As common as it is to encounter the statement that apocalyptic literature is characteristically pseudepigraphal, it seems equally common to hear that the Book of Revelation is an exception to this “rule,” written by an individual in his own name, to churches that knew him.
Has anyone explored the possibility that Revelation is not an exception? It certainly is the case that Revelation does not claim to be written by someone in the distant past, as was true of most Jewish apocalypses. But for the purported author to be a Christian, it would have had to be someone from the recent past. And so perhaps it is worth exploring the possibility that this is an early Christian pseudepigraphal work, an apocalypse in the name of an apostle of the sort that Christians would continue to produce in the centuries that followed.
Yet I can’t off hand think of a book or article that gives serious scholarly attention to the possibility that Revelation could have been written in the post-70 period by someone pretending to be John the Apostle foreseeing the Neronian persecution, Rome becoming the new Babylon who destroyes Jerusalem and its temple, and declaring that Rome will be judged.
Any bibliographical suggestions along these lines?
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