We’ll be moving from the late 1950’s into the early 1960’s today. Here’s the first quote:
“The title is contained in the first verse: ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ.’ Although the communication professes to deal with ‘things’ (1:1), it is notwithstanding a disclosure of and from a person.” [from INTERPRETING REVELATION, by Merrill C. Tenney, 1957]
The statement “a disclosure of and from a person” really says it all. No proof is offered, which some would prefer and others would not.
Let’s go on to the next quote:
“This book is called sometimes the Revelation and sometimes the Apocalypse. It begins with the words ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ,’ which mean not the revelation about Jesus Christ but the revelation given by Jesus Christ. The Greek word for revelation is apokalupsis which is a word with a history.
“(i) Apokalupsis is composed of two parts. Apo means away from and kalupsis a veiling. Apokalupsis, therefore, means an unveiling, a revealing. It was not originally a specially religious word; it meant simply the disclosure of any fact. There is an interesting use of it in Plutarch (How to tell a Flatterer from a Friend, 32). Plutarch tells how once Pythagoras severely rebuked a devoted disciple of his in public and the young man went out and hanged himself. ‘From that time on Pythagoras never admonished anyone when anyone else was present. For error should be treated as a foul disease, and all admonition and disclosure (apokalupsis) should be in secret.’ But apokalupsis became specially a Christian word.
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