A Commentary on the Apocalypse
A dog that didn’t bark. Victorinus didn’t mention the churches. He does mention the seven churches that Paul wrote to. So why not mention the seven churches that John wrote to? It is possible that his version of the Apocalypse didn’t have the seven churches. We need to look at Eusebius to see if he has the same problem.
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A Christian Empire
A bishop extraordinaire was in Ephesus to replace seven corrupt bishops at the beginning of the fifth century. John Chrysostom, who never quoted the Apocalypse, could not ignore what John the Apostle may have left there. At that time Jerome could have been looking for a reliable copy of the Apocalypse. He was finishing the Vulgate.
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A Testimony of Jesus Christ
A “bare record”. It was John the Baptist “who bare record”. It was John the Apostle who wrote “to the seven churches”. It was John Chrysostom, “who also am your brother”, who was in Ephesus when Jerome was finishing his Vulgate and needed a reliable copy of the Apocalypse. Three Johns.
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A Revelation In Storm And Thunder
A Russian astronomer named Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov found it in the stars. A date for the Apocalypse and the name of the writer. John Chrysostom in 395. He was in Ephesus in 401 replacing seven corrupt bishops. This could be the third John, a brother, on the Isle of Patmos.
A Place Called Patmos
A man named John. Just one of His servants. There are two more also named John. The first bare record. The second wrote to the seven churches. The third was on the isle of Patmos. Three different Johns. A reasonable explanation for some of the questions surrounding the Apocalypse.
A connecting of the Apocalypse with John the Apostle and John the Baptist. Acts 19 connects Ephesus with the followers of the Baptist. The Apostle is already connected. Irenaeus of the 2nd century mentions ancient copies of the Apocalypse. Sounds like an Apocalypse that preceded the Apostle and the seven churches.
A Prophecy Again
A second John to the seven churches. The apostle would eat the book and prophesy again. It is now his book. It gets in the bible because it is now his book. Not everyone believed that. Only the ones who were in charge of what went into the bible. Enter Jerome and the Vulgate.
A Preparation For The Way
A prophet, of which none were greater said Jesus. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lamb of God. What other document uses the word “lamb” more than the Apocalypse? John knew the lamb but did not know it was Jesus. John the Apostle knew it all including the seven churches.
A Failure To Mention The Seven Churches
A fourth century historian, Eusebius, mentions six of the seven churches but fails to associate them with the Apocalypse. Early copies of the Apocalypse no longer exist but if they did they might not contain seven churches. John the Baptist knew the “lamb” but not the churches.
A Church With Seven Associations
A first look at what no longer exists. Victorinus from the second century commented on the Apocalypse. He mentions the seven churches Paul wrote to but not the ones John wrote to. This has not been addressed by the scholars so we can only speculate why. His version of the Apocalypse didn’t have seven churches.
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