The Relevation of Saint John the Evangelist forms a worthy conclusion to the whole of sacred Scripture, presenting a wonderful counterpart to the first book, the Book of Genesis. It is a sacred text which has resounded through the centuries and has exercised an enormous influence.
Whithin the pages of this book we find the Church herself presented as she has always lived her life and always will live it until the end of the world. Moreover, this book was written exclusively for her, for her fulfilment, for her final destiny. That is why however many times we read the pages of the Apocalypse we hear the voice of the Ancient of Days reaching us, the voice of the Church's Bridegroom, like the sound of many waters: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches".
For centuries now, people have pored over the Book of Relevation and have been curious about the Sacred Cave of the Theophany seeking to penetrate its meaning and venerate with devotion the traces of the disciple of Love. This book aspires to prepare the reader for such holy and mystical veneration, setting our appropriately what relates to the theological significance of the Apocalypse.
Archimandrite Antipas, the Abbot of Patmos, in the world Paul Nikitaras, was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1962. In 1968 his family moved back to Patmos, its place of origin. He studied at the Patmias Ecclesiastical School and subsequently at the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. In 1986 he was tonsured a monk at the celebrated Monastery of the Theologian on Patmos. In February 1988 he was ordained deacon by the Rt Revd Metropolitan of Philadelphia, the present Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and in 1991 was ordained to the priesthood by the same elder, at that time Metropolitan of Chalcedon. In September 1988 he was appointed a professor at the Patmias School. In 1993 he founded the journal Iera Apokalypsis, which he edited from the holy kathisma of St Nektarios of Loukakia and to which he frequently contributed. In 1997, after eleven years service in the Patriarchal Exarchate, he moved with his community to Mount Athos, where he devoted himself to the revival of the Kellion, or Cell, of Sts Theodore, a dependency of the Monastery of Koutloumousiou. In October 1998 he was awarded a doctorate at the Univercity of Thessaloniki with a dessertation entitled "The Holy Monastery and Patriarchal Exarchate of Patmos". In January 2000 he was elected Abbot of the Holy Monastery of John the Theologian and Evangelist of Patmos and Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, and restored the monastery to the coenobitic life. In November of the same year he was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Oradea in Romania. He has written a number of books and studies.
Blessind of His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 11
Preface 15
Introduction 23
General 23
1. The place of composition 35
2. The date of the Book of Revelation 38
3. The author 39
4. Partistic references 41
5. Relevation and the environment 51
6. Relevation and the economy
62
7. Relevation and politics
68
8. Relevation and war
76
9. The content of the sacred book 83
Epilogue 89
Bibliography 92
Text
Greek original and English translation 95
