That people get hung up on the title of the Book of Revelation astounds me. Still, people of various walks of life, including Bible teachers, want to correct their Bible regarding this matter. Are they wasting their time and ours with this debate? Probably.
The Revelation of Jesus or of St. John the Divine?
The Revelation of John
I’ve checked several Bibles to see the title of the Book of Revelation. Most of them name the book, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine,” or something similar. Does this incorrectly suggest that the Book reveals John? Of course not.
If you call it the Revelation of John, you can interpret that as “The revelation given to John.” God gave the revelation to John, so you may accurately state that it’s the revelation of John.
You can call Daniel’s revelation a key to understanding some of The Revelation, “The revelation of Daniel.” Daniel received the revelation, so it clearly is “of Daniel.”
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Although The Revelation reveals much about Jesus, the Book also includes information about more than Jesus. For this reason, if you call the Book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” you might somewhat misrepresent the comments. Still, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ [to John]” seems like a good title as well.
Let’s take a look at Revelation 1:1:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:
Revelation 1:1
Interestingly, the Bible from which Alexander Scorby read says, “The Revelation of Jesus.”
Similarly, the King James Bible text used by the Blue Letter Bible (BlueLetterBible.org) calls the book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Conclusion
Are the titles and headings of the Bible inspired? Probably not. Whether you call it the Revelation given to John or the Revelation of [about] Jesus, I think debating the title of the Book wastes time and energy.
