Poor Misunderstood Prophets

Many people misunderstand the role of the 'prophets' in the Bible. The role of the Prophets wasn't to predict the future but to comment on the present situation. For example, the Gospels quote a prophecy from Isaiah and apply it to Jesus, the prophecy in question however has nothing to do with Jesus, but rather, taken in context, the hope that the yet unborn future King would be righteous enough to defeat the Assyrians who threatened Israel. Most prophecies in the Bible are written following the iff formula, that is to say, Good things will happen in the future if and only if the wickedness of the present day is corrected.Telling of future events was the prophet's way of bringing attention to problems in the present. So it is a waste of time wrangling over whether or not prophecies have or have not been fulfilled.This message has been edited by MexicanHotChocolate, 06-18-2004 01:33 AM

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Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.
--Carl Sagan, 1934-1996

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

In other words, we can completely throw out the book of revelation. After all, the Roman Empire is long gone.

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The Laminator

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Actually the Roman empire spoken thereof is about the one world government that will reappear in the future. We can see evidence of nations forming into a one-world each day. Moreover secular humanism (which is ruling current society) goal is for the nations to form into a world government.

almeyda that only stands up if you actually believe that revelations is an accurrate prediction of future events, it does not take into account the fallibility inherent in most of the bible, i find that mexicanchocolate's idea has merit. if the prophecies were used as a sort of morality tale or fable. then that would explain them not making much sense in modern times.

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when knowledge is outlawed...only outlaws will have knowledge

If you are refering to the E.U., I'm sorry but you are just wrong. The E.U. is a step up from complete anarchy and 20 steps away from being a real all powerful government mentioned in the bible. If you are refering to the U.N., it is as impotent as a mule. It's a joke.The only way that I can see the whole world uniting is if we are suddenly attacked by an alien race like Independence Day. Other than that, how the heck do you suppose anyone can convince the Chinese or the North Koreans to give up a portion of their sovereignty over their people... in short of nuking the hell out of them?I just don't see the world uniting and have a big orgy in the near future.

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The Laminator

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is that for over 5000 years, every time one has been proven wrong, divine interpretation has shown that it referred to something else entirely anyway.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

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how the heck do you suppose anyone can convince the Chinese or the North Koreans to give up a portion of their sovereignty over their people... in short of nuking the hell out of them?

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You just answered your own question. Humanist believe a world community necessitates a world government. Many humanist call for a universal disarmament and expanded power for the United Nations. I cannot believe you are underestimating the power and power growth of the U.N.

The UN's inability to control American aggression - like the league of nations inability to control German aggression - renders it a pretty defunct institution at the moment.This is all backwoods survivalist paranoia, frankly.This message has been edited by contracycle, 06-23-2004 03:37 AM

almeyda LOLOL! Puleeaaaase. Do you realize how impossible that would be given the enormous beauracratic inefficiency present day governments are under? For crying out loud we can hardly carry on a Free trade {HA!} agreement between the two most economicly advanced nations on the planet.
Like Lam said a common enemy would do the trick and even then after the battle the squabbling over costs would probably pound us back to the stone age.The idea of a world government would rest upon totally new means of economies between nations.

Have you heard of the WTO?. Its begun!. Theres already a world court isnt there or theres talk of one?. And then theres the world bank that they want. Its all leading into a one-government.EDITED...Someone said something about America not being able to be controlled etc. Well of course, America is in charge of it all. There the most powerful nation. They dont have to listen to the U.N however most other countries do. And America will eliminate with style of course any countries that disagree. First the middle east. Then god knows who.This message has been edited by almeyda, 06-23-2004 10:23 PM

almeyda Well I would not go so far as to say that.The U.S. will be the first to suffer the major depletion of oil reserves as they begin to wind down due to the enormous dependance upon oil for its industries. Due to a penchant on the part of upcoming generations to have the same or greater standard of living than the previous generation one wonders what vast overhauls of technology will be required in order to adjust to a greatly different economy.The idea put forth concerning a hydrogen economy will require major capital expenses that are frought with all sorts of challenges not the least of which would be an intensely dependable fire detection and suppression system for both cars and filling station.Hydrogen is invisble when burning so imagine how easily a problem could escalate. Imagine heating your home with it.Anyway back to the idea of a world government.Take an in depth walk through the levels of government and all the intricasies of running it in just your country alone.Look at all the waste and in fighting and the endless backstabbing and lies. Now imagine trying to implement that on a world wide scale. Do you think the middle east or China would go for it. Do you think the U.S. would? I doubt it.After all who do you get to head the govenrnment that would not immediately cause problems with a dozen other nations?