Guide
What Is the Book of Revelation?
1st Century
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The New Testament book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse of John, is an apocalyptic text attributed to an otherwise unknown Jewish follower of Jesus named John. The book begins with seven letters to Christian congregations in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), followed by accounts of visions of the heavenly Temple, the heavenly Christ, and the end times. Revelation is influenced by the visionary portions of the books of Ezekiel and Daniel and shares characteristics with other early Jewish apocalyptic literature, such as the books of Enoch and Baruch.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
The Heavenly Temple
Revelation 21:1–2, 21–22
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from…