Bible Prophecies

[Theland]

The Bible is full of prophecies, and those dealing with the end times describe with uncanny accuracy events in our present day world.
This cannot be mere coincidence.
Ignoring it must be a choice to indulge a personal bias.

[Jackdaw33]

Although it has become to mean such in modern times, the word prophesy does not mean to foretell the future, it merely means to speak out. So a biblical prophet was not saying what would happen because he had seen the future, but what he believed would happen if people didn't mend their ways. In the true sense of the word both Margaret Thatcher and Arthur Scargill were prophets.

[Togo]

I liked it better when a bloke stood on the street corner with a big placard shouting the 'end of the world is nigh'. At least you could disavow him personally in short sharp words. Usually suggesting short sharp movements.

[Hypognosis]

I'm not too keen on this thread descending into discussing word definitions but do prophets 'profess'? If not, then what is the difference?

Prophets presumably must be able to do, in their head, what science uses mathematical models and computing power to do: make forecasts.

Then again, don't theists usually treat prophets as mouthpieces of god: the predictions are god telling us how it is all going to be, not the prophet doing their own thinking?

[mibn2cweus]

If one ever hopes to make sense of or convey a meaningful message about anything, it is the preconceived ill-defined notion of a 'god' which one must first eradicate from ones vocabulary. The use of the term 'god' in any attempt to explain anything is no more than confirmation of ones own ignorance within the realm to which they apply that term.

An explanation is no less contrived than are the terms used in offering an explanation.

[Hypognosis]

@mibs

"An explanation is no less contrived than are the terms used in offering an explanation."

Yes but I had to use the word in order to state that "theists tend to say this".

[Togo]

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. — Edward Gibbon

[Theland]

What do you think Revelation 17 is describing?

[Theland]

The papacy

[Hypognosis]

Revelations as an allegorical attack on the See of Rome? Where have I seen that idea before? Only a few days ago, oddly enough.

If you can stand four pages of internet ding-dong about number base systems (the opening poster suffers a misunderstanding of base 60 which becomes progressively more hilarious but grindingly awful to watch, in equal measure) then try this :-

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread5002/pg1

[jomifl]

when was revelations written?

[mikey4444]

JW's have been predicting the end of the world for more years than I care to remember, but its quite plain that we are all still here.

[wildwood]

I would rather believe that Earth's life came from Mars in an protein form, than from your hocus pocus deity. At least proof of that possibility is on its way.

[SirOracle]

Jomifl....You ask when the book of The Apocalypse (Revelations,in English)was written.
To answer you it was written by St. John the Evangelist,on the island of Patmos about 96AD.

[jomifl]

Thanks Sir Oracle... So, about 100 years after the death of Christ, some unknown guy on a greek island writes a lot of predictions that make it seem as if he had been into substance abuse and they get incorporated into the bible which is in common parlance 'the word of god'. Not exactly scrupulous editing is it?