When was Revelation written?
About 100 years after John’s Revelation was written, a debate started raging about the date of the actual vision, and therefore the date of the writing of Revelation. The question is: who exiled John? There seems to be little question that it was either the emperor Nero or the emperor Domitian.
Nero reigned from about 54 A.D. to 68 A.D., while Domitian reigned from about 81 A.D. to 96 A.D. Both Roman emperors persecuted Christians. There is general agreement that John was exiled to Patmos for about 18 months, and only allowed to return because of the death of the emperor who banished him. If Nero exiled John, that would have put John’s return at 68 A.D., If Domitian exiled John, then that would have put John’s return at 96 A.D.
Over the years, the consensus of scholars appears to have swung back and forth between the Nero exile point of view and the Domitian point of view. A few have suggested that the John of Patmos was not the same person as the Apostle John, but most (rightly, in our opinion) seem to reject that view.
A lot smarter people than we have debated this issue. Books, dissertations, and even public debates are available on YouTube ™. There is even disagreement within our team on this matter.
Leaving aside all the other issues for a moment, there is one we find most persuasive, and that is the age of John. Although unlikely, let us assume, for the sake of argument, that John was 12 when Jesus called him in Mark 1. That would put him at 15 when Jesus was crucified.
Under a Domitian exile scenario, that would put John at 78 years old when he returned from exile. Life expectancy was very short at that time. It was unheard of for people to even live to even be 70. Writing was very rare over 55. It strains credulity to think John was 12 when Jesus called him, that he lived to 96 A.D., and then he would also be able to dictate with such specificity and for so long.
By contrast, under a Nero exile scenario, even if John was called at 18 and was 21 at the crucifixion, he would have been 58 at the time of writing of Revelation. That would have been considered very old in those days for sure. This scenario seems a lot more plausible to us.
There are those who argue that this really matters. We are not among them. We know that Jesus said that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). John’s life could have even been extended. God could even have raised John from the dead if he needed to do so.