Monday, January 17, 2022

Saint John Patmos, the writer of the Book of Revelation

Suthep Chaviwan/Jan. 18. 22

There are many mysteries in the book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament. For almost 2,000 years have passed since the book is written, but its contents remain a mystery for generations to readers who had to interpret throughout the many stories of this book.

It has many symbols and codes which I would like to call *secret code*, which has not been fully disclosed. No sage has yet dared to determine what the various symbols or signs that exist, such as Number 666, and then clearly stated as the accepted norm that does not need to be interpreted further.

We know Revelation is a recording of John's Evangelist, that includes the Apocalypse, which means manifestation. Others made a revelation from Jesus Christ known to him and shared. But why is it unclear? Even the profile of John is a mystery who he is.

But we are Christians, no matter what group we are in; Catholics and Protestants, both hold on to John's book of Revelation to study and read. Some understand it, some don't, but we wait for Holy Spirit to guide us to understand it.

The writer briefly stated that he was John, written on Patmos Island. Christians in the present generation, who do not know his real name, have named him "John Patmos" or Saint John theologian to make it easier to remember.

Some Christian scholars believe he is the same John among the group of 12 apostles, who are closest to Jesus Christ (John 20:2).

In the New Testament as far as we have searched, five people use the name, John. The first is John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus Christ. He was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, a relative of Jesus Christ. The second John is the father of the apostle Peter (John 1:42). The third was John, whom Jesus loved (John 20:2), and we believe this person is the author of the Book of John and other scriptures including the Book of Revelation.

The fourth John is John Mark (Acts 12:12), I believe he is the author of the Book of Mark. It appeared the fifth John in (Acts 4:5-6), which interested parties may find this name in the book.

As to John who wrote the book of Revelation, He only said that he was a prisoner, exiled to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9) because of the guilt of believing in Jesus, during which the persecution of Christians was common in the era of the Roman Empire known as Domitian, at the end of the first century, which Rome spreads the power to rule in that region as well

We know that the revelation is an epistle or a letter that John Patmos sent to the seven churches as shown in the map attached here. Do the seven churches understand the contents in the Book of Revelation or not is unknown. They may not understand or clearly understand, no evidence to support this matter?

Patmos is a small island with an area of 34.05 square kilometres. It is now a tourist destination as well. Please refer to the accompanying map. In Turkey, UNESCO registered as an Important Religious Site in 1999.

On this small island is a beautiful old church building, the Monastery of St. John, The Theologian, built by Greek Orthodox Christians. Another landmark is The Cave of the Apocalypse, where Jesus Christ showed the Apocalypse to John, and UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site.

Before conclusion, I would like to make an additional comment that every page of the Book of Revelation has Endnotes or Reference Footnotes. It's good that readers can make comparisons and references. I encourage you to make research, based on Footnotes if you have time.  AMEN.

**************************************************************************


                                             Suthep Chaviwan is a senior Thai journalist.

                                                                        #

No comments:

Post a Comment