Earliest Proposal
There was no dispute among the apostolic fathers as to the authorship of the Revelation. The author identifies himself four times simply as “John” (1:1, 4; 21:2; 22:8). The earliest fathers—e.g., Justin Martyr (d.165), Irenaeus (c.180), Clement of Alexandria (d. 215), Tertullian (d. 220)—unanimously identified this author with John, the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles, and the “beloved disciple” of Christ, to whom the writing of the fourth Gospel and three epistles is also attributed.
Later Proposals
While accepting its place in the canon, Dionysius of Alexandria (mid-third century) did not believe Revelation to have been the work of the apostle. Eusebius (c. 325; followed by a number of modern commentators) attributed the book to another John, a presbyter thought to have been mentioned in an ambiguous statement of Papias, a second-century writer from whom we derive much of our understanding of the origins of New Testament books. Papias’ works have not survived, except in the form of quotes found in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History. Papias described his methods of gathering information in a passage which has given rise to the theory of “the Presbyter John” as an alternate to the apostle for the authorship of the Apocalypse:
For I have never, like many, delighted to hear those that tell many things, but those that teach the truth.... But if I met with anyone who had been a follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a point to inquire what were the declarations of the elders. What was said by Andrew, Peter or Philip. What by Thomas, James, John, Matthew or any other of the disciples of our Lord. What was said by Aristion, and the presbyter John, disciples of the Lord. 2
Scholars differ as to whether “the presbyter John” is a reference to the apostle or to another John, otherwise unknown to us. If the latter, it may have been this presbyter (so it is argued) who wrote Revelation. However, simply making this suggestion does not make it true. The overturning of the strong, early tradition of apostolic authorship should require convincing evidences.
Contrasts In Greek Style Between Revelation And Other Johannine Writings
A principal reason for doubting the apostolic authorship is that the Greek style and grammar of Revelation is inferior to that of the Fourth Gospel, which is also attributed to the apostle John. On this basis, some have asserted dogmatically that the same author certainly could not have written Revelation and the other books attributed to John. The Gospel and epistles of John exhibit a good literary Greek style, whereas Revelation’s “grammar is perpetually stumbling, its idiom is that of a foreign language, its whole style that of a writer who neither knows nor cares for literary form.”3 A. T. Robertson puts it more delicately, writing that “there are numerous grammatical laxities in the Apocalypse, termed by Charles a veritable grammar of its own.”4 Radermacher described the book as “the most uncultured literary production that has come down to us from antiquity.”5
Conclusion: The Apostle John As Author
1. In answer to these things, defenders of the apostolic authorship, however, point out that John is described in Acts 4:13 as “unschooled” and may have been incapable of writing cultured Greek. The other writings of John may owe their polished style to the use of an amanuensis (a secretary, not available on Patmos, where Revelation was written), or to the editorial involvement of the elders of the Ephesian church, where John spent his final years. Alternately, Revelation’s poor style may be accounted for by John’s haste to write down visions as they occurred or by his excited mental state.
2. It seems further likely that no person in the early church, other than the apostle, was so well-known as to be able to identify himself simply as “John” without additional identifying information.
3. Many concepts and expressions in Revelation are common to John’s other writings. Assuming that the apostle wrote those (a point not universally agreed upon), these similarities would argue for the apostolic authorship of Revelation.
For example, the “Logos” (Word) as a term for Christ, is found only in John’s Gospel and in Revelation (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13). The same is true of the term “the Lamb” as a messianic title (John 1:29, 36; Rev. 5:6, etc.). Both books promise the “water of life” to “him that thirsts” (John 7:37f.; Rev. 22:17). Other typically Johannine expressions in Revelation include: “keep . . . from” (Gr. tereo ek; John 17:15; Revelation 3:10), and a particular Greek form of the word for “true” [alethinos], which appears nine times in John, four times in 1 John, and ten times in Revelation, but only five times elsewhere in the New Testament. The concepts of the “first resurrection” (John 5:24-29; Rev. 20:5), Satan’s being “cast out” (John 12:31; Rev. 12:9, 13), and “overcoming” the world are found exclusively in John’s writings. Also, John and Revelation both make use of Zechariah 12:10, though neither properly quote it (John 19:37; Rev. 1:7).
F. F. Bruce observed:
Revelation certainly comes from the same environment as the other Johannine writings. Whatever differences there are between this book and the Fourth Gospel, both present one who is called ‘the Word of God’ and ‘the Lamb of God’ saying to His followers, ‘In this world you have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33); whatever differences there are between it and the First Letter of John, both encourage the people of Christ with the assurance: ‘This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith’ (1 Jn. 5:4).6
Though we cannot know for certain that the author was not another John, there probably is not sufficient evidence to overturn the consensus of the early church: namely, that, of the candidates for author of the Apocalypse, the apostle John seems the most likely.