I thought it might be fun to dive deeper into some of the most popular verses which appear often in Christian popular media. These verses pop up all over the place, but have they lost some of their original oomph outside of their original contexts? This week, let’s take a look at…
The Curse from Revelation (Revelation 22:18-19)-
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book;if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (NRSV)
Where It’s Often Cited: as a condemnation of groups that “add to” the Bible (i.e. Catholics, LDS, anyone else Evangelicals don’t like)
Okay, so this one’s a little personal. Before I jump into the original context, a little background. Growing up, one of my best friends was part of the Church of Latter Day Saints (often shortened to “LDS” or “Mormon”). We got along great, but one of my Southern Baptist Sunday School teachers took it upon himself to tell me all about how this friend was going straight to Hell for the specific sin of “adding to the Bible”. As this teacher explained, the final verses of the Bible include a curse that anyone who adds to or takes away from its words will experience all the plagues it describes and be barred from the tree of life. I was like seven at the time, and this curse scared the crap out of me, so haphazard attempts at evangelism ensued. Of course, unbeknownst to seven-year-old Tom, the teacher’s argument was bullshit for two reasons:
(1) LDS don’t technically “add to” the Bible, but they do have additional texts (such as the Book of Mormon) which they also believe to be holy in origin. Furthermore, Catholics and plenty of Protestant denominations include the Apocrypha (additional books which aren’t part of the “official” biblical canon) in their bibles. Hell, my ordination Bible has the Apocrypha in it, and that even came from a Baptist church!
(2) So about that curse…
Original Context:
The author of Revelation had no idea a compiled “Bible” would ever be a thing, so this author certainly couldn’t write a curse which would apply to the entire book. Well, I hear you saying in your best “Devil’s Advocate” voice, maybe the Holy Spirit prompted the curse even if it wouldn’t apply for centuries. Here’s why that argument is questionable at best:
We have to remember the genre of Revelation. Just as the New Testament includes letters and histories, it also includes one controversial example of an often-misunderstood genre: apocalyptic literature. I’ve written about apocalyptic literature before on this blog, but a few staples of the genre include heavy use of symbols, a loose relationship with linear time, and —wait for it— curses on anyone who tries to change the contents of the book. As such, it is infinitely more likely that the curse at the end of Revelation pertains only to the book of Revelation. After all, most apocalyptic lit had this same sort of ending. Claiming the “book” referenced at the conclusion of Revelation is anything other than Revelation itself is ignorantly anachronistic at best and flat-out manipulative at worst. If you take issue with other denominations and their view of the biblical canon, that’s fine, but don’t go invoking curses out of context.
Revelation’s curse pertains just to Revelation because that’s how the apocalyptic authors rolled.
That’s the context of the Revelation Curse.