Highly Recommended

I first read an earlier edition, and then purchased a newer one to write this review. This 4th edition has a lengthy preface dealing with the challenges to his view that have emerged since its original writing and will be very helpful to the reader, but I would certainly suggest reading the book through it’s entirety first, and then going back and reading this preface. In fact, for ease of understanding (until one has read the main argument, these rebuttals are basically meaningless and disjointed), this section really should have been made an appendix, in my not-so-humble-at-times opinion. As in this book Gentry utilizes his belief that there is a change in subject in the Olivet Discourse beginning with Matthew 24:36 in order to provide a defense against one objection, and also relates 2 Peter 3 to the Second Coming, which again, most other preterist scholars disagree with him on.

I also found it disturbing that he did not challenge Thomas in his statement that 1 Corinthians 15 proves that Paul expected Christ’s return in his lifetime. It appears that Gentry only saw the statement about Paul which he would agree with as far as Christ’s “judgment-coming,” but did not take note of the supporting verses, which Gentry would disagree spoke of Paul’s imminent expectation of the “Second Coming.” If Gentry believed that, he would be a “full preterist” since he confesses, as do most preterists, that his adoption of the preterist view is driven by the clear, near time indicators in Scripture. If in fact the “resurrection-coming” of Christ was expected to be soon, then Gentry must hold that it in fact has occurred. However, it is easily demonstrated that although Paul did expect the “judgment-coming” of Christ to be soon, he clearly recognized that the “resurrection-coming” was at least an age away, a fact not drawn out or recognized by most orthodox preterists (see my article, On the Soon Coming of Jesus.

Gentry is much spunkier in his defense in his preface than in the rest of the material written almost ten years earlier and is quite enjoyable. In a similar way to my charge above regarding futuristic bias, he also has to fend off challenges in the other direction that his dating of Revelation is driven solely by his postmillennialism/theonomy (oddly enough, you would think the accusation would be that it was driven by his preterism). Unfortunately, some critics make these ideas absolutely dependent upon each other (rather than sticking to the raw dating issue) and influence their readers against Gentry’s thesis from the outset. He demonstrated (in a sardonic manner that JPH would enjoy) how one particular critic does this by naming his critique of Gentry’s position: “Theonomy and the Dating of Revelation.” Since Gentry’s theonomy is never a factor in this work, such a juxtaposition is tactical rather than substantive, as Gentry says, “Thomas’s approach would be like someone writing an article entitled: ‘White People and the Dating of Revelation.’ The very title suggests an ethical problem at the outset.” He also defeats the common and shallow charge that his view is blatantly anti-Semitic, which often is used as a pejorative way to avoid dealing with the evidence.

The body of the book is largely divided into two main sections (there is also a final section dealing specifically with the alleged Domitianic evidences put forth by late date advocates). The first deals with the external evidence, such as the testimony of the early church fathers, and the section deals with the internal evidence within the book itself. I know that coming into this book, I had thought that the main strength of the “early date” position would be the internal evidence, with the external evidence, namely resting on Irenaeus’ statement, being against it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that was not the case. Gentry brings forth all of the available historical evidence, pro and con, and interacts with it in a very thoughtful and well-documented manner. One of the most surprising bits of information that I found in this section is the Syriac witness to the early date, i.e. that the 6th and 7th century editions of the Syriac New Testament (earlier versions did not contain Revelation) contain the following subtitle to Revelation: “written in Patmos whither John was sent by Nero Caesar.” Amazingly for me, at the end of his analysis of the external data, I could affirm Gentry’s final statement, “All things considered, however, even the external evidences leans towards a Neronic [not a Domitian] date.” (insertion mine)

The part dealing with the internal evidence is very informative and almost a mini-commentary on Revelation itself. That makes this book useful not only for the dating issue, but also for exegetical issues, at least in some portions of Revelation. The internal evidence is quite convincing in several areas including the references to Jerusalem and the Temple which find their most natural referent in the first century. I found particularly interesting his discussion of the “number of the Beast,” and the demonstration that the identification of the Beast with Nero not only fits the context of Revelation but helps to explain the textual variations of 666 and 616 in this verse. Of course, in typical preterist fashion, there is extensive discussion of those pesky timing verses.

You'll definitely want to add this one to your collection if eschatology is more serious to you than the latest LaHaye/Jenkins fantasy.