Book of Revelation

subwayrider

subwayrider

Into the White
MBTI
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Anyone want to help me understand/discuss the Book of Revelation? I've taken an interest in religious writings-- especially apocalyptic themes. I'm very interested in: the Antichrist; the events leading up to, and following, the rapture; the rapture, itself; Satan's role and ultimate fate; judgment; heaven; hell.
There won't be any criticism or debate on Atheism vs. Christianity, science vs. religion, etc. etc. That is not the point of the thread. I know there are many opinions on the interpretation of these writings, so I'd be happy to hear as many as possible.
 
I think maybe you should discuss it. What do you think firstly of the seven letters to the seven churches? What do you think was meant by "hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" and "but that which ye have already hold fast till I come"?
Why do you think those letters were meant to be written and sent to the seven churches mentioned? Do not go past the third chapter. What do you think of the sharp, two-edged sword that cometh from His mouth? What is its purpose? You answer, if you will know. I want your opinion, bit by bit.
 
OOOOO ... I'd love to have a collaborative reading session on this!!! Someone give us homework to read and then come back here to discuss. I haven't touched my Bible in ages.
 
it is just johns vision, times change. see the similarities between johns vision of heaven and the spirit in which this man talks about: http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=55601i'm reading revelations now and will be back to discuss it.for reference, i see jesus as the unity between divinity and man - us. he is the symbol by which we strive for objectivity and love.

Revelations 1:10 said:
10It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.[SUP]f[/SUP]Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. 11It said, “Write in a book[SUP]g[/SUP] everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”12When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.[SUP]h[/SUP] He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.
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Peyote trip said:
I was standing there, and then I looked up at the sun. I was momentarily blinded and when my vision returned there was a white glow to the land. Standing before me in a great blaze of fire was a buffalo. But this was no ordinary buffalo. This buffalo had the face of a lion and the wings of an eagle. Its coat was as white as new fallen snow and its eyes burned like hot coals. It was the single most amazing thing I have ever seen. But more amazing still was that when our eyes locked, for one instant, I saw all of my wrongs and all of the wrongs of my ancestors, and I saw the path to righteousness and the path to evil. I saw the light and the dark and knew that I had the power to choose my destiny. I saw the truth.

And then the great beast turned, and, in the blink of an eye, was gone. Flew back into the heavens and the earth, and back into all things big or small, where it would reside in peace forever.
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@just me the two edged sword is words. domestication allows the pen to be mightier than the sword. what do you think?

A perspective for those who think the Bible calls God the "magical man in the sky"
William Blake said:
The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert that God spake to them; and whether they did not think at the time, that they would be misunderstood, & so be the cause of imposition.
Isaiah answer'd. 'I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception; but my senses discover'd the infinite in every thing, and as I was then perswaded, & remain confirm'd, that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote.'
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William Blake said:
The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true, as I have heard from Hell.
For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at the tree of life, and when he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy whereas it now appears finite & corrupt.
This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment.
But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do, by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narow chinks of his cavern.
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Roman Priest Scott Hahn wrote a book called The Lambs Supper which I found interesting back in my Protestant days because of how he explained everything as being in context with the current Roman liturgy.
 
Sriracha said:
OOOOO ... I'd love to have a collaborative reading session on this!!! Someone give us homework to read and then come back here to discuss. I haven't touched my Bible in ages.
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That sounds like a good idea. My parents are letting me borrow theirs.

How about we read up to the end of 9?

And then we come back and post on Friday.

[MENTION=731]uberrogo[/MENTION]
[MENTION=2259]Kmal[/MENTION]
[MENTION=680]just me[/MENTION]
 
aliens
 
[MENTION=4717]subwayrider[/MENTION]

I'm game! Is there a specific version of the Bible that you read? I have the King James version but also the blasphemous Life Application version (easier to read for dummies like me.) :D
 
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So what does everyone think of the Apocrypha?
 
@Barnabas may have some insight though I haven't seen
him around in quite some time.



Well hell he changed his name?


@The Doctor


how ironic I was lurking your profile just yesterday trying
to figure out who you were with 4000+ posts and a name
I didn't recognize. I didn't lurk your posts or else it would
have been obvious. Sorry for the derailment sub.


A side note: I'm really interested in the barbarity of the
original texts of the book of Leviticus.
 
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Is there a rabbit's hole in this thread?
 
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This could be interesting - I may jump in. :D When you say "Read through 9" [MENTION=4717]subwayrider[/MENTION], do you mean Chapter 9, Or the 9th verse of Chapter 1?
 
I have long been of the opinion that the NLT is one of the worst translations. It is pretty far on the dynamic equivalence end of the spectrum, meaning it is really more of a loose paraphrase than a genuine translation. It is awfully dumbed down and depends heavily on the translators' personal opinions of what verses ought to mean rather than what they actually mean. It might be ok for beginners who prefer lighter reading, but I would strongly recommend against it for any sort of serious studying.

I much prefer Young's Literal Translation, which is about as far on the Formal Equivalence end of the spectrum as is possible given that highly synthetic languages are being rendered into a highly analytic language. It is the only version I know of that accurately translates the Greek aion or aionios (or the Hebrew Olam), which other translations assume must always denote an infinite time period rather than merely a period of lengthy duration (or perhaps timelessness) except when scripture explicitly mentions the end of an age or two and a half ages. (This means it does not contain the typical translator's strong bias towards the doctrine of Eternal Damnation, but remains open to interpretations that favor either Conditional Immortality or Universal Reconciliation.) It is the only version I know that agrees with Rashi on how to accurately translate the Hebrew of the first verses of Genesis. It is the only version that faithfully renders verbs in their proper tenses, and does not attempt to break up the long run-on sentences of the original languages into a lot of little single sentence verses. Of course, it is still not perfect. I personally do not like that it renders the tetragrammaton as JEHOVAH, or how this 19th century translation uses the same archaisms as the KJV.
 
Phebe said:
This could be interesting - I may jump in. :D When you say "Read through 9" [MENTION=4717]subwayrider[/MENTION], do you mean Chapter 9, Or the 9th verse of Chapter 1?
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Chapter 9. Apologies, I am not well-versed (punz!) in matters pertaining to the Bible.
 
magister343 said:
I much prefer Young's Literal Translation, which is about as far on the Formal Equivalence end of the spectrum as is possible given that highly synthetic languages are being rendered into a highly analytic language. It is the only version I know of that accurately translates the Greek aion or aionios (or the Hebrew Olam), which other translations assume must always denote an infinite time period rather than merely a period of lengthy duration (or perhaps timelessness) except when scripture explicitly mentions the end of an age or two and a half ages. (This means it does not contain the typical translator's strong bias towards the doctrine of Eternal Damnation, but remains open to interpretations that favor either Conditional Immortality or Universal Reconciliation.) It is the only version I know that agrees with Rashi on how to accurately translate the Hebrew of the first verses of Genesis. It is the only version that faithfully renders verbs in their proper tenses, and does not attempt to break up the long run-on sentences of the original languages into a lot of little single sentence verses. Of course, it is still not perfect. I personally do not like that it renders the tetragrammaton as JEHOVAH, or how this 19th century translation uses the same archaisms as the KJV.
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nice find magister
http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Youngs-Literal-Translation-YLT-Bible/
 
Kmal said:
I sent subwayrider a PM with what I think is the best translated bible, New Living Translation http://nlt.scripturetext.com/revelation/1.htm
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I enjoy my Life Application bible, as it is written like a study guide giving references to other verses while it explains the verse.

Perhaps what would be a good idea is if [MENTION=4717]subwayrider[/MENTION] created a group for this discussion, b/c then he can post individual threads regarding the reading homework. It think it would be easier to find. What do you think?
 
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