Was Revelation written after 70 CE?

[tonychanyt]

I.e., after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.

Re 11:

1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there. 2 But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

Does this mean that the temple was standing when John wrote the above?

Not necessarily. John's language was highly symbolic.

3 And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

It's open to interpretation.

19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

Many scholars believe that John wrote Revelation after 70 CE.

Irenaeus (180 CE) wrote about the identity of the Antichirst:

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.

Domitian reigned from 81 to 96 CE after the temple destruction.

According to Irenaeus' reasoning, Apostle John didn't give out the identity of the Antichrist in the 90s because John didn't know. Irenaeus didn't want to speculate on the identity either.

Irenaeus thought John wrote Revelation after the temple destruction in the 90s.

While Revelation 11:1-2 mentions the Temple, it could be understood as symbolic rather than literal. By the time of Domitian, the Temple’s destruction was a past event, and its imagery could be used metaphorically to describe the spiritual state of God’s people.

Was Revelation written after 70 CE?

I'd say that with a 75% probability.

 

[DragonFox91]

I agree. They'd reject a book if it was all just past events. I also remember when researching this the other key point was the date when it was written was never really disputed, it was if it s/ be canon or not b/c it's too weird

 

[tonychanyt]

the date when it was written was never really disputed,

reference?