What's the difference?

Question

I am perplexed so maybe someone can help me out... Why is it that when John the Divine wrote the Book of Revelations after seeing "visions" and "hearing voices" people put his writing in the Bible and claimed his work to be the "word of God" but when someone from modern times says that they see "visions" or "hear voices" we call them psycho or frauds? I mean, the Bible was written by people who stated that they "heard the word of God". If I or anyone else for that matter claimed to hear God we would be sent to a mental institution. I was raised Catholic and had to go to church a lot. I used to read the Bible and sing the songs but as I got older I realized that a lot of what I was hearing and reading seemed no different then a fairytale. I do believe in a Divine spirit I just don't believe that they wrote the Bible. I believe that men wrote the Bible and it is now used to scare people into submission.

Given some of the answers that I have received I think I should clarify what I mean by my last sentence (re: the Bible being used to scare people). What I actually mean is that people pick and choose certain parts of the Bible (such as some of the book of Revelation) and use it to scare people into behaving themselves. So I don't think that the Bible is scarey. Actually I think it's a pretty good read. I think it's scarey that someone who is claiming to be "a man (or woman) of God" would turn the Bible into a weapon. I am also not saying that ALL Christians do this. I do understand that everyone is different and I do respect different viewpoints. This question is nothing more than me trying to understand why SOME people think this way.

Answer 1

The difference is that we have an additional 2,000 years' worth of knowledge informing us that there are psychological and neurochemical explanations for such visions.

Answer 2

There is a enormous change. A dog demands burglary. You are not able to do this if you're away eight hours an afternoon. A dog demands to be socialized. You are not able to do this if you're no longer residence. A dog demands plenty of time and concentration for the period of the day to quit it fitting distructive. If you're at paintings all day the one strategy to hinder the distruction is to go away it in a crate all day. By the time it turns into a puppy it must already be housebroken and feature extra manage of it is physically features so but it could possibly move from the time you move to paintings till the time you get residence. A puppy must be socialized by the point it is a puppy and now not a dog. A puppy on the whole might instead sleep all day and be capable for play and concentration while it is proprietor will get residence. It must even be informed so it would possibly not be distructive as soon as you're long past so it would possibly not have got to be left in a crate for eight hours an afternoon.

Answer 3

I agree with what you say about Man wrote the Bible, and believing in a higher spirit. I also agree with you about the differences of today with the whole I hear voices. But I am sure that there were atheist in the ancient times and thought that those people who heard voices were crazy too. I think they should have never canonized the Bible. There are many different biblical stories that are floating around out there that hold very important information. As far as John the Divine goes, I heard that he was responsible for writing Revelations. There was much controversy about including that book in the bible when the powers that be were putting the bible together.

Answer 4

The Bible says to "try the Spirits to judge whether they are of God or not" John was an original Apostle. He walked with Jesus, knew His heart, saw His ministry and even was a part of it. Jesus said "My sheep know my voice" So if you read the Bible and cannot see that the Authors of the Testaments were Holy-Spirit inspired, than you may never have been a true follower of Christ and His teachings. The Bible isn't meant to be scary, if you are scared than it's your soul that needs salvation, you being scared of the Bible doesn't make it wrong. Also, the Bible also says that we would see people who presently hear the voice of God, but we are to be careful and as I have said before, the Bible teaches to "try the spirits to see of they are of God or not" SOunds like you need to go back to church and study the Bible more if you want to assume it's not relevant.

Answer 5

God is no longer speaking to us through people as He did in those days. The Bible is it. You can take it or leave it. The old testament prophets were told by God over 300 prophesies of the coming messiah. Matthew, Mark, Luke & John were eyewitness accounts of a single man who fulfilled each and every one of those very specific prophecies. How many people today are giving specific prophecies that are being fulfilled? As for a scare tactic? I don't buy that. I don't find the book of Revelation (there's no "s" it's one revelation) the least bit scary. If you don't believe in God then you have no need to worry, right? And if you do believe in Jesus, then you actually look forward to the rapture. So, where's the fear?

Answer 6

The Bible is God's Word given to men directed by the Holy Spirit as declared in II Timothy 3:16-17 among other verses.
God took the personalities of the writers, their writing style and His Words and they submitted to Him in order to record what He wanted said in His Word.

It is divine revelation of God that transforms the human soul, and that comes through salvation which comes only through Jesus Christ - not any church! Anyone who has not experienced salvation through Christ cannot possibly grasp the scriptures as they really are. The promise that the Holy Spirit will teach understanding of scripture is given only to believers.

As far as the Bible is concerned it is God's complete and only revelation in writing to mankind. The people who claim to have further revelation are called false prophets or deceivers in scripture. The Bible talks about them coming in the last days, and having so much power to persuade people that "if it were possible" even the elect would be deceived.

Christ's death on Calvary completed all God intended for the human race this side of death. That is why when Jesus was about to die He said, "It is finished." The work of redemption was done, and nothing could be added to it.

Answer 7

I side with you

I'm a believer in God and Jesus and since I was young like most people I read the Astrology pages, even though I was an amateur astronomer and taught it was bunk and all

One day I wanted to learn formal astrology, just to learn what it was about so I bought some books and learned it.

I did a quick chart for this women I was talking on the phone with once and she asked me about money and ALL I could see was troubles with an older man

I mentioned this to her over and over and she just wanted to know about money. I told her the honest truth, I didn't see nothing fastic in the chart.

Then I asked about the older man and she told me she was married to a Doctor who was 30 years older than her and sickly.

Now you tell me about astrology and prophecies and astronomy and the gifts God gives us to see.

Why did I see what I saw and why was it the REAL important thing in her life and she was brushing it aside in favor of money and I saw no real money coming anywhere in that chart.

I told her what I saw and I saw her reality.

How did I see that!

This is a true story and it can be verfied by the women.

If you want a further insight into Astrology, in virtually EVERY chart I ever crafted it said "Death from drowning"

When I first started I would suggest people not live too close to water or on boats.

Then, as a good Astrology, I started leaving death out of the chart.

Then when I studied medicine I learned an interesting FACT, that 85% of us die from a common cause known as PULMMONARY ADEMA

Do you know what that is? Snot. Flem. That liquid in our mouths. It drips into the lungs and when we get old our heart can't pump it out, so our lungs fill with water and we drown in our own fluids naturally.

Death threw drowning.

So in later charts I used to say you will have a "natural death"

I felt that would offer some comfort to people.

Another interesting facet is that the King James group removed a lot of chapters from the Bible dealing with Astrologers and Fortune Tellers.

Some of the purged books opposed such "crafts"

Of course, every King had a court Astrologer!

Another interesting facet, I discovered a translation of an ancient astrology text at UCLA that dates to like 100 AD and in that book it called Scoprios down right lustful.

Modern texts simple call them amourous.

I favor the OLD text view!

I also dismissed Pluto as an influence long before Science demoted it. It stays too long and is too small and too far away to have any major significance.

I never included Pluto in any charts

Astrologers were the original scientists. I had to learn Logarithms to do charts. I had to do a lot of math to place the planets at precise locations for births to the minute.

Astrologers were the first to make long term predictions on where and when the planets would be seen again in the future.

They were quite well educated and once upon a time three of them gave the baby Jesus some expensive gifts. Gold, Frankensence and Mihr.

If the baby Jesus can benefit from the gifts of astrologers, why can't everyone!

Answer 8

John was given such authority by Jesus in Matt. 13:11, Matt 10, John 20. Also, Jesus predicted he would return, so the vision of one of his disciples is not extraordinary. And you understand the all-powerful (as in could reverse time, eliminate gravity in an instant, or do ANYTHING else He wanted) God was the mainstay of these books, so extraordinary feats in them is entirely believable when you understand the all-powerful nature of God.

When people claim to see visions so publicly they violate Matt: 4, proving themselves not to be of God. Only when they go about the business quietly can we begin to wonder about whether they speak the truth.

And true, God may not have written the Bible physically but he used scribes. Remember in ancient times wealthy men used scribes too ...no one doubt's that the work is theirs though.

If it helps, think about the rules in the book first...don't they ring true? And if you were someone who could do ANYTHING isn't it possible you could put billions of years worth of evolution into 6 days, walk on water, etc.

hope it helps!

Answer 9

The bible was written by man for man about God. A lot of the bible is stories mashed together from other religions over the years. Doesn't change the message. That just means its not literal.
The fact is the book is over 2000 years old. We will never know who wrote what for sure. Or how it was meant to be taken. Its a personal call. The Divine's speak to you through your soul, not a book.

Answer 10

Our President talks to God, so why shouldn't it be okay for the rest of us to admit it. Seriously, I agree about the fear, to me that is what organized religion is all about. I'm not meaning to offend anyone, just MY opinion. I believe totally in divine intervention and inspiration. I think God or whatever you want to call it is in all of us, occasionally it's going to speak up. It's not crazy. Unless it tells you to go to war.

Answer 11

Firstly, John did not write Revelations seeing as how he had been dead for about 150 years once it was published. Revelations is just a stupid book that was not in the Bible originally and should have never even been put in it.