why did john write the book of revelation

Reason for John writing the book Revelation.

Why would anyone write a book like Revelation, which is so different from the other books of the New Testament? The focus of this essay will be the examination of the purpose of the book of Revelation. Included in the discussion will be which John wrote the book and the various interpretive views used with this particular book. The authors identify themselves in the first few verses of the book, as is common for many New Testament books. I say ‘authors’ because the human author makes it quite clear he was sent the revelation by God through an angel. God wrote the book of Revelation through the hand of someone named John. 

 The human author identifies himself as John in Revelation 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8.1 John also indicated in Revelation 1:9 that he was on the island of Patmos, which is where Ignatius claimed John was exiled to.2 Justin Martyr, who lived in the first part of the second century, attributed the prophecy to the Apostle John.3,4 Numerous early Church Fathers credited the Apostle John with having authored the book of Revelation.5 It is evident, from the fact that the author did not identify himself more fully, that he was sufficiently well known by the churches to which he addressed the letters. The language used was not that of a person for whom Greek was their first language, while the use of imagery suggests knowledge only a Hebrew would have – both of these issues would be satisfied by the Apostle John.6 All of this suggests the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. The various methods of interpretation of the book must be examined to provide a framework for understanding the text and to help determine the purpose of the book.

 There have historically been four different methods of interpreting the book of Revelation, particularly chapters 4 through 22 of the book of Revelation: allegorical, preteristic, historical, and futuristic. Each of these will be examined in turn. The allegorical approach, also known as the spiritual approach, sees the book of Revelation as a purely symbolic discussion of the conflict between God and Satan.7 Those who hold to this view, like Augustine, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, claim there is nothing literal in this book. In this view, the entire book is simply a timeless allegory about the conflict between good and evil.8 Since it is not considered a prophetic work, those who hold this view do not believe in any millennial kingdom of Christ and as such hold to an amillennial view. The problem with this view is that it ignores the author’s statement in Revelation 1:3 that it was prophesy.