Taking Quality Questions on Revelation

Originally posted by @sonship
By the way FMF, that picture of you is spooky. Could you fix it?

Back to Revelation and few questions.

For what it is worth let me say a few things about really comprehending this profound book.

1.) People who assume that that state of Christianity is normal or is what God wants, will have difficulty with the book of Revelation.

if you think thousands of divisions and denominations are what pleases God concerning the testimony of Jesus on the earth, you will have some difficulty understanding Revelation

2.) You might have difficulty understanding Revelation if you don't see that Christ is sometimes seen in the book as an Angel. That is a Messenger. I do NOT mean that He is less than God Himself. (See thread God Sends God. )

3.) You might have difficulty understanding the sequence the time of things in Revelation if you don't see that it actually concludes in chapter 11. From chapter 12 what you have is a Re-visitation of the things in the earlier chapters with a certain emphasis on the last three and a half years of this age.

Revelation is in TWO sections when it comes to the sequence of events: (This is roughly speaking at this point)

Chapters 1 - 11.
Chapters 12 - 22.

If you don't get help to see this, you will get really confused about when certain things are to happen.

4.) Now I don't intend to sound arrogant readers or too self important. But I think the help that I got can also be the help others get.

There is not much "NEW" in the book of Revelation. Understanding the symbols as they appeared PREVIOUSLY in the Bible helps a great deal to understand how they are to be understood in Revelation.

5.) You have to be careful of interpretations which are to colloquial and sensationally to modern events.

Ie. Oh this means the Beatles,
Oh this means the rise of Donald Trump,
Oh this means some other contemporary rumor or gossip preoccupation of the Media.

The book of Revelation may have some geographic and historical referents in some symbolism. It should not be handled like the predictions of Nostradamus or Jean Dixion or some other occult fortune teller, "seerer," or Astrological prognosticator.

6.) The best way to interpret the Bible is to let the Bible interpret itself.

If Babylon seems meaningful, go back to read the OT about Babylon.

If the altar, or the temple, or the incense altar, or the ark of the covenant seems important in Revelation, then go BACK and read what was the significance in the Old Testament. This helps.

Seven eyes? Go back and find where seven eyes were mentioned. The association has something to do with how it was previously used.

Precious stones? God back and find the significance of precious stones.

A rainbow around the throne? Go back and see what the rainbow seemed to relate to in the Old Testament.

You should try your best to let the Bible interpret itself.

7.) Most importantly, Remember that this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the central matter. The central matter is not horns, dragons, earthquakes, hailstones,

It it good never be distracted from the central matter of the revelation. It is about Jesus Christ. Let's say Jesus Christ both as His individual self and as His corporate Body - the church.

Originally posted by @sonship
[/b] The best way to interpret the Bible is to let the Bible interpret itself.[/b]

Originally posted by @sonship
[b] 6.) The best way to interpret the Bible is to let the Bible interpret itself.

If Babylon seems meaningful, go back to read the OT about Babylon.

If the altar, or the temple, or the incense altar, or the ark of the covenant seems important in Revelation, then go BACK and read what was the significance in the Old Testament. This helps. ...[text shortened]... ist. Let's say Jesus Christ both as His individual self and as His corporate Body - the church.[/b]

How much influence do you think the older religious texts and oral traditions have had upon the Judeo-Christian bible?

http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/beneficencepress/exhibitsperformances/wolfe/word/ParallelTeachings.pdf

Originally posted by @wolfe63
How much influence do you think the older religious texts and oral traditions have had upon the Judeo-Christian bible?

http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/beneficencepress/exhibitsperformances/wolfe/word/ParallelTeachings.pdf

J.P. Holding refutes some Jesus Myther's "Jesus the Copycat" like theories.


Did Jesus Exist?: Shattering the Christ Myth and Pagan Theory (JP Holding)

YouTube

Originally posted by @sonship
J.P. Holding refutes some Jesus Myther's "Jesus the Copycat" like theories.

[b]
Did Jesus Exist?: Shattering the Christ Myth and Pagan Theory (JP Holding)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLPemFuJJuk[/b]

Originally posted by @fmf
Who in the this community do you think believes that Jesus didn't exist?

Originally posted by @fmf

YouTube

So, you had two stabs at answering 'Who in the this community do you think believes that Jesus didn't exist?' and your answer is still not clear.

Popular atheist leaning New Testament Scholar Bart Erhman (author of "Misquoting Jesus" ) admits Jesus Copycat theorists are mostly just in their imagination.

"The alledged parallels between Jesus and the "pagan" savior-gods in most instances reside in modern imagination: We do not have accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead (despite what sensationalists claim ad nauseum in their propagandized versions)."

Originally posted by @fmf
So, you had two stabs at answering 'Who in the this community do you think believes that Jesus didn't exist?' and your answer is still not clear.

The matters of Jesus the rehash of old pagan myths is covered quite well by J.P. Holding. This is so whether or not one thinks the EXISTENCE of Jesus is myth or that Jesus existed but has mythic legends written about Him in the Gospels.

Both arguments are discussed.