The fact is the Christian fundamentalists who think the end of the world is around the corner, have missed something very important.
That is that the book of revelations is quite specific in the ordering of the events, and how they are to befall before all the seven seals on the gates of hell are opened. For instance there are seven churches that John of Patmos said would play an integral part of the revelation (or unveiling as its more properly called), and they are no more. They have all been destroyed by the Ottoman Turks conquest of Asia Minor.
John of Patmos Receiving His Revelations |
So the 'Messages for seven churches of Asia,' have long ago fallen on deaf ears .....
- Ephesus: From this church, those "who overcome are granted to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." (2:1–7).
- Smyrna: From this church, those who are faithful until death, will be given "the crown of life." Those who overcome shall not be hurt by the second death. (2:8–11).
- Pergamum: From this church, those who overcome will be given the hidden manna to eat and a white stone with "a secret name on it." (2:12–17).
- Thyatira: From this church, those who overcome until the end, will be given power over the nations in order to dash them to pieces with the rule of a rod of iron; they will also be given the "morning star." (2:18–29) .
- Sardis: From this church, those who overcome will be clothed in white garments, and their names will not be blotted out from the Book of Life; their names will also be confessed before the Father and His angels. (3:1–6) .
- Philadelphia (not the US city): From this church, those who overcome will be made a pillar in the temple of God having the name of God, the name of the city of God, "New Jerusalem," and the Son of God's new name. (3:7–13).
- Laodicea: From this church, those who overcome will be granted the opportunity to sit with the Son of God on His throne. (3:14–22).
Book of Revelation - Bible of San Paolo Fuori le Mura - 9th century. |
So ladies and gentleman, if all the Christians who were going to oversee the events that preceded the unveiling, are not there to do so, then the events presumably won't start, or maybe they will, but no Christians will be saved because there are none to be given "the crown of life."
Orthodox Icon of the Apocalypse of St John - 16th century |
Strangely, the monsters of Islamic State believe that the end of times aka the Muslim Malahim will come, but from a different location .... namely the towns of Dabiq or Al-A'maq which they believe the Hadiths make reference to the Prophet Muhammad saying that "the last hour will not come" until Muslims from Medina vanquish the Romans at these towns, and then conquer Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul)
Abu Hurayrah, companion to the Prophet, reported in his Hadith that God’s Messenger, the Prophet said: "The Last Hour (of history) would not come until the Romans land at (either) al-A’maq or in Dabiq (two places along the current Syria/ Turkey border). An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people (the Muslims) of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them)."
.... now technically the Ottomans achieved both these things, but of course the last hour didn't come, so obviously the Turks are not the right sort of Muslims, because the Hadiths don't lie. There are of course other theories about how the Muslims will defeat the Romans (Christians).
Oh and just for information, Dabiq was not a town in Biblical times, but rather a plain near Aleppo, Syria, and there was just a village in the area in the early 13th century. Its one notable event was that it was the site of the decisive battle of Marj Dabiq, between the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate in 1516 ... its now controlled by IS fanatics. Al-A'maq is an area of valleys near Antioch, southern Turkey.
Believers won't be phased by these facts because they're not phased by any facts at all. They'll deny them or rationalise them away until they're left with the story which suits them.
ReplyDelete"If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people" - Dr House
Oh I am sure that many preachers or theologians can slip around the fact that there are no Christians in any of the seven churches of Asia ... I don't suppose I am the first to note this fact in the last 1700 years. It just struck me that in all the movies they always start the revelations after these triggers e.g. The Seventh Sign
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