I know that the book of Revelation was given to St. John the Divine, but who was he exactly?
The Book of Revelation is actually the Revelation of God to Jesus Christ. John says he wrote it down while he was at Patmos in exile. Christ gave it to him when he received it from God. This is an important aspect regarding the question of Omniscience and the willing self-revelation of the Father. John appears to have been exiled ca 95 CE to Patmos and released in 96 at the ascension of the new emperor. Eusebius says John returned to Ephesus and lived until the time of Trajan (H. E. III, 18.1; 20:9; 23:4). Appollonius says he raised a dead man at Ephesus (Eusebius V, 18, 14). Clement of Alexandria tells of how he reclaimed a robber for Christ (What Rich Man can Be Saved? 42). Irenaeus tells of his opposing the heretic Cerinthus (Her. III, 3, 4). It is said he was carried in his old age, and he repeatedly urged people with: “Little children love one another!” Irenaeus was the direct disciple of Polycarp and Papius, and they gave him direct reports on the presence and work of John in Eph
The Book of Revelation is actually the Revelation of God to Jesus Christ. John says he wrote it down while he was at Patmos in exile. Christ gave it to him when he received it from God. This is an important aspect regarding the question of Omniscience and the willing self-revelation of the Father. John appears to have been exiled ca 95 CE to Patmos and released in 96 at the ascension of the new emperor. Eusebius says John returned to Ephesus and lived until the time of Trajan (H. E. III, 18.1; 20:9; 23:4). Appollonius says he raised a dead man at Ephesus (Eusebius V, 18, 14). Clement of Alexandria tells of how he reclaimed a robber for Christ (What Rich Man can Be Saved? 42). Irenaeus tells of his opposing the heretic Cerinthus (Her. III, 3, 4). It is said he was carried in his old age, and he repeatedly urged people with: Little children love one another! Irenaeus was the direct disciple of Polycarp and Papius, and they gave him direct reports on the presence and work of John in Ephes
