Or is it all just the rantings of a lunatic.
2006-06-09 16:15:19 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think Revelation, along with other apocalyptic literature, is full of figurative language meant to say "God will defeat our enemies and we will come out on top!" The figurative language is used so the enemies may not know that the book is about them. Revelation, for example, is meant as a way for early Christians to tell each other "God will destroy Rome one day!" If they wrote that down, Rome would wipe them out, but if they write about God destroying beasts, monsters, and devils, then there's less of a chance of that.
2006-06-11 07:26:21 · answer #1 · answered by Joshua 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would hardly call the Apostle John a lunatic. He was instructed to "write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter". (Rev. 1:19)
Revelation is filled with both symbolic descriptions as well as literal ones. It is difficult because many things could not be understood until the end of the age drew near.
It is about that time, so Revelation can be much better understood. The book of Daniel correlates with much of Revelation. Daniel was told to go his way when he questioned what his prophecies meant: "Go they way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."
So, we see that Daniel did not even understand his own prophecy because it was too far beyond his time and modernizaton of the world.
What is literal and what is not would need to be addressed chapter by chapter, because Revelation, strangely enough, is not presented in exact chronological sequence. It is like a puzzle. Other prophecies studied together with it start making sense of it and the puzzle pieces can then begin to be placed so one can see the picture!
2006-06-09 16:35:51 · answer #2 · answered by rocketscientist 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all literature, so it's all literal. And it's about literature, it's about the bible. It's a template, that allows the faithful, to accept or reject other philosophies, and religions. It's not about war, or the fate of the world. It's also a form of drama, designed to get your attention, and make you think. So, yeah, it works on you too...
2006-06-09 16:22:37 · answer #3 · answered by Dragonladygold 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are literal and will come to pass. John described what he saw the best he could using the understanding of those times. e.g. If God gave him a vision of a missile. Those days there were no missile so to John it looked like a snake breathing fire. He described what he saw his understanding in terms of the times he was in.
2006-06-09 19:45:38 · answer #4 · answered by ByHisGrace 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think most of it was not in the litereal sense. Alot of it is symbolism like aka. the lamb being Jesus and from what I can remember alot of the symbolism has to do with Rome.
2006-06-09 16:31:41 · answer #5 · answered by carrie77444 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
EVERYTHING IN REVELATIONS AND EVERYTHING JESUS SAID IS PARABLES AND FIGURATIVE .MANY PROPHECIES HAVE BEEN FIGURED OUT IN TIME IN REVELATIONS.MANY PROHPECIES HAVE BEEN FULFILLED AND THE TIMES ARE RIGHT, ISREAL IS SURROUNDED BY ITS ENEMIES, THE JEWS RETURNED IN THE 1940S MAKING THIS THE LAST GENERATION,THE 3RD WORLD WAR IS BEGINNING, ITS ALL THERE , JUST PUNCH IN PROPHECY ON YOUR SEARCH ENGINE AND YOU,LL FIND LOTS OF GOOD STUFF.
2006-06-09 19:16:13 · answer #6 · answered by Bruce 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can find some really good information on a web site called RaptureReady.com
2006-06-09 16:23:49 · answer #7 · answered by Gardener for God(dmd) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋