The dating of the writing of John is debated, however, I agree with most scholars that it was written toward the end of the first century. In this post, I will provide internal and external evidence in order to prove that John wrote Revelation at a late date.

 

Internal Evidence:

 

1. If John wrote Revelation between 64-67 A.D., as the early date states, then the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 overlaps with Paul’s two letters to Timothy, who was the pastor of the church when Paul wrote to him. Yet, Paul makes no mention of the loss of first love or the presence of the Nicolaitans at Ephesus in his correspondence with Timothy. Neither does he mention these problems in his Ephesian epistle, which was probably written in A.D. 62.

 

2. The church at Laodicea was the only one of the seven churches (and possibly Sardis) that did not receive any commendations in Revelation 2-3. In his letter to the Colossians, probably written in A.D. 60-62, Paul indicates that the church was an active group (Colossians 4:13). He mentions the church three times in his letter (Col. 2:2; 4:13, 16). It would certainly take more than two to seven years for the church to depart so completely from its earlier acceptable status such that absolutely nothing good could be said about it in Revelation.

 

3. The lack of a mention of Paul within the book of Revelation would be unusual if John had written Revelation early. Paul had a profound and lengthy ministry at Ephesus—the church addressed by one of the letters of the book of Revelation (Rev. 2:1-7). If Paul ministered in Ephesus for almost 3 years beginning in A.D. 52 John wrote within just 12-16 years of Paul’s ministry (as held by early date advocates), it seems very unusual that there was not the slightest inference about Paul in any of the letters to the Asian churches. But if John wrote much later, near the end of the 90s, then something more than 40 years would have passed and the generation which saw Paul’s ministry would no longer be living.

 

External Evidence:

 

1. Emperor Domitian reigned between 81 and 96 A.D. There is early testimony that John wrote Revelation toward the end of his reign:

 

“We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.” (Roberts, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. I, s.v. “ECF 1.1.7.1.5.31.”)

 

A straightforward reading of this statement, made by Irenaeus, indicates that the apocalyptic vision given by God was toward the end of the reign of Domitian. Which would be around 95-96 A.D.