Category:John of Patmos--research (subject)

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Survey of scholarly works on John of Patmos.

Overview

In the New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible (s.v. 'Patmos'), Christopher Rowland writes

Patmos is the AEGEAN island where the visionary called John received and recorded his vision, the book of Revelation (Rev 1:9). Patmos was probably not the backwater that is often assumed, with local cults to Apollo and Artemis. The text does not allow us to know whether John was on the island voluntarily, impelled there by a divine impulse, or banished for his prophetic activity. In later legend he was banished there by the Roman emperor himself. John writes that he is on Patmos “because of the word.” This preposition construction is used elsewhere to indicate the outcome rather than the purpose of an action (e.g., Rev 2:3; 4:11), suggesting that John may have come here to hear the word rather than as the consequence of having preached the word. If, however, it is a consequence of his activity, it is most likely because some local official sent him as a result of his activities on the mainland. Patmos is the context for his trance experience (Rev 1:10), where, like Ezekiel in exile in Babylon (Ezek 1), John is enabled to understand divine mysteries about the future of the world and its political powers.

This sentiment prevails in much New Testament scholarship. Nevertheless, at this precise point opinions diverge with some taking John's words as addressing the contemporary situation while others see the book in its entirety as a 'prediction' of the future. In fairness, it must be noted that most NT scholars belong in the former camp with only a minority on the margins of scholarship adhering to the latter.

Select Bibliography

Comfort and protest : reflections on the Apocalypse of John of Patmos, by Allan A. Boesak. The 'Figurae' of John of Patmos, by Richard Bauckham. St. John of Patmos and the seven churches of the Apocalypse, by Otto F.A. Meinardus. Apocalypse and redemption in early Christianity : from John of Patmos to Augustine of Hippo, by Paula Fredriksen. - In: Vigiliae christianae. - 45. 1991, 2. - S. 151. Historical memory in an Aegean monastery : St John of Patmos and the emirate of Menteshe, by Elizabeth A. Zachariadou. - In: The Hospitallers, the Mediterranean and Europe. - 2007. - S. 131-137. Critiquing the excess of Empire : a synkrisis of John of Patmos and Dio of Prusa, by Peter S. Perry. - In: Journal for the study of the New Testament. - 29. 2007, 4. - S. 473-496. The social history of Satan : part 3: John of Patmos and Ignatius of Antioch - contrasting visions of "God's people", by Elaine Pagels. - In: Heresy and identity in Late Antiquity. - 2008. - S. 231-252.