The Martyrdom of Antipas

Gary answers a listener question about the supposed historical fact that Antipas (mentioned in Revelation 2:13) was martyred in the mid-90s AD under Domitian.

Francis Gumerlock, author of numerous English translations of ancient Latin commentaries, offers his conclusion based on the commentaries he surveyed:

So in all of the Revelation commentaries that are extant from 200–700, not one of them states that Antipas was martyred during the reign of Domitian. That would have to be inferred if the author of the commentary held to a Domitianic date, but even if the author did hold to the date of Revelation during Domitian’s reign, who knows what he thought about the date of Antipas’ martyrdom, which could have been some years earlier. But in the comments on Rev 2:13 in the Apocalypse commentaries from 200–700 there are no explicit references to Antipas being martyred during the reign of Domitian…. From the eighth through fourteenth centuries, I have not found in the Revelation commentaries any explicit reference that Antipas was martyred in the times of Domitian.

An example of an 8th-century commentary is one written by the Venerable Bede, which states, “Antipas. Some understand a martyr who suffered at Pergamos, others the Lord Christ, who even now is put to death by the unbelieving, so far as in them lies.” There is no mention of how Antipas died, or who killed him.

The only early commentary Gumerlock could find that claimed Antipas was martyred “by being roasted in a bronze bull in the tenth year of [the reign of ] Domitian” was written by Cornelius a Lapide, Jesuit of Flanders (1627). This doesn’t mean that there were no commentaries that referenced the legend of Antipas’ martyrdom under Domitian, since we don’t have access to all the literature of that period, but what we do have provides no support for the idea that Antipas was martyred during his reign.

The pre-AD 70 composition date of Revelation is well-attested through both internal and external evidence. The martyrdom of Antipas offers no support for a Domitian date. R.C.H. Lenski also questions the veracity of the martyrdom story by noting that it is based on “a legend that appeared in the tenth century.” [1]

The Rapture and the Fig Tree Generation

Since the national reestablishment of Israel in 1948, countless books and pamphlets have been written defending the doctrine assuring readers that it could happen at any moment. Some prophecy writers claimed the ‘rapture’ would take place before 1988. We are far removed from that date. Where are we in God’s prophetic timetable?

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Gary answers a listener question about the supposed historical fact that Antipas (mentioned in Revelation 2:13) was martyred in the mid-90s AD under Domitian. If true, this would mean the book of Revelation was written after the destruction of the city and the temple in AD 70. Preterists maintain that the book was written during Nero’s reign in the mid-60s AD. So which view is correct and why does it matter?

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[1] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John’s Revelation (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), 105.

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