When thinking about the mysterious Book of Revelation, the last installment in the New Testament, the first images that might come to mind are those of horsemen, the Antichrist, and a final judgment day. Some do not understand the Book of Revelation, and others have attempted to use Revelation to predict the end of the world. Elaine Pagels, professor of Religion at Princeton University and author of Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of Revelation, attempts to demystify the Book of Revelation, interpreting the book in the historical context of the time of its assumed author, John of Patmos. She emphasizes that Revelation is wartime literature, written as anti-Roman propaganda, and she asserts that apocalyptic literature
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Prior to this time, there was no separation of politics and religion in Rome, as many worshipped Roman leaders as if they were gods (13). With the Jesus movement gaining momentum and with natural disasters on the rise, Roman officials were concerned that the gods were angry with them because they were too lenient on the atheists who were, in this case, Christians (104). Seventy years after John wrote Revelation, the community had shifted from an “age of prophecy” to an “age of apostles” (107). Those who identified themselves as prophets and supported prophets viewed John of Patmos’s Book of Revelation as one of the central components of their preaching. Specifically, Justin the Philosopher, who was one of the first to write a letter to the Roman emperor demanding a separation of church and state, was also one of the first to claim John of Zebedee, an actual disciple of Jesus, was the John who wrote Revelation (107-108). Other figures in the Jesus community who wanted a separation of church and state included Irenaeus, who was the first to associate John’s visions of a beast and of a false prophet as the coming of an Antichrist (111), as well as Tertullian
Prior to this time, there was no separation of politics and religion in Rome, as many worshipped Roman leaders as if they were gods (13). With the Jesus movement gaining momentum and with natural disasters on the rise, Roman officials were concerned that the gods were angry with them because they were too lenient on the atheists who were, in this case, Christians (104). Seventy years after John wrote Revelation, the community had shifted from an “age of prophecy” to an “age of apostles” (107). Those who identified themselves as prophets and supported prophets viewed John of Patmos’s Book of Revelation as one of the central components of their preaching. Specifically, Justin the Philosopher, who was one of the first to write a letter to the Roman emperor demanding a separation of church and state, was also one of the first to claim John of Zebedee, an actual disciple of Jesus, was the John who wrote Revelation (107-108). Other figures in the Jesus community who wanted a separation of church and state included Irenaeus, who was the first to associate John’s visions of a beast and of a false prophet as the coming of an Antichrist (111), as well as Tertullian