by proplog2 17 Replies latest jw friends
Prop, Paul says somewhere in one of his letters that by Jah's authority the nations are here, to keep things in some sort of order (or to that effect)
Revelation 13 says the DRAGON gave his authority to the beast.
Now, if the beasts are nations then the dragon = JAH.
No, I dont think so.
Nice post Proplog2:
Lately, I have been rethinking my opinions about the two kings. I am leaning more towards an abstract rendering of their identities. Rather than accepting a political depiction of the two kings, I am starting to consider the possibility of the two kings representing the two dominant currencies, the US DOLLAR & EURO.
Eventually, we may live to see one global form of currency, and it could spring from a financial showdown between the dollar and euro, rather than a political battle/war between former super powers.
After all, if RUSSIA regains her soviet glory within her current borders, who cares? If they revert back to communism and drop capitalism, who cares? CHINA has so many global ambitions that RUSSIA has a very long road ahead of her to make up for the lost time and confusion of the 90's.
Utopian Reformist:
I believe in a certain method or operational proceedure for interpreting Bible Prophecy.
1. SIGNIFICANCE: You want to pick events that are significant to the largest population. Big wars vs Little wars. Big empires vs. little countries. Big nuclear threats vs amature bombs.
2. PARSIMONY: You want the simplest conceivable fullfillment. This means you concern yourself with the most important players ie political entities. You avoid second-order abstractions. World empire of false religion is a second-order abstraction. There really is no single religion that exercises hegemony over the world. Christianity is a loose collection of religions that bicker over sectarian issues. Islam has its factions that kill each other. Monetary systems battling it out seems too abstract...even poetic.
3. PARALLELISMS: If the actions and descriptions of entities in different prophesies are similar it is probably good to explore the possibility that they are identical entities.
4. SEQUENCE: The more steps that match in a sequence of events the more probable that the outcome will be as predicted.
But, it is still not science.
Logical
The "authority" problem is a paradox. If you believe in the irrational concept of an "all-powerful" "all-knowing" God then ultimately God is responsible for all the suffering because he doesn't intervene in some great ceative way.
"Beast" describes the general behavior of nations. Rulership and governance is a function of these beast-like entities. You are confusing them and making them mutually exclusive - they're not. David defended King Saul as Jehovah's annointed ruler - even though Saul was behaving badly.
Proplog2:
I agree, there is no exact science in interpreting and applying bible prophecy. There are only "preferred" methods, as you described.
Due to the billions of humans currently occupying this planet along with trillions of fish, animals and insects, there are literally at any second of the normal day, quadrillions of events taking place. When viewed from a distance, it is a busy and confusing place, bustling with frantic, hectic, and constant activity.
Given these facts, it is possible to expand and contract the applications of biblical prophecies to fit a variety of interpretations, both academic, historical, archaeological and scientific.
Only access to resources and the power to theorize, speculate, research, investigate and conclude pose limits to the individual private scholar.
Proplog
Okay, i think i know what you might be getting at.
An anti-christ is someone who is against christ. I used the definition in an improper way by applying it to someone opposed to putin, who is, according to reports a christian, but not the christ.
The stance i took in the post is similar to that taken by some christians, that opposition to them is equal to opposition to jesus himself.
SS
Singsongboi:
Russia is "partly strong and partly fragile" Dan 2:42
Russia is obssessed with being a great power. As the USA continues to push Russia the more likely it will retaliate.
Russia still has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the US. Russia has less to lose than the USA. Starting a nuclear war involves risk. The country that has the least to lose has the most to gain.
Give up your optimism. Optimism is as bad as religion. There is NO rational basis for an optimistic outcome to the current world situation.
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