The Life and Times of St. John the Divine:
St John was part of a time when many living people still remembered Jesus Christ, and had seen and encountered him. It was also at this time, about 60 years after the crucifixion, that Christianity was a Jewish sect, trying to survive the horrors of living under Roman rule.
The emperors in that time were cruel and masochistic men, of vast power and desires, and notoriously short tempers. And the one that stood out among them was Nero- the Emperor at the time that John wrote Revelations. He ruled when the empire stretched from Britain to Africa, and included the Holy City of Jerusalem. In 64 A.D., Rome burned. Rumors spread that Nero himself had started the fire, and in order to escape the wrath of his people, he chose the easiest scapegoat at that time- the “renegade Jews” who called themselves Christians. And his wrath and vengeance for the crimes he laid against the Christians was swift, brutal, and bizarre. …show more content…
The worst? Death and torture. One of the torture methods used was setting animals upon the Christian victims and allowing them to be eaten alive, just for the Roman soldier’s amusement. The Romans expected the Emperor to be worshiped as a Deity, which was a sacrilege for both Jews and Christians. However, in 64 A.D., the Jews began to fight back- they managed to gain control of the temple in Jerusalem; but shortly after the Romans too back the temple, sacked the city and evicted the Jews, and they would not return for nearly 1900
St John was part of a time when many living people still remembered Jesus Christ, and had seen and encountered him. It was also at this time, about 60 years after the crucifixion, that Christianity was a Jewish sect, trying to survive the horrors of living under Roman rule.
The emperors in that time were cruel and masochistic men, of vast power and desires, and notoriously short tempers. And the one that stood out among them was Nero- the Emperor at the time that John wrote Revelations. He ruled when the empire stretched from Britain to Africa, and included the Holy City of Jerusalem. In 64 A.D., Rome burned. Rumors spread that Nero himself had started the fire, and in order to escape the wrath of his people, he chose the easiest scapegoat at that time- the “renegade Jews” who called themselves Christians. And his wrath and vengeance for the crimes he laid against the Christians was swift, brutal, and bizarre. …show more content…
The worst? Death and torture. One of the torture methods used was setting animals upon the Christian victims and allowing them to be eaten alive, just for the Roman soldier’s amusement. The Romans expected the Emperor to be worshiped as a Deity, which was a sacrilege for both Jews and Christians. However, in 64 A.D., the Jews began to fight back- they managed to gain control of the temple in Jerusalem; but shortly after the Romans too back the temple, sacked the city and evicted the Jews, and they would not return for nearly 1900