1 – Who was John? John, of course, was the author of Revelation. But people ask, “Which one?” That is a reasonable question because John (or Yochanan) was a common name in the first century. There are three prime contenders: a) John, the disciple of Jesus; b) John Mark, who appears in the Book of…
Throughout most of history people have used riddles as questions ot make others think. As in the art of writing poetry, there is skill needed in designing riddles so so they seem to be trick questions, but have an actual answer. The Bible features riddles that clouded opponents’ ability to answer and prevent the faint…
Do the scriptures teach God ended the Mosaic Covenant and replaced it with a New Covenant? Theologians in Christianity say that the New Covenant, which Jesus Christ inaugurated, rendered the Mosaic Covenant obsolete for justification. But is that true, or a misunderstanding? Did the fulfillment of the old covenant bring the new covenant into existence?…
The title of this blog sets forth one of the problematic questions people ask me. Why do I say this? Because the question often leads us to discuss authorship at length before we can discuss the Apocalypse’s context or contents. Every suggestion about the author of the Apocalypse carries baggage and affects how people interpret…
This blog is part of a series. The first article (here) gives an introduction to the Seven Churches of Revelation. The second article (here) explains the leadership of churches in the first century. A third blog (here) examines the character of the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. . . The final book of the Bible, entitled…
John opens the Book of Revelation by writing letters to seven Christian assemblies located in western Asia Minor (today’s Turkey), Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each of these towns had unique personalities that I describe in my book “John’s Apocalypse: A Jewish Idea.” In this series of blogs, I seek to give a brief history of each…
John begins the book of Revelation with letters to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each of these towns had unique personalities that I describe in my book “John’s Apocalypse: A Jewish Idea.” In this series of blogs, I seek to give a brief history of each town, focusing around the time period when John…
John begins the book of Revelation with letters to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Various people give different meanings to these seven congregations. William Barclay, in his commentary, focuses on the history of each city. George Eldon Ladd in his commentary focuses on the phrases in the text.Robert Mounce in…
John begins the book of Revelation with letters to seven Christian assemblies located in western Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). I read blogs that ask, “Were these real churches or symbolic?” From my research and a visit to the area in 2025, I can answer, “These were real churches in real cities.” In my research, I…
The book of Revelation contains letters to seven Christian assemblies that were located in western Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). People sometimes ask, “Were these real churches?” to which I respond, “These were real churches in real cities.” I have written a series of blogs to explain in more detail some of the things being relayed…
