The theology of the two books is in close agreement. This can easily
be shown in the case of the doctrine of Christ's Person. He is called
the "Lamb" [5] in the Gospel (i. 29, 36) and in the Revelation (v. 6,
8, 12, etc.). He is called the "Word" in the Gospel (i. 1, etc.) and
in the Revelation (xix. 13). He is taught to be eternal and divine.
He is "the Alpha and {274} the Omega, the first and the last" (xxii.
13; cf. Isa. xliv. 6). He shares the throne of God (xxii. 1, 3); He
determines who shall be released from the realm of death (i. 18); He
joins in the judgment (vi. 16); He is worshipped by the elders and the
angels (v. 8, 11). He is the Bridegroom of the Church (xix. 7; xxi. 2,
cf. John iii. 29). The attitude towards Judaism is the same as that in
the Gospel. The Jews who oppose Jesus are strongly denounced (iii. 9),
and though the Church is a new _Jerusalem_, it is composed of people
gathered out of every nation (vii. 9). The necessity of good works is
strenuously upheld (ii. 5, 19); but they are not works of rabbinical
righteousness, but works of Jesus (ii. 26), and the "righteous acts of
the saints" (xix. 8) are based on "the faith of Jesus" (xiv. 12).
Salvation is the free gift of Christ (xxi. 6; xxii. 17). The saints
who overcome, conquer not by relying upon their own righteousness, but
"because of the blood of the Lamb" (xii. 11).
In the Revelation (ii. 17) Jesus promises to believers "the hidden
manna;" in the Gospel, referring also to the manna, He promises "the
true bread from heaven" (John vi. 32). In the Revelation (xxii. 17)
Jesus says, "Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him
take of the water of life freely;" in the Gospel He says, "If any man
thirst, let him come unto Me and drink" (John vii. 37). If, then, the
Revelation is full of Hebrew expressions, it is essentially and
profoundly Christian, and linked with the other Johannine books by the
closest kinship. The theology and the style of the Revelation are the
same throughout.[6] We can therefore reject without hesitation the
recent hypothesis that it is one large Jewish work with numerous
Christian interpolations. The difficulty of supposing that the book
was ever a purely Jewish Apocalypse {275} can quickly be realized by
any one who undertakes to strike out all the Christian allusions in the
book.
The author states that he is John, in the strongest fashion both in the
beginning and end (i. 4, 9; xxii. 8), and his attitude towards the
seven Churches is inexplicable unless the writer held a position of the
highest ecclesiastical importance.
[Sidenote: For whom written.]
Plainly for the whole Church, as represented by "the seven Churches
which are in Asia" (i. 4).
[Sidenote: Date.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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