Some interesting discussion about the source of Christian understanding here, especially related to Biblical interpretations.
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But speaking of interpretation, some of the links and statements in here are just way off base. I know, there are thousands of books and websites and preachers out there who all have their own interpretation of passages in Revelation, but from my experience, 90%+ of them haven't even come
close to good Christian eschatology.
First, many of them make the mistake of ignoring any context (cultural or otherwise) in Revelation. They approach the book as primarily a \"set of predictions\", which ignores the entire message of the book.
Second, many of the wacky interpretations I've come across (like
\"the locusts are referring to modern helicopters\" ) are caused by people trying to \"match up\" verses with current events, which is an absolutely
horrible approach to scripture. What's interesting is that every generation seems to come up with the same conclusions, just different specifics:
\"The antichrist is (insert world leader or nation) !\"
\"The mark of the beast is (insert technological advancement) !\"
\"The Rapture will happen by (insert approaching date) !\"
It's actually kind of funny to look at some of these claims from back in the '60s and '70s (my parents still have some old books they were given on the subject), and who/what was the subject of the speculation.
Now just to be clear, I'm
not debating the truth in Revelation. I'm well-aware some prophecies have been fulfilled (e.g. the post-WWII re-establishment of the nation of Israel is a big one), and I absolutely believe that there will be an end and a new beginning just as John describes.
What I'm talking about are the popular interpretations that try to artificially manipulate scriptural meaning to match current events, or use passages to score political points. Those are inherently bad methods of looking at the Bible, and honestly they're a pet peeve of mine (can you tell?
).
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For anyone interested in honest Christian eschatology, I'd recommend starting from the historical context (the early Christian church under Roman rule, which is often the subject in Revelation), and possibly taking an in-depth course in the subject.