The Revelation of John presents many puzzles: What does the number 666 mean? Who is the great whore of Babylon? How does the end of the world announce itself? And who actually wrote the book? Elaine Pagels examines the text in comparison with other early Christian apocalypses, explains its unique political significance, and thus offers a new key to understanding the most mysterious book of the Bible. The book with the seven seals and the apocalyptic riders, the synagogue of Satan and the Lamb of God, the thousand-year reign, the cosmic final battle, and the Last Judgment: What would Christianity be without these images, hopes, and fears, all of which can be found in the Revelation of John? And yet, this originally Jewish book was long considered heretical. Elaine Pagels shows how it emerged at the end of the first century and who the followers of the differences were.