Before Jerusalem Fell

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THE ROLE OF
JEWISH CHRISTIANITY
Invaluable to the determination of the dating of any book is its
Sitz im hben, the “situation in life” in which it is found. The question
here is whether the “situation” we see in the book of Revelation is
more likely a pre-A.D. 70 situation or a ca. A.D. 95 situation.
Of course, there is always the possibility of a distortion of the
evidence in this area, due either to the interpreter’s subjectivity or to
an obscurity in the necessary factors of the situation. These problems
are further complicated in Revelation studies because of the close
tolerance of the time differences involved in the debate. While the
critical problems with Old Testament datings often involve determinations
affecting centuries, the Revelation dating problem involves
but three decades. Nevertheless, the Sitz im hben, where reasonably
discernible, does have an important bearing upon the determination
of the dating of the composition of any ancient work, and Revelation
is no exception.
Early Christianity’s Development
We observed previously that the composition and the conduct of
the Christian community in Revelation bespeaks an early era in
Christianity’s development. “From the very beginning of the story in
Acts this Christian group is marked as Jwish in its origins and
back~ound.”] Christianity gradually developed through several stages
of self-awareness and missionary outreach in the first century of its
existence. 2
Its first stage in Christ’s ministry was almost wholly
1. Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, Essays on t/u Ssmitic Background of ths New Testamsnt (London:
Chapman, 1971), p. 274.
2. C. F. D. Moule’s chapter entitled “The Church Explains Itselfi Stages of Self-
Awareness” is helpful reading in this regard. See Moule, Z7u Birth of the New Testament,
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