revelation (redirected from Revealed truth)

Revelation or Apocalypse (əpŏk`əlĭps), the last book of the New Testament. It was written c.A.D. 95 on Patmos Island off the coast of Asia Minor by an exile named John, in the wake of local persecution by the Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81–96). Tradition has identified John with the disciple St. John, but many scholars deny such authorship. They also disagree as to whether this book has common authorship with the Gospel or with First, Second, and Third John. The book is an apocalypse, comprising visions of victory over evil and persecution and of the triumph of God and the martyrs. Its structure is deliberate, depending heavily on patterns of sevens. It consists of letters counseling and warning seven churches in Asia Minor; the opening of the seven seals on the scroll in the hand of God, four revealing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; the blowing of seven trumpets by angels before God's throne; the seven visions, including a seven-headed dragon (Satan) and the rising from the sea of the Beast, related to the Emperor Nero (persecutor of Christians in Rome after the great fire of A.D. 64), whose name is numerically equivalent to 666; the seven plagues; the seven-headed harlot named Babylon, representing the Roman Empire; and visions of heaven, the defeat of Satan, the judgment, the millennial reign of Christ, and the New Jerusalem. Constant allusion occurs to earlier scriptural prophecies, such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and Isaiah. One immediate goal of Revelation was to encourage persecuted Christians; absolute assurance of interpretation stops there. Every period of Christian history has produced variant explanations of the book's mysteries. See apocalypse.

Bibliography

See studies by G. E. Ladd (1972), D. H. Lawrence (1972), G. B. Caird (1980), L. Morris (1987), A. Y. Collins (1988), J. P. M. Sweet (1990), R. Wall (1991), and J. Kirsch (2006).

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revelation

Transmission of knowledge from a god or gods to humans. In the Western monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, revelation is the basis of religious knowledge. Humans know God and his will because God has chosen to reveal himself to them. He may communicate with his chosen servants through dreams, visions, or physical manifestations and may inspire prophets who relay his message to the people. His will may also be translated directly into writing through the handing down of divine law (e.g., the Ten Commandments) or scripture (e.g., the Bible and the Qur'an). Other religions emphasize “cosmic” revelation, in which any and all aspects of the world may reveal the nature of a single underlying divine power (e.g., Brahman in the Vedas).

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revelation

Christianity

a. God's disclosure of his own nature and his purpose for mankind, esp through the words of human intermediaries

b. something in which such a divine disclosure is contained, such as the Bible

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Revelation

the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world. Also called: the Apocalypse, the Revelation of Saint John the Divine

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Revelation

final book of the New Testament discussing the coming of the world’s end. [N.T.: Revelation]

See : Apocalypse