The Book of Revelations

[Tenth Speed Writer]

Earlier today, I got into a pretty deep discussion with my (devout Southern Baptist) history teacher.

The topic eventually came to the book of revelations. Anyone who's read it can claim with near-impunity that it's mostly just shock surrounding a supposed vision (The cause and origin of which are up for discussion) of the end of the world.

Now, for once, I'd like to actually stand on the right side of this. While John may have not been a prophet by any means, he was far from a dunce. The interpretations of this chapter of the Bible can be quite vague, but upon close inspection, the events that occur were clearly thought out, and can be seen as describing a very likely scenario for the downfall of current world order.

(Obviously vague enough so that we've been living in the "end times' since the book was written)

Agreements? Disagreements?  

[Laprasite]

Tenth Speed Writer

Earlier today, I got into a pretty deep discussion with my (devout Southern Baptist) history teacher.

The topic eventually came to the book of revelations. Anyone who's read it can claim with near-impunity that it's mostly just shock surrounding a supposed vision (The cause and origin of which are up for discussion) of the end of the world.

Now, for once, I'd like to actually stand on the right side of this. While John may have not been a prophet by any means, he was far from a dunce. The interpretations of this chapter of the Bible can be quite vague, but upon close inspection, the events that occur were clearly thought out, and can be seen as describing a very likely scenario for the downfall of current world order.

(Obviously vague enough so that we've been living in the "end times' since the book was written)

Agreements? Disagreements?

It's like every other day someone is shouting "We're gonna die tomorrow! AH! 666!"

I haven't read all of revelations. But what I have read does seem to be quite vague.  

[Tenth Speed Writer]

SpasticKitten

Tenth Speed Writer

Earlier today, I got into a pretty deep discussion with my (devout Southern Baptist) history teacher.

The topic eventually came to the book of revelations. Anyone who's read it can claim with near-impunity that it's mostly just shock surrounding a supposed vision (The cause and origin of which are up for discussion) of the end of the world.

Now, for once, I'd like to actually stand on the right side of this. While John may have not been a prophet by any means, he was far from a dunce. The interpretations of this chapter of the Bible can be quite vague, but upon close inspection, the events that occur were clearly thought out, and can be seen as describing a very likely scenario for the downfall of current world order.

(Obviously vague enough so that we've been living in the "end times' since the book was written)

Agreements? Disagreements?

It's like every other day someone is shouting "We're gonna die tomorrow! AH! 666!"

I haven't read all of revelations. But what I have read does seem to be quite vague.

It is, and that's sort of my point. As vague as they are, John clearly put a lot of thought into this, as it encompasses and describes a few VERY likely scenarios for the end of the world as we know it.  

[Dread Dionaea]

There are plenty of people who have prophesied things that seem like they're quite accurate. Wording may not have been intentionally vague, but in a medium such as prophesy there's typically a lot of use of metaphor and simile. Nostradamus is widely hailed as a true prophet because of those rare occasions where he hit home and yet there's literally a deluge of prophesies that make no sense whatsoever.

Yes, he wasn't an idiot. You don't have to be stupid to subscribe to a religious faith, and that statement applies even further to people of past eras. There are plenty of intuitive people with uncanny ideas. Intuition like that proves impressive, especially in primitive eras such as those.

T.S.P., I've noticed you've made a lot of arguments for the Christian side lately. I don't think that's a bad thing at all--personally, I like to learn about people's ideologies. Not in a "teehee, i r smarter" way, but out of plain curiosity. Have you been studying other religions lately, or just Christianity? Furthermore, are you an atheist or a soon-to-be Christian? Again, I don't think religion is a bad thing. If you are approaching a faithful ideology, good luck and I hope it works for you. I'm just seeking clarification.  

[Tenth Speed Writer]

Dread Dionaea

T.S.P., I've noticed you've made a lot of arguments for the Christian side lately. I don't think that's a bad thing at all--personally, I like to learn about people's ideologies. Not in a "teehee, i r smarter" way, but out of plain curiosity. Have you been studying other religions lately, or just Christianity? Furthermore, are you an atheist or a soon-to-be Christian? Again, I don't think religion is a bad thing. If you are approaching a faithful ideology, good luck and I hope it works for you. I'm just seeking clarification.

Honestly, it's my schooling. I recently switched to a private Christian school, you see. I have no intent of converting, though. I'm atheist at a very personal level, probably more sure than quite a few of my new peers are in their faith.

I have, though, had a chance to study heavily into Christian philosophy, and I've got to say, it's piqued my interest. At heart, Christianity is based around a very benevolent yet logical set of morales, though finding that takes some work. Even the scant traces of "true Christian morales" left in society today are shown, though. The atmosphere, at least in relation to the staff and faculty, is very welcoming and tolerant, and it's become something of a mission of mine to prove a few things.

You'd be surprised how open-minded people can be made to become when you approach things from their angle. Doing that has involved incorporating a bit of Christian philosophy into my own, so yes, if it answers your question, I am moving to the other side, in a way. It's not a bad thing, though, I'll say that much. Fraternity, pacifism, compassion, and forgiveness are pretty good to focus on.

Doing so has has let me express new ideas in a way that is a lot easier for the typical Southern Baptist to read and accept, much the same as presenting Christianity as being about brotherhood and good morales is to a strong atheists. Mostly I do this by writing short papers, which the staff are generally pretty interested in reading (They see me as one of those special wannabe-prodigy kids, or something), though I get into a LOT of philosophical discussions with my History and Bible teachers. (Who are much more quick-witted in debate than you'd take them for.)  

[The Candy Store Massacre]

Whhooot! Anti-Christ ridin' in on his dark mount, uniting the world, then rapturin' us away, does it get any better?  

[Niveous]

My Two-Cents:

I hear that the "revelations" could very well be current events (for the time when it was made)

It was written in code to throw off Christian persecutors.
For example 666 can be translated more than one way....one meaning is LATIN another is NERO. See where this is going?

The Seven headed beast? This could have been the seven heads of the Roman Empire at the time. If this is the case, of course great thought was out into it. I used to know more on the topic when I studied theology...but I got rusty. razz

But those examples are food for thought.


And even if what I say is bunk. It's safe to assume one can predict the many ways our society will eventually destroy itself.