How Did Revelation End Up in the Biblical Canon?

As a trivia fact, the word "antichrist" never appears in the book of Revelation. I have won bar bets with that.

Thank you , I signed up for the Revelation class. Excited.

The things you don't learn in Catholic school. Speaking as a writer, though, Revelations feels like a really good book as an "ending" for the Bible's collection.

Always helpful, Dan. Stoking fear is right out of the cult playbook. Bad guys are more important to religion than God. There are bad guys a plenty in Revelations.

Revelations seems to have been written for political purposes.

very happy that your more on youtube now man, love your stuff. hope you can maybe monetize if thats your goal

This is, in my opinion, one of the most important articles you have posted to date.

You accurately noted that Athanasius's Canon list is what would later be recognized as the Canon of the NT. What you do not note is how much later... as in The Council of Trent in the sixteenth century and lists produced by Luther and other reformers a few decades before that. I think most scholars would concur that Revelation likely existed in the Canon books of multiple Christian bishops prior to Athanasius, and that Athanasius's list in 367 was probably not as much definitive for others as in broad consensus. The data show Canon books with and without Revelation (and with some variations including Didache and/or the Shepherd of Hermas, and a non-zero number not including Hebrews for several centuries thereafter. Canon until the 16th C then, at least in the West, depended on one's bishop, not on a unified list from any centralized authority.

Your closed captions added something about revelation supporting trinitarianism. I can't help but be reminded of Dr Tabor's point that revelation works fine without all of the "and his son jesus christ" bits, suggesting that the text in its original form predates christianity. I can't help but wonder if those bits were added, pethaps in the time of Athenasius, to, as you say, aupport trinitarianism.

How do we find information on this class?

Could you do a video on Apolonias of Tianna? I understand he lived about the same time as Jesus, only up in Macedonia, and there are many parallels.

Luther was not a fan 😂

Will you be comparing the text with other apocalyptic Jewish literature of the time? Sometimes I’ve heard it said that the author is a hellenized Jew (because of his name and Greek) but I’ve also heard it’s possible that it could have been written by a Christian named AFTER John.

Rips, Reps and Revelations

Love your work Dan. Rich and succinct. Perfect for a doofus like me.

The Catholic church???? I think you mean the Orthodox church. The (Roman) Catholic church wasn't really a thing until 1054 or thereabouts -- and it never had much influence in Alexandria. But yeah, Athenasius stuck us with Revelations.

Is AVP considered canon?

I was going to leave a like but it’s already at the perfect number. It was added because it was a popular story.

Isn't Revelation in the Codex Vaticanus and Sinaiticus?

The book of Revelation runs completely against the message of the gospels and the writings of Paul. From peace and reconciliation to fear and revenge. It portrays a totally different Jesus. It’s been great material for creating wild speculation and selling books for those who have the ‘true’ interpretation. Also great for the religious ruling class who want to keep the underclass in fear and subjugation.