Revelations

Only vote.  Please respond in the other thread.  PM me with a suggestion to add to the poll.  Hope this works.  Peace Love n Grooviness to all.

I've been meaning to reply to this for a while. It really makes for good conversation.

I'm not sure if any of the options available here are within my line of reason (and questioning!) or not. But for what it's worth, I do think Revelation is a bit dangerous of a book and should not have been made canon. There are several reasons why I think this, but pinned at the top is my concern that the book has very weak exegetical legs and exists in a vacuum. We're truly not sure who John is (the Brother of Jesus model is outdated and has been debunked to my knowledge). We know it's not the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. Very few prophetic connections are made in Revelation. Yes, there are some whispers of Ezekiel, but man it feels forced. The letters to the churches are well-realized, however, and good food for thought. As for the imagery, it's cool and all I'm not against anything esoteric. In fact, I find it waaaaay less head-scratching than several passages in Lamentations or Micah. But we're talking a galaxy far, far away in terms of time and a language that has very little to do with our own. Allusions and philosophy, man--it's a killer way to learn!

But why dangerous, and why the concern? Because it's bad medicine for bible-thumpers. If I had a nickle for every sermon I heard since I was 17 on the prophecies of Revelations...look, it's just not a necessary book and people misuse it to illustrate all the ways the world could end. Bullshit. Jesus taught us not to worry about the end times, thief in the night et al. It'll come, sure, but when is anyone's guess and this book is not the Rosetta Stone in trying to figure it out. But eventually the doomsday preppers use it as a survival guide and start scaring the general public, even though they haven't a clue on how to interpret it.

I feel like the NT should have ended with 3 John. It's a great closing statement that reinforces God's love and his will for his people to extend that love in the form of compassion, sacrifice, and understanding. There's a lot of simple wisdom in that book. But boom, here comes Revelation, hold on to your butts, the end of the world is nigh. Sure, to God be the glory, but the number of the beast, yo!

Yeah, it's metal, and yeah it's interesting, but it has little to no place alongside the Gospel, the Good News, call it what you will, the ultimate salvation story.

On a side note, I love Jesus, but I am very much aware that the Bible is not [entirely] a divinely inspired book, but a series of books written by many ordinary men like the rest of us. There's a good chance their pride became their inspiration and totally messed divine intervention. But I still love reading it, because it's crazy and has a great story and I enjoy the process of wondering what is truth and what is not. I don't find that at all hurtful to my faith, but very edifying.

Corp? That was an amazing post. We could go on for pages with debate. But, I like the way you think. Still gonna hang onto my own research, philosophies, pseudo-theologies.... But, if this thread ends with what ya just posted up there? I am super cool with it. Gonna copy that shit right here for all to read:

A GOOD READ!!!!!!

I'm not sure if any of the options available here are within my line of reason (and questioning!) or not. But for what it's worth, I do think Revelation is a bit dangerous of a book and should not have been made canon. There are several reasons why I think this, but pinned at the top is my concern that the book has very weak exegetical legs and exists in a vacuum. We're truly not sure who John is (the Brother of Jesus model is outdated and has been debunked to my knowledge). We know it's not the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. Very few prophetic connections are made in Revelation. Yes, there are some whispers of Ezekiel, but man it feels forced. The letters to the churches are well-realized, however, and good food for thought. As for the imagery, it's cool and all I'm not against anything esoteric. In fact, I find it waaaaay less head-scratching than several passages in Lamentations or Micah. But we're talking a galaxy far, far away in terms of time and a language that has very little to do with our own. Allusions and philosophy, man--it's a killer way to learn!

But why dangerous, and why the concern? Because it's bad medicine for bible-thumpers. If I had a nickle for every sermon I heard since I was 17 on the prophecies of Revelations...look, it's just not a necessary book and people misuse it to illustrate all the ways the world could end. Bullshit. Jesus taught us not to worry about the end times, thief in the night et al. It'll come, sure, but when is anyone's guess and this book is not the Rosetta Stone in trying to figure it out. But eventually the doomsday preppers use it as a survival guide and start scaring the general public, even though they haven't a clue on how to interpret it.

I feel like the NT should have ended with 3 John. It's a great closing statement that reinforces God's love and his will for his people to extend that love in the form of compassion, sacrifice, and understanding. There's a lot of simple wisdom in that book. But boom, here comes Revelation, hold on to your butts, the end of the world is nigh. Sure, to God be the glory, but the number of the beast, yo!

Yeah, it's metal, and yeah it's interesting, but it has little to no place alongside the Gospel, the Good News, call it what you will, the ultimate salvation story.

On a side note, I love Jesus, but I am very much aware that the Bible is not [entirely] a divinely inspired book, but a series of books written by many ordinary men like the rest of us. There's a good chance their pride became their inspiration and totally messed divine intervention. But I still love reading it, because it's crazy and has a great story and I enjoy the process of wondering what is truth and what is not. I don't find that at all hurtful to my faith, but very edifying.


Just know that Corplhicks wears womens clothes and praises a statue made of goat cheese....JUST KIDDING. PLEASE KNOW I AM JUST TRYING TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD!!!! Corpy is an outstanding thought-provoking brother. You guys should start your own thought-provoking threads! Ya only live once [unlike Corpy's dungeon.... AGAIN! JUST MESSIN ABOUT!!!!]

This song is an oldie - maybe 2000 years old !