Before Jerusalem Fell

18 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
the two general dating camps regarding Revelation does not necessarily
fall along conservative/liberal lines. Nevertheless, the division
between Revelation scholars also tends to fall into two general camps.
These, too, are usually classed as “late” (c. A.D. 95) and “early”
(pre-A.D. 70, generally determined to be between A.D. 64 and A.D.
70) ?
New Testament scholars commonly divide the options on the
dating of Revelation between these two periods. 5
We should note,
however, that more precise dates than simply pre-A.D. 70 and c.
A.D. 95 have been suggested by scholars – although the demonstration
of a pre-A.D. 70 date is the major issue. For instance, Guthrie
presents a three-fold classification based on the eras of three different
Roman emperors: Domitian, Nero, and Vespasian.G Kepler suggests
four different time-frame classifications: (1) late Nero, (2) between
Nero and A.D. 70, (3) Vespasian, and (4) late Domitian. 7
Second, the interpretation of both is strongly influenced by the
date assigned by the interpreter. Although the time span separating
the two general camps among Revelation interpreters (about 30
years) is not as broad as that which separates Danielic scholars
(around 400 years), the catastrophic events separating the two Revelation
dates are of enormous consequence. Those events include most
prominently: (1) the beginnings of the Roman persecution of Christianity
(A.D. 64-68); (2) the Jewish Revolt and the destruction of the
4. There are even some noted early date scholars that hold to dates during Claudius’s
reign in the mid-A.D. 40s (e.g., Ziillig, Grotius, and Hammond), but this position is quite
rare. See William Milligan, Dimmim.s on the A@ca(@e (London: Macmillan, 1893), pp.
75ff. Still others hold a mid-50s date. See Milton S. Terry, Biblical Hen-nerwatics, p. 241 n
for source documentation.
5. For example, Robert H. Gund~ mentions only two options: in the general era of
Nero and of Domitian; Gundry, SUrug of the New T~~tanwst (Grand Rapids: Zondeswan,
1970), pp. 364-365. See also G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation. New Century
Bible (London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1974), p. 37; Harry E. Boer, T/u Book of
Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), p. 19; J. W. Roberts, The Revelation to John
(Austin, TX: Sweet, 1974), p. ~ Mounce, Revelation, pp. 32-33; Leon Morris, The
Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), p. 34.
6. Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introdadion, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-
Varsity Press, 1970), pp. 949tT, 958ff., 961. It should be noted that the Neronic and
Vespasianic time-frames under consideration are very close, usually understood to be
separated by a period of fmm as early as A.D. 64 to around A.D. 70. Thus, they may
both be considered in the “early” time-frame.
7. Thomas S. Kepler, The Book of Reoelatwn: A Comrnentay jr Ixynwn (New York
Oxford, 1957), p. 19.