Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: dangus
Okay let me be even more precise on my questions:

"Which person in Revelations do you refer to? The beast was Neron Caesar."

Revelation and it's character(s) have NOT occurred yet so I am puzzled as to how you could identify the beast to be Neron Caesar.


"the Whore may represent Rome and Jerusalem, in varying senses."

Most believe the whore is Rome or Constanople but certainly NOT Jerusalem. How did you come up with Jerusalem?


"The Serpent is Satan himself. These are identifying them based on the historical sense to which the prophecies were applied."

What serpent are you referring to in Revelation? What passage? I'm not interested in a historical sense but rather the context of where you believe the "serpent" is stated in Revelation. In the beginning Satan took on the form of the serpent but he is not restricted to that form.


"If one reads the prophecies in a predictive way, then the personages are yet unrevealed, although not fits the common depiction of the anti-Christ."

If you don't read Revelation in a "Predictive way" then how do you read it. Yes, revelation does mean to reveal ... you have me confused with this ..."although not fits the common depiction of the anti-Christ." Then what do you believe is written in Revelation if not a further description of the anti Christ.


"Who is the dark prophet? My best guess would be Mohammed, although there was probably someone who was contemporary to John who the figure allusion was based on."

Mohammed or rather Muslims do seem to have possibilities. Do you see Revelation as an allusion? Revelation means to reveal to how could it be a contemporary of John, who most believed wrote Revelation?


"These are the four primary evil characters in Revelation. Pick which one you believe to be the anti-Christ, and I will define how they do not fit the popular notion of the anti-Christ."

Maybe you had better reveal the four primary evil characters you see in Revelation and I'll take it from there with questions.


"To some extent, they are all anti-Christs, but only to the extent that Abe Foxman, Bishop Spong, Fidel Castro, Mohammad Gandhi, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, Caesar Nero and the my former housemates are anti-Christs. My former housemates did not exactly have millions of devout Christians praying fervently to be delivered from them. "

Well yes in the broad definition, anti Christ can be more than one person but in Revelation you and I seem to disagree.

"IOW, they are technically fit the very loose definitions of the epistles of John, but they do not fit the popular supposedly Christian notion of the anti-Christ."

OKay I left the ball in your court. I'm intensely curious about your interpretation. It's not something I have come across before. I hope to hear back from you.

Don't worry about not responding immediately. I'll check back tomorrow. I'm not looking for a dissertation. What I mean by that is in one of my questions to you I asked you to list the four characters you believe are described. I'm just looking for the verse and the character you believe it is. From there we can be specific on our debates. TIA.
81 posted on 08/16/2004 3:30:50 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies ]


To: nmh

>> Most believe the whore is Rome or Constanople but certainly NOT Jerusalem. How did you come up with Jerusalem?<<

I side with Rome. But Jerusalem did imbibe itself with the blood of the martyrs, was destroyed with the beast, did pollute itself with foreign associations, and so on. Constantinople is new to me.

>> Revelation and it's character(s) have NOT occurred yet so I am puzzled as to how you could identify the beast to be Neron Caesar.<<

Typically prophets see something happening in the present around about their time, cast it in an inspired light, and use the events to illustrate the eternal and the future states of the world. Like Isaiah was writing about the liberation of Israel from Babylonian rule, and yet his writings applied simultaneously to the victory of Christ. OR David was writing about his deliverance from the Philistines, but also about Christ.

In the same way, John was writing about events which did actually take place (although he used symbolic language) to make comments which would be eternally relevant to Christians, and which would also tell us about our ultimate fate.

>> What serpent are you referring to in Revelation?<<

Actually, good call. There are two serpents in Revelation, BOTH of which represent Satan. In Revelations 12, we see the "new Eve" safely deliver Christ into the world, unmolested by the serpent. Later, we see an apocalyptic triumph over the serpent. He is not restricted to that form, but the depiction of him as a serpent suits the needs of the evangelists well.

>> Mohammed or rather Muslims do seem to have possibilities. Do you see Revelation as an allusion? Revelation means to reveal to how could it be a contemporary of John, who most believed wrote Revelation?<<

ALLusion. Please don't think I meant ILLusion. I mentioned the prophet separately because in his case the futuristic sense of the prophecy may also have come to pass. But if Mohammed was the futuristic sense of the prophecy, that means there may have been someone who was contemporary to John, since Mohammed was not. I can only speculate who that might be. The epistles of John do suggest that John was battling someone who denied the Resurrection while claiming to be a Christian.

>> Maybe you had better reveal the four primary evil characters you see in Revelation and I'll take it from there with questions.<<

The four evil characters: The serpent (both manifestations counted as one character), the beast, the prophet and the whore.

>> Well yes in the broad definition, anti Christ can be more than one person but in Revelation you and I seem to disagree.<<

This is why I keep asking who in Revelations do you suppose the anti-Christ is.

>>I'm just looking for the verse and the character you believe it is.<<

There is no single verse; I'm surveying all of Revelations to come up with those four evil persons; that's my point: the anti-Christ is in no verse of Revelations


83 posted on 08/16/2004 3:58:04 PM PDT by dangus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson