And what proof do you have that God uses dreams and visions to communicate and how does one know they are from God and not from the insanity inside one's head?
How about Joseph's dream in the Gospels, did that never happen?
Of course not. It "happened" right when it was needed for the Gentiles to accept the faith without having to go through Jewish customs and circumcision. Very convenient.
St. Paul also reminds us not to condemn anyone for what they eat. That was an essential part of making the new religion acceptable to the Gentiles.
The account of Peter's dream is in Acts, and Acts is intimately related to Paul, through his disciple Luke. So, it all has to do with making the new religion "just right" for the Gentile to accept.
As Savedbygrace correctly observed, Revelation 1 is absolutely clear on the matter, and is not subject to varied interpretations among reasonable people concerning this issue
It's not a matter of interpretation but of credibility. Jesus never told anyone to write down anything when He was on earth. Revelation borders on hallucination. If you want to treat hallucinatory experiences as eyewitness accounts, that's your prerogative.
My point was that those who witnessed Christ on earth never recorded anything like that from His mouth.
Revelation was written when it was necessary, given the context of where Christianity was at the end of the first century.
Are you saying they became disillusioned and THEN wrote the Gospels and the rest of the NT? And all this DESPITE the HS???
Not disillusioned [funny you should use that word, since it means they were under an illusion to begin with :)], but they realized that they misinterpreted what the Lord told them. Until then they were teaching the end was near and would come within their lifetime, because that's what they believed the Lord meant.
When they realized that this was not the correct interpretation (a sobering reminder that even the Apostles were not without error), they had no choice but to seek a better one.
Is this what you call God's revelation?
And what is God;s revelation, FK? Dreams and illusions and hallucinations in a trans?
I don't know how to square this with your earlier statements that unknowable God is only seen through blind faith
That's what the entire creationist philosophy is based on: observation. They call it evidence of a Maker, the evidence of God's existence. This observation of the universe around us is the pillar of faith that God is real.
I have no proof that you would accept, just the Bible. :) One knows they are from God, when they are, the same way Joseph knew to listen to his dream and John knew to write down his vision. They were both believers, and God made sure they knew.
FK: How about Joseph's dream in the Gospels, did that never happen?
Of course not. It "happened" right when it was needed for the Gentiles to accept the faith without having to go through Jewish customs and circumcision. Very convenient.
OK, so if that part of the Gospels is also a lie, then you must think that Joseph was just delighted to marry Mary, thinking she had just been with another man while they were betrothed?
Jesus never told anyone to write down anything when He was on earth.
How can you know that since you reject the actual evidence concerning the subject? IOW, since you reject 97% of the Bible as fact, how can you know one way or the other what Jesus ever did or didn't do? It almost seems like you know something is false BECAUSE it's in the Bible.
Revelation borders on hallucination. If you want to treat hallucinatory experiences as eyewitness accounts, that's your prerogative.
We will both have the chance to tell God what we thought of His Holy word.
Revelation was written when it was necessary, given the context of where Christianity was at the end of the first century.
So, did God not even give His little "nudge" on that one? I.e., was Revelation inspired by your definition?
And what is God's revelation, FK? Dreams and illusions and hallucinations in a trans?
Sure, sometimes. God's revelation is in His Holy word which can be communicated through the printed page or directly through the Spirit. I believe the RCC fully accepts the concept of revelation through dreams and visions. For Catholics there are rules of course, any such revelation cannot be counter to Catholic teaching, etc., but I'm almost certain they accept the concept.