The author’s prologue to Revelation intends to establish its content as a revelation (apokalypsis) of Jesus Christ. The book’s opening phrase has a twofold function. First, it situates the composition within a particular literary and theological tradition: apocalypticism. Within this tradition, the idea of revelation refers to a process whereby God makes known through visions the final days of salvation’s history. Such visions are not like dreams; they are revelatory acts of God, mediated typically through angels and received by a seer, who, under the influence of the spirit of prophecy, is able to transmit divine revelation to the community of believers.

Second, the opening phrase validates the author’s authority and as a result the importance of his composition. Much like Paul in his let…