WHO WROTE THE APOCALYPSE ?

Rev 1; 1-2. And He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that He saw. The Revelation was transmitted through an angel to God’s servant John the Apostle and Evangelist, who then recorded it for posterity. Such is the mark of all true knowledge. It comes to us from God, through the mediation of His holy servants – angels, apostles and prophets. The writer of the Apocalypse calls himself John at the very beginning, saying that to him was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1.1). Further, greeting the seven churches of Asia Minor, he again calls himself John (1.4). Later he again calls himself John, saying that he was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (1.9). From the history of the apostles it is known that it is precisely St. John the Theologian who was subjected to exile on the island of Patmos. And finally, at the end of the Apocalypse, the writer again calls himself John (22.8). In the second verse of the first chapter, he calls himself an eyewitness of Jesus Christ ( I John 1.3).The opinion that the Apocalypse was written by a certain ‘Presbyter John’ is totally without foundation. The very existence of this ‘Presbyter John’ as a person separate from the Apostle John is rather dubious. The only testimony which gives reason to speak about ‘Presbyter John’ is a passage from a work of Papias which has been preserved by the historian Eusebius. It is extremely indefinite and give opportunity only for guesses and suppositions which contradict each other. Likewise the opinion is totally without foundation that ascribes the writing of the Apocalypse to John Mark, that is, the Evangelist Mark. Even more absurd is the opinion of the Roman presbyter Gaius (3rd century) that the Apocalypse was written by the heretic Cerinthus.) The second proof that the Apocalypse belongs to the Apostle John the Theologian is its similarity to the Gospel and Epistles of John, not only in spirit but also in style, and especially in several characteristic expressions. Thus, for example, the apostolic preaching is called here testimony or witness (1.2, 9; 20.4; cf. John 1.7; 3.11; 21.24; I John 5.9-10). The Lord Jesus Christ is called the Word (19.13; cf. John 1.1-14; I John 1.1) as well as the Lamb (5.6; 17.14; cf. John 1.36). The prophetic words of Zechariah, And they shall look on Him Whom they pierced (12.10), are cited identically both in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse in accordance with the translation of the Seventy (1.7 and John 19.37).THE APOCALYPSE WAS WRITTEN BY ST. JOHN THE APPOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST. AMEN AND SHALOM.