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Does the Book of Revelation Establish a Closed Canon? #704 · Scripture Central

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  If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
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  the plagues that are written in this book.
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  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of
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  this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of
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  life and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are
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  written in this book. Hey listeners, this is Nick from
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  Scripture Central and today's podcast addresses the question,
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  Does the Book of Revelation establish a closed Canon?
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  At the end of the Book of Revelation, the Lord gives a
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  striking warning to those who would read this book of
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  Scripture. If any man shall add unto these
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  things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in
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  this book. And if any man shall take away
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  from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
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  away his part out of the book of life and out of the Holy City,
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  and from the things which are written in this book.
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  Some have used this verse to imply that the scriptural Canon
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  is closed, and no one should add to the Bible as a whole.
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  This is not what this passage would have meant in the original
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  context of this verse. Rather, John's warning to
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  neither add to nor take away from the words of the book of
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  this prophecy were intended specifically to refer to the
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  Book of Revelation itself, especially since the New
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  Testament, and by extension the entire Bible, had not yet been
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  fully compiled. This is especially evident when
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  the verse is viewed in the wider historical background and
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  context of the formation of the New Testament as a whole.
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  For example, many early Christians believed the Book of
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  Revelation to have been written during Domitian's reign in AD 81
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  through 96. Others believe that it was
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  written a generation earlier, during Nero's reign in AD 54
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  through 68. Other texts, including the
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  Epistles of John, are typically believed to have been written
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  after the Book of Revelation, even when assuming the latter of
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  the two dates. As such, if this verse was meant
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  to mark an end to all scripture, these precious books would not
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  be included in our New Testament.
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  Another point to consider is how the Bible has historically been
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  shared and compiled. Although the Book of Revelation
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  is typically placed at the end of the New Testament in modern
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  Bibles, this is not something that John's immediate audience
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  would be aware of. For centuries, the books of the
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  Bible, whether consisting of the Old Testament, New Testament, or
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  both, were shared as individual books written on papyrus or
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  scrolls. The population of the codex,
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  something that closely resembles a modern book, did not happen
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  until the 3rd century AD, which allowed these books to all be
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  written in the same volume. As such, for centuries,
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  Revelation was shared and read as a single scroll just
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  containing the one book. Furthermore, while Revelation is
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  placed at the end of our New Testament, the order of books in
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  the New Testament was far from set in antiquity, as is evident
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  when exploring ancient codices. For example, a codex from the
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  5th or 6th century named Codex Claremontanis contains all of
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  the books we find in our New Testament, but it does so in a
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  different order. Revelation is placed after the
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  four Gospels and the Epistles, and is then followed by the Acts
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  of the Apostles, which is typically placed in modern
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  Bibles after the Gospels. Furthermore, this codex includes
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  texts not found in our New Testament, including the Epistle
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  of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Acts of Paul, and
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  the Revelation of Peter. Other codices, such as Codex
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  Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandranus likewise contain
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  other early Christian writings in their New Testament, each
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  placing these texts after the Book of Revelation.
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  If this verse was meant to apply to the whole Bible, it would
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  make little sense to place other books after Revelation.
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  Even some churches today order the books of the New Testament
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  differently than many Christians may be used to.
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  Another point of consideration offers a comparison between
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  these verses and other similar curses found in covenantal or
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  sacred texts, warning others not to alter the words of the text.
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  In Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 2, Moses warns the people, Ye
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  shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither
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  shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the
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  commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
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  Another close parallel can be found in the letter of
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  Aristaeus, an early Jewish text describing the translation of
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  the Septuagint. After the translation was
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  completed, they bade them pronounce a curse in accordance
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  with their custom, upon anyone who should make any alteration,
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  either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any
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  of the words which have been written or making any omission.
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  This was a very wise precaution to ensure that the book might be
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  preserved for all the future time unchanged.
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  Other texts throughout the ancient Near East contained
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  similar curses for those who would wilfully corrupt a text,
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  including various covenantal treaties and texts purporting to
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  have been revealed by the gods. These texts help contextualize
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  the end to the Book of Revelation.
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  In a world before the printing press, everything had to be
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  copied by hand. As such, the chance for human
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  error in the transmission of these texts was much greater
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  than it is today. Therefore, in many ancient texts
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  considered to be sacred, it was imperative that a warning not to
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  tamper with the text be given to scribes who would later make
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  copies. These curses served as an
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  important reminder to the serious or sacred nature of the
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  text in question. So the utmost care was to be
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  taken by the scribes and copyists, not to alter them.
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  Furthermore, the New Testament Canon has a vivid history.
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  The same list of 27 books that form the New Testament commonly
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  used today was first described as Canon by Athanasius and AD
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  367. Yet not everyone accepted this
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  same Canon even into the modern day.
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  The need for a Canon arose as various apostate sects had
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  formed by the 4th century, many manipulating commonly accepted
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  texts or adding their own texts written in the name of prominent
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  first generation disciples. This created the need for a set
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  list of books that would allow Christians to easily recognize
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  what texts had Apostolic authority attached to them.
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  Not so much as a closing of the Canon per SE, but as a way to
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  identify works that were known to be legitimate.
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  As noted, even today many Christian churches accept more
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  books in their biblical Canon. Both the Roman Catholic and
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  Eastern Orthodox churches accept many of the books in the
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  Apocrypha as canonical, although both disagree on the status of a
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  few books. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
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  further adds the Book of First Enoch to their biblical Canon.
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  The opposite is also true. Some Protestants, including
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  Martin Luther, felt that some books of the New Testament were
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  not Scripture, including the epistles of James, Jude,
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  Hebrews, and the Book of Revelation itself.
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  Although Luther did not remove these books from his New
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  Testament, he did place them at the end of the Bible in an
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  attempt to separate them from the other books.
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  He was willing to accept the Book of Revelation, much like
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  all other books in the Bible were given through divine
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  inspiration to a prophet of God. John, having received a divine
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  Commission from Jesus Christ, could present his new revelation
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  to the Church, just as other prophets have been able to
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  present their own revelations to the world, as observed by Elder
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  Jeffrey R Holland. The fact of the matter is that
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  virtually every prophet of the Old and New Testament has added
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  scripture to that received by his predecessors without
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  detracting from the prophecies and revelations which God has
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  given previously. The biblical scholar NT Wright
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  has come to a similar conclusion regarding the ultimate authority
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  of a closed Canon of Scripture. Commenting on verses such as
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  Matthew, chapter 28, verse 18, which declares that all
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  authority is given to Jesus rather than a set of books, he
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  concluded that Scripture itself points away from itself and to
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  the fact that final and true authority belongs to God
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  himself. That is, there is no reason to
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  believe that God did not and could not continue to reveal
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  sacred texts to His apostles and prophets after the conclusion of
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  the Book of Revelation. Based on the historical context
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  surrounding the use and transmission of the Book of
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  Revelation, Revelation was not understood by early Christians
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  to serve as an end to all inspiration from heaven.
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  This interpretation would not only arise much later in history
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  and is rejected by most, if not all, biblical scholars today.
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  Indeed, as the Lord declared to Moses, Latter Day Saints
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  joyfully believe that his words never cease as he continues to
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  speak to his chosen prophets and apostles today.
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  Because God has again called apostles and prophets in the
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  modern dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it
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  should likewise be understood that revelation continues to
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  bless the world. In addition to other books of
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  scripture, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,
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  and A Pearl of Great Price, we can be blessed with additional
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  insights from heaven as we face the challenges of the world
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  today. Thank you for listening to this
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  presentation from Scripture Central.
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  For more information, please visit scripturecentral.org.