Friday, October 25, 2019

Robert Sungenis (Traditionalist Roman Catholic) on Revelation 22:18-19



I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will place the plagues that are written in this book upon that person. And if anyone removes anything from the words of the book of the prophecy, God will remove his part from the tree of life and his part in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Rev 22:18-19 | Thomas Wayment Translation)

Rev 22:18-19 is a common “proof-text” used by some advocates of Sola Scriptura. For a thorough exegesis of this passage, and a refutation of the claim that the passage refutes the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura, see:


For those who may be interested, here is a discussion of the passage from a traditionalist Roman Catholic commentary who argues it is about adding to the prophecies in the book of Revelation or a denial of the book containing predictive prophecies:

A Solemn Warning

So intent is Jesus on fulfilling his mission that he gives a solemn warning to the readers of the Apocalypse. This is Jesus himself talking to all of us. When he says: “I warn everyone . . .” it is akin to a colloquial expression in English: “I swear to you . . .” or “Don’t you dare . . .” or “Don’t you even think about tampering with this.” It is a solemn threat.

Hence, not only is the Apocalypse attested by two or three witnesses (God, the angel and Jesus), it is sealed in blood with an oath, as it were. Both “adding to” and “taking away” the words of the Apocalypse will result in the same punishment (hell), but in order to emphasize the seriousness of the threat it is described in two stages, that is, for those who “add,” Jesus will add to them; and those who “take away,” Jesus will take away from them. The emphasis is on the possible ways of tampering with the divine word: adding to or taking away.

More specifically, the focus is on “prophecy,” as can be seen in the two similar but inverted phrases: “the words of the prophecy of this book (verse 18) and “the words of the book of this prophecy” (verse 19). Since the operative word in both cases is “prophecy,” then “adding to” would refer to those who claim that God inspired them with additional prophecy about future events, and “taking away” would refer to someone who denies that the Apocalypse contains predictive prophecy. (Robert A. Sungenis, The Apocalypse of Saint John [The Catholic Apologetics Study Bible Volume II; Goleta, Calif.: Queenship Publishing, 2007], 535)


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