The Eleven-Year Window

When did John write the book of Revelation? Have you ever thought about that? It’s actually a matter of some controversy.

Anyone familiar with the various schools of eschatological interpretation will immediately see why dating Revelation matters, and matters quite a bit to those invested in it. Preterists believe most of John’s visions chronicled in chapters 1 through 19 came to pass not long after he wrote, fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Roman army in AD70. Futurists believe little corresponding to most of these events has yet taken place.

Blink and You’ll Miss It

The “Rapture”, I mean.

Or maybe the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats. Or both.

Has the Church failed to notice the return of Christ to earth to judge the nations?

Or more specifically, did his prophesied return actually take place in AD 70 when, under Titus, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, eventually conquering the city and sacking the temple, thereby fulfilling the word of the Lord about it that “not one stone will be left upon another”?

Some Christians certainly think so.