Some thoughts on Revalation that came to mind the other night. I was reading near the end, considering how Jesus himself used rather unambiguous language when he statred "What is it to you if he [John] lives until I return?" It felt like an irrefutabe weight against other interpretations of when Jesus would come (or had come) again. During John's lifetime at least.
Then it struck me, some Milennial interpretations (I forget the name of that way of interpreting the prophecy) but it basically goes like this. John was alive to see the return of his Lord and Saviour; and Nero was one of the beasts. Other Roman emperors participated in the persecution of Christians, but not many with the intensity of him. Also Nero was born with a birth defect in his head that should have been fatal (the head wound) but he survived.
Later toward the end after a great battle in heaven, the devil and beast are sealed beneath the earth for a thousand years. Then they are let loose to decieve the nations again 'for a short time' which many have postulated to be another thousand years. What if John was right though, when he said a short time suddenly crossed my mind. Certainly not another thousand years then. So a 'short time' would place the final resurrection and judgement in AD 1300 or 1400 or near then. What if the devil and beast are both destroyed and all we now have to blame for the evil in the world is man? It would make sense for many reasons, although one might squirm at the thought man alone could be so evil.
Secondly in reading very closely the narrative and description of the new Jerusalem that appears 'coming down from heaven' for 'the first heaven and earth passed away' could be said to be a spiritual realm where the soul goes after life on earth. If that were true, then at that second judgement when the Martyrs had been safe then and all the other souls of men were judged and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and destroyed (which would be perhaps 900 years or more ago now) then those ancient enemies no longer exist. I would assume some demons and evil creatures still do though. This would also explain why 'outside of the city are fornicators and liars' and they didn't go to destruction or death or torment as the traditional 'hell' concept would have it. Thus the advent of purgatory came as all other alternatives ceased to exist.
It begs the question if it is true. Is man evil enough in and of himself to do all that is amiss in the world today? If man were evil enough to inspire the crusaders to sack Rome's equal the holy see of Constantinople while the dark one were sealed and kill all the priests they could find, if man were evil enough to invent religions (such as Islam) where killing those with other beliefs is encouraged to follow and worship a simple man; then yes. It is more than possible it becomes plausible. Many have asked 'what is man other than a carnal ape?' and in this light one has to wonder. Even though we might excuse the kings of Israel of old of following false idols we might excuse them for temptation which we might no longer face, but what does that really change? As man may be inherently good such also is his capacity for evil and deceit and greed and all manner of sins.
First to Blondie all I have to say is the book of Ruth.
It's nothing to do with your messages to them. I only get replies to one in thirty notes I send. It's all genders, races and the like, for some odd reason the majority of people don't respond to messages. Common complaint, as common as 'why don't people read my profile before messaging me?' or 'why didn't this person say anything at all about themselves?' Trust me they aren't disliking you messaging first they're just not responding for whatever personal reason.
Not wanting to be viewed or contacted by a Filipna
Posted : 24 Jan, 2015 12:23 AM
West, too good to be true. Interesting thread. I knew a lady who came from your country once, she said the way people view our country there is like heaven where everything is free. That's of course not true anywhere. As an example perhaps I should post here what some things cost.
Most of us work for minimum wage which is currently $7.25 an hour in most places. In places where it is higher, everything costs more. Where I live things cost very little compared to even the nearby cities.
A gallon of cheap milk: 3-4$ (half an hour's wages)
Twelve eggs: 1.50$ to 2$ (fifteen minutes work)
A pound of cheap beef: 3-4$ (half an hour's wage)
Chicken (per pound) about 2.50$ and up.
One pound of brown rice: about 90 cents (white rice may be cheaper)
Five pounds of potatoes: 3$ and up.
A bottle of cheap wine (750ml) 3$.
One gallon of gas: about 2$ currently. A side note worth saying, where I live you practically can't live without a car and you have to drive to the store and work. Only in the major cities (where everything costs more) do you have decent access to public transit. Thus you have to purchase a car and keep insurance coverage on it and pay for a tag. Not cheap by any means.
Rent on a two bedroom apartment for one month: 900$ and up. (124 hours at work) This rate doubles or triples in the larger cities in my state. In new york city it will cost you 5000$ a month and up for a no-bedroom apartment.
Another side note worth making, most workplaces will not schedule anyone for over thirty hours a week due to new regulations the government imposed. If you are lucky enough to get scheduled for thirty hours, this means you're only making 217.50$ a week. Obviously in order to afford a place to live and food to eat as well you're going to have to share your apartment with another person or get two jobs.
Welcome Dawn and glad to hear you joined us Christians. We're a funny bunch. Here you might like these homilies (sermons) by my priest you might like. I wish he would post the Easter sermon he delivers every year, it's beautiful and like 1500 years old. No worries homilies are always short. Unfortunately he's only recorded one so far this year, but last years are also available.
Not wanting to be viewed or contacted by a Filipna
Posted : 16 Jan, 2015 11:16 PM
That's a point about the citizenship thing Buddy, for some reason the rest of the world seems to have a delusion that things are better here. Just so everyone knows THEY AREN'T better here. I too am looking overseas as well as domestically. If the right gal is from another country to me that's a bonus as well, because of how messed up this country has become. The whole world is in an economic recession right now because of this country and the acts of individuals here. Just so the world knows almost half of the able bodied people in this country are now choosing not to work, or look for work, and for the most part live off of the rest of us. Ask yourself, are things that bad in your country? I doubt they are. Not only are the jobs not available to us due to 'cheap' labour sneaking in across the border and taking the work we might have but many of this generation are just lazy and would rather live off a government welfare check. This country isn't even in the top ten of good countries to live any more, and we are the world's second now to China in the size of our economy.
