In Sunday School yesterday as we studied the Book of Revelation, I marveled at the density of LDS themes it contains. The call to overcome, abundant temple imagery and symbolism, references to prophets and ongoing divine revelation in the last days, a Jesus with a physical body, a lofty role for humans in the next life, and so on. There is also the LDS approach to grace and works resolved in Rev. 22 where we learn that the grace of God manifest in the tree of life is made available through (or rather, that that the right to access that supreme gift is conditional upon) keeping the commandments. Overcome, endure to the end, keep the commandments, prepare for the temple, listen to God's prophets--it's a great book for LDS folks to dig into and enjoy.

But what would happen if the Book of Revelation hadn't made it into the canon of the New Testament? What if it had been hidden, buried, and preserved for our day? If Joseph Smith had been the source through which it came into the modern era, how would the Christian world react to this new text allegedly written by John? Can you imagine the howls and the outrage over the blatantly non-Christian doctrine?
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