Modern Revelations

Simon_Templar · #1 16-05-2013, 01:56 PM

I would like to discuss, as a Catholic open to other faiths and/or in philosophies the realisation and meaning of the Book of Revelations as much as the Pope believes it is necessary to prepare for (as the fundamentalist Christians really often go for) but that it is present in several forms. These are: Symbolic (easy!) Prereterite (direct translation) Poetic (an interpretation), and Historical (that it has already happened with the ramifications still prone). Now while I hope to make this as open a discussion spiritually ("and I saw, a pale horse ... " - Johnny Cash) I hope to make it exciting with a view towards the wide spiritual spectrum of the board ... what is hexadecimal if not the number of the beast and yet a wiccan at hex is not necessarily at the chore of Satan ...

A big call for the Buddhists in the puzzles, the spoken word caught in the gyre, the thinkers at their sleep ... the burning in the fire

Morpheus · #2 17-05-2013, 09:59 PM

The symbologies are literal and illustrative, both.
They are meant to be understood in their time period of occurance, and not before.

Simon_Templar · #3 18-05-2013, 05:07 PM

but today is the day for the Roman Catholic Church ... we must prepare for the rapture even if half the world hasn't got a tattoo of the hex on them

#4 18-05-2013, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon_Templar

but today is the day for the Roman Catholic Church ... we must prepare for the rapture even if half the world hasn't got a tattoo of the hex on them

The rapture is a 17th century concoction. The Church has never taught such things herself.

It's based off of a misunderstanding 1 Thessalonians 4, where St. Paul mentions the living and dead being caught up to meet the Lord - the thing most people ignore is that they will accompany God, and come right back down to earth. The way St. Paul uses the language in the verse suggests that those in Christ are meeting God in the way an Imperial Roman town would meet the Emperor: the inhabitants of the city would go out and escort the Emperor into the city, instead of just sitting and waiting for him to arrive, which would be considered a very disrespectful thing to do. Christians aren't going to be snatched up magically, as the rest of the world suffers the tribulation for seven or so many years.

That being said, Christians should be watchful, when a master is returning, the servant shouldn't sleep. But it's not going to be like the awful Left Behind claptrap.