connecting the dots 

A Necessary Thing 

to make sense of what we know.  There has been a lot of confusion over the Apocalypse.  Who wrote it?  When?  Why is it in the Bible?  To address what we don’t know, we must try to make  sense of what we do know.  We may be able to come up with a reasonable explanation.  

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three johns 

A Fact 

that demands some kind of explanation.  Have you heard one?  Probably not.  A reasonable explanation is there were three different Johns connected with the Apocalypse.  John the Baptist, John the Apostle, and John Chrysostom.  It fits with history.  Really.  

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pure speculation 

A Warning 

that you can’t believe what you find on the internet.  Duh?  So what can you believe?  A reasonable explanation when there is no alternative to a situation that demands an answer.  What is a reasonable explanation?  Something that is consistent with historical events.  

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where do you go for 

A Reliable Copy 

of the Apocalypse.  We know that John Chrysostom was in Ephesus when Jerome was finishing the Vulgate.  Who in Ephesus could be trusted?  Certainly not the seven bishops Chrysostom was replacing.  Jerome knew all the major players and must have known Chrysostom was someone you could trust. 

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we need 

A Bible 

you can trust.  That was Jerome’s job.  It is safe to say no two bibles were alike before Jerome so  it was his job to first find reliable copies of the books that belonged in the Bible before he could produce a reliable translation.  At that time it was not clear which ones belonged and that was especially true with the Apocalypse.  Before Jerome we don’t know what it looked like.  

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