I always found the early dating of Revelation compelling. The problem is there is no evidence from the early Church.
Here is some evidence.
When you take some Early Church Fathers, Historical Evidence, and Internal evidence, the witness is compelling!
Testimony from Early Church History
Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
"
For the teaching of our Lord at His advent, beginning with Augustus and Tiberius,was completed in the middle of the times of Tiberius. And that of the apostles, embracing the ministry of Paul, end with Nero." (Miscellanies 7:17.)
Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
(On the Timing of John’s Banishment)
“And to give you confidence, when you have thus truly repented, that there remains for you a trustworthy hope of salvation, hear a story that is no mere story, but a true account of **John the apostle that has been handed down and preserved in memory. When after the death of the tyrant [previously identified as Nero] he removed from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, he used to journey by request to the neighboring districts of the Gentiles, in some places to appoint bishops, **in others to regulate whole churches, in others to set among the clergy some one man, it may be, of those indicated by the Spirit.” (Who is the Rich Man that shall be Saved?; Section 42)
Tertullian places the banishment to Patmos immediately after the deliverance from the cauldron of boiling oil, and Jerome says that this took place in the reign of Nero.
Epiphanius of Salamis (315-403)
“[John], who prophesied in the time of Claudius [Nero]…the prophetic word according to the Apocalypse being disclosed.” (Epiphanius, Panarion/Heresies 51:12,33)
The Muratorian Canon (A.D. 170)
“the blessed Apostle Paul, following the rule of his predecessor John, writes to no more than seven churches by name.”
"John too, indeed, in the Apocalypse, although he writes to only seven churches, yet addresses all. " (ANF 5:603)
Note on
the Muratorian Canon: Sometime between A.D. 170 and 200, someone drew up a list of canonical books. This list, known as
the Muratorian Canon, is the oldest Latin church document of Rome, and of very great importance for the history of the canon. The witness of this manuscript, which is from the very era of Irenaeus and just prior to Clement of Alexandria, virtually demands the early date for Revelation. The relevant portion of the document states that "
the blessed Apostle Paul, following the rule of his predecessor John, writes to no more than seven churches by name" and “John too, indeed, in the Apocalypse, although he writes to only seven churches, yet addresses all.” The writer of the Canon clearly teaches that John preceded Paul in writing letters to seven churches. Yet, church historians are agreed that Paul died before A.D. 70, either in A.D. 67 or 68.
Syriac Vulgate Bible (sixth century)
“The Apocalypse of St. John, written in Patmos, whither John was sent by Nero Caesar.” (Opening Title for the Book of Revelation)
Arethas (sixth century)
“Arethas in the sixth century, applies the sixth seal to the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), adding that the Apocalypse was written before that event” (From Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, 1871)
Papias (first century)
“Because of a statement by Papias, an early church father, that John the Apostle was martyred before a.d. 70, the Johannine authorship has been questioned.” (John F. Walvoord on the Date of Revelation - The Bible Knowledge Commentary, p. 925)
Papias
newadvent.org/cathen/11457c.htm)
