EdenOne:
I'm actually well persuaded that he started to receive the visions of Revelation by 41 CE.
mP:
John of revelation is writing about nero. the number of the beast 666 literally spells nero caesar. look it up. the symbology of the antichrist etc all point to nero. he was the 7th caesar and many in the ancient world believed that nero was resurrected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Redivivus_legend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Number_Of_The_Beast
P115 (P. Oxy. 4499), located at Oxford University 's Ashmolean Museum , dates to around 300 AD. The manuscript is one of the oldest fragments of Revelation [15] [16] containing Chapters 2–15. It agrees with both Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus , two of the best-known witnesses to Revelation. [17] However, only Codex Ephraemi agrees with the number 616, which is argued to be the original reading of the Greek text, [18] [19] [20] written out as: ?ξακ?σιοι δ?κα ?ξ , hexakosioi deka hex (lit. "six hundred and sixteen"). [21]