Syriac Revelation

[Notthemama1984]

How trust worthy is the Syriac preface to Revelation stating that John was exiled by Nero?

 

[Prufrock]

That is one possible time. However, the early sources are very divided. Many of the fathers thought it under Domitian, others Nero.

There are many good critical discussions of this out there you can read.

 

[Notthemama1984]

I know that Gentry wrote a well received dissertation on the early dating of Revelation, but I have not read it yet.

 

[Prufrock]

Keep in mind that the date of Revelation for many people is a loaded theologically driven issue. For those whose theology states that Revelation is about the destruction of Jerusalem, obviously it must be written before 70AD; for many who oppose this, there might be a tendency to advocate a later date to make it easier to defeat their opponents' theological reading (obviously, if it's written after 70AD, that reading is wholly incorrect).

I can't be too much help to you on this one. My academic interests have been with Paul and the synoptics. Most of the material on this with which I am familiar is from the 1800s, and I'm sure much more research has been done since then.

 

[Notthemama1984]

thanks anyways. I agree that it can be theologically driven. I have seen Dispensationalists use the dating of Revelation as their number one way of "disproving" preterism.

 

[Prufrock]

If you go here, on the right hand side of the page, scroll down until you find the Amillenialism 101 section; the last item in the list is a lecture entitled A Problem for Preterists. I recall that this piece by Riddlebarger is worth the listen as an introductory argument for a late date. If you have an hour or so sometime, I might be worth the time.

 

[Notthemama1984]

Thanks I am going to listen right now.