Revelation 13:8

I consider this verse one of the most important in scripture. It follows the introduction of the terrible first beast of the Apocalypse. In the middle of this satanic 'bringing forth' we are reminded of the true hero of the story, the many-eyed, many-horned near-dead Lamb. The image of vulnerability that contains within it the true power of God, to contrast with the false god that the demonic beast represents. The beast is power, control, money, fame, all that most people instinctively see as divine. The Lamb s vulnerability and sacrifice, lowliness and weakness, all that people usually run from. Yet under the surface the Lamb is Truly God, and the beast is a demon pretending to be a god.

John reminds us of this theme by calling Jesus THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. Or does he?

You see there is another major translation issue here. John's Greek is choppy and sloppy. Most Biblical scholars agree that Greek is not John the Revelator's first language and he is no scholar of the language. Contrast this with the Gospel of John, which has a sublime and simple Greek, the mark of a scholar or native speaker. For this reason, few scholars still believe one man wrote both books.

Reading Revelation in the original Greek is supposed to be like reading a series of emails from a person whose English is broken. So while the original Greek of Revelation 13 reads something like this:
Revelation 13:8- all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 

Some translators render it thusly:

Revelation 13:8- all whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, the book of the Lamb who was slain.

In the second instance this is a simple predestinarian message, one in keeping with much of the New Testament. Translators simply think this MUST be what John the Revelator is trying to say. For a straightforward translation brings up issues found nowhere else in scripture, and directly contradicts Hebrews 9:26.

But in truth, I think Johns point here is in keeping with other important themes found in the Book of Revelation, speaks to his overall project there, and in fact helps make sense of numerous passages throughout the Johannine Tradition. The implications of the idea that Jesus is the "Lamb Slain from the foundation of the world" are huge. I think this passage as originally written is of cosmic significance. It has the power to change the way we think about God, Jesus, our lives, the Book of a revelation as a whole...EVERYTHING!!! 

So again, a very technical issue of translation, with mind-boggling consequences.