John of Patmos

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''For John the apostle of Jesus, see John the Apostle.

''For the author of the Gospel, see John the Evangelist.

"Saint John on Patmos" by Hans Baldung Grien, 1511

John of Patmos is the name given to the author of the Book of Revelation (or Book of the Apocalypse) in the New Testament. According to the text of Revelation, the author, who gives his name as "John", is living in exile on the Greek island of Patmos. In Revelation, he writes to the seven Christian churches in Asia to relate two apocalytic visions he has had. He is sometimes known as the "Eagle of Patmos".

John of Patmos is often referred to as John the Divine, in reference to the divination he received which constitutes Revelation. Indeed the full title of the Book of Revelation is The apocalypse of Saint John the Divine, with apocalypse simply being a Greek word for revelation, and Divine an old usage meaning one who has had a revelation.

Traditionally, it has been believed that John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, was the same person as both John, the apostle of Jesus and John the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of John. Justin Martyr, writing in the early 2nd century was the first to equate the author of Revelation with John the apostle.Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 81.4 Others contend that they were separate individuals.

John the Presbyter, teacher of Papias, bishop of Hieropolis in the early 2nd century, is often conflated with John of Patmos or with the Apostle. The church historian Eusebius of Caesaria and Dionysius of Alexandria both identified the John in Revelation as John the Presbyter. However, since John was a common name among early Christians it cannot be ruled out that John of Patmos was a John distinct from John the evangelist, John the apostle and John the author of the Johannine epistles.

See also

• Authorship of the Johannine works
• Revelation - Authorship
• John the Revelator

References