28 Apr '15 17:47>1 edit
Originally posted by sonhouseFrom Wikipedia:
Then why was it not scripture for hundreds of years?
"Revelation was the last book to be accepted into the Christian biblical canon, and even at the present day some Nestorian churches reject it. It was tainted because the heretical sect of the Montanists relied on it and doubts were raised over its Jewishness and authorship. It was not included in the canon until 419.
Doubts resurfaced during the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther called it "neither apostolic nor prophetic" and it was the only New Testament book on which John Calvin did not write a commentary. Even today, it is the only New Testament work not read in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though it is included in Catholic and Protestant liturgies."
Risking understatement, it is a controversial book. There are many varied interpretations.
More from Wikipedia:
"Most of the interpretations fall into one or more of the following categories:
Historicist, which sees in Revelation a broad view of history;
Preterist, in which Revelation mostly refers to the events of the apostolic era (1st century), or—at the latest—the fall of the Roman Empire;
Amillennialist, which contends that the millennium has already begun and is identical with the current church age;
Futurist, which believes that Revelation describes future events (modern believers in this interpretation are often called "millennialists" ); and
Idealist, or Symbolic, which holds that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events, but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil."
I am in the Futurist camp on Interpretation. Your view would be the Preterist view.
My view on why it was finally included was set forth in my initial reply to you. It seems a no-brainer, given its content. Of course, this is the Futurist view, that it brings all the prophecy and stories of the Bible and its purpose to its rightful, obvious conclusion, and that this is yet to come.
It would be interesting to hear what other Christians here think of the Book and to what interpretive camp they belong.