Testament.  The two in John’s Gospel are attributed to John the Baptist.  Jesus is mentioned 14 times in the Apocalypse. The commentary of Victorinus mentions Jesus 9 times.  Only four of them are direct references to the Apocalypse and they could have been added by Jerome who was not satisfied with the commentary and actually modified it.  Furthermore Victorinus does not mention Antipas or any of the seven churches.  He is not the only one.  Eusebius has the same problem but it is worse.

or maybe the only explanation for all the issues surrounding the Apocalypse:

Who wrote it?

When was it written?

Why was it written?

John the Baptist wrote the first Apocalypse before he knew Jesus was the Lamb of God.

He was preparing the way for the first coming not the second.

John the Apostle  later updated it with Jesus, Antipas, and the seven churches.

He was addressing the Baptist followers in Ephesus.

John Chrysostom witnessed the sixth of seven fallen dynasties

He was in Ephesus shortly before Jerome included the Apocalypse in the Vulgate.

the beast was yet to return.  There is one historical event that will fit this so you don’t need to put it into the future.  The Pagan Roman Empire, the beast from the sea, was mortally wounded and replaced by Islam,  the second beast that came out of the earth.  John Chrysostom was the only significant John present when this took place.