It’s been a while since I posed any questions however I’m currently
reading several of your articles and in your article Biblical Prophecies
Fulfilled you state the following: While the writings of John preceded
the persecutions of Domitian and his successors by less than a generation,
they nevertheless show the continuity of the New and the Old Testaments,as
well as supporting the inspiration of the whole Bible. Based on that
comment when do you think John wrote Revelation and what makes you think
that?

To be completely honest, my reasoning is a bit indirect, coming
from internal evidence in the book itself. The actual external evidence
for the writing of Revelation does not narrow down the date of authorship
very much. The situation in Ephesus and so forth in chapters two and
three probably puts the book some time after AD 60, while the fact that
John is still alive probably puts it at least a few years before AD 100.
Most conservative scholars will put the book somewhere in this range.

My reasoning is this. The letter of Revelation seems to include
a prophecy of a persecution which is “soon to take place” (Rev 1:1, 1:3).
It also seems clearly to be a prophecy, specifically, of the persecutions
of Domitian, as is implied by Revelation 17:1-14, with its seven kings and
an eighth king of Rome. Not counting Galba, Otho and Vitellius, each of
whom only reigned a few months, the eighth emperor of Rome was Domitian.
For more on this, see my book on Daniel. Therefore, I conclude that the
book was written just a very few years before the reign on Domitian or
possibly even very early in his reign. This puts the date of authorship
perhaps in the AD 75-82 range. I would not make any bold statements, but
would simply say I believe this is the most likely time period of writing
of the book based on the evidence I have seen.

Good Question!

John Oakes