This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 4: Written from the Foundation of the World.

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Two key statements in the book of Revelation tell us the book of life was written “from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). What does that mean? Is John saying the  book of life was written before the creation of the cosmos, or perhaps as part of God’s ex nihilo work of calling everything into existence? Was it written some time after creation, perhaps associated with the Fall? Or is there another explanation?

In this post, and posts to follow, we begin to address this thorny question by exploring the words “foundation” and “world,” and distinguishing between the use of “before” and “from” in relation to the biblical phrase, “the foundation of the world.” Later, we unpack Revelation 13:8 and 17:8. Then, we consider God’s saving work in eternity past – that is, outside of time – through foreknowledge, election, and predestination, for these terms relate to the book of life. 

Here are the two passages in question, with emphasis added:

All those who live on the earth will worship it [the beast / antichrist], everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered (Rev. 13:8). 

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and is to come (Rev. 17:8).

The foundation of the world

The New Testament phrase, “the foundation of the world,” is fraught with difficulty. Bible commentators disagree, sometimes vigorously, about its meaning, especially when this expression applies to God’s work of salvation before time versus his work in time. 

The main issues focus on: (1) whether the Greek word rendered “foundation” (katabole) means “creation,” or if the word refers to a primordial act of divine judgment; (2) whether “world” (kosmos) means “created order,” or if it depicts fallen creatures inhabiting a cursed environment; and (3) whether “from” (apo) or “before” (pro) precedes the phrase, “the foundation of the world.”

To navigate these rough waters, we should pay particular attention to two nouns, “foundation” and “world,” and two prepositions, “from” and “before.”

Foundation

The Greek noun translated “foundation” in Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 is katabole, which literally means “laying down,” or “casting down.” It’s used to describe the casting of seed into the earth; the sexual function of a male; the sowing of war; and the laying of foundations of a building or government. Each use embraces the idea of a forceful beginning or cause.

Some Bible translations render katabole as “creation” or “beginning” rather than “foundation.” For example, the New International Version (NIV) speaks of “the creation of the world” in Revelation 13:8, while the Contemporary English Version (CEV) points to “the time of creation.” Early modern translations, like the Tyndale Bible, Coverdale Bible, and Bishops’ Bible, all refer to “the beginning of the world.” These translations convey the idea of the book of life existing as part of God’s creative plan for human beings.

In one instance, katabole describes Abraham’s miraculous, God-given ability to produce seed in Sarah’s barren womb (Heb. 11:11). More often, however, the Greek noun illustrates the connection between God’s plan of redemption before time, and its fulfillment in time. For example, the Father’s love for the Son (John 17:24) and the election of believers (Eph. 1:4) existed long before the incarnate Son of God entered time and space to secure our salvation on the cross. Jewish rabbis spoke similarly of divine ordination from the beginning of creation.

However, some interpreters insist that katabole was improperly translated from Greek to Latin as “creation” in the early centuries of the church. This led to a pattern of misinterpretation throughout church history. Origen, considered the first systematic theologian of the Christian church, raised this issue in the third century AD. Others have taken it up since then.

Their case is straightforward: If the New Testament writers intended to speak of the creation of the world, they would have used the Greek noun themelios, which occurs fifteen times in the Gospels and epistles and refers to the supporting groundwork of a building or city. For example, Jesus calls people to be like the man who built the foundation (themelios) of his house on rock so it would stand against the floods (Luke 6:48-49).

Themelios, they contend, never is used of creation in the Greek New Testament, or in the Septuagint (which includes a Greek translation of the Old Testament). In contrast, katabole literally means “something thrown down.” It implies the use of force. So, the argument goes, if New Testament writers, like John, wanted to refer to the creation of the world, they would have used themelios, not katabole. 

If they’re correct, then a better understanding of “foundation” in Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 implies something thrown down, cast away, or scattered – a depiction of a cataclysmic moral fall, either of Satan, Adam, or wicked people at the time of the flood. One theologian insists that the phrase, “from the foundation of the world,” in Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 refers, not to God’s creation of all things, but to a catastrophic event in which God throws down the inhabitants of the fallen world order.

The consensus of evangelical scholars, however, is that katabole refers to God’s laying down the earth’s foundation, or the creation of all things. In other words, katabole is a synonym for themelios. Whichever view is correct, we’re looking at events that fit into a time frame spanning the fall of Satan – which many scholars place in the first week of creation – to the global flood. Thus, apo kataboles kosmou (“from the foundation of the world”) refers to the time of creation, or to events that occurred thereafter.

Next: Written from the Foundation of the World (Part 2)