[DanielSlack]

Part One, Interpreting The Past

"Religion tells us what Man is to the Universe, Science tells us what the Universe is to Man," Daniel Slack

Everyone has a religion. From the strongest Atheist, most logical Scientist, submissive Muslim or devout Christian, all have a set of parables, symbols, beliefs and practices that gives meaning to our lives, and it usually gives reference to a higher truth or power. We see examples of this that we practice everyday.

Some of us carry religious icon of some sort, be it a crucifix, Buddhist rosary, or lucky rabbits foot.

Some of us use age old rituals to ward off evil, like blessing someone after they sneeze, praying a certain number of times a day, or seeking the answer to the unknown amongst the stars. Many of these types of practices are not really dangerous to individual or groups, and give us a feeling of control or order in the universe.

Some of us meditate on the doctrine of the religion that we claim, whether it focuses on unifying and respecting all of G-D's creation or exclusionary for only a small group of people.

Some of us meditate on the prophecies that our religion cherishes. Prophecies offer comfort and hope that further strengthen our faith. In joyous times, prophecy reminds us of the responsibility we have to our G-D. In tragic times, prophecy reminds us that time passes and good will be an ultimate end.

There is a danger in the religions of the world. There is a trap that we may not even realize that we have fallen victim to. That trap is the worship of prophecy. Prophecy has been used to manipulate people on a whole.

The reasons for this is plain to see within the human psyche. Humans wish to have things well ordered, regardless is that order is more virtual then effectual. Humans want a reality to be better, stronger, and faster than the reality we live in. No one but the creator can provide a better reality than the one we live in. Ultimately humanity seeks immortality, one can not find this amongst the finite world we live in. Unfortunately, many of us devote ourselves to a faith because of selfishness. Often religion is sold to us in one of two ways:

None of us is good enough, work hard enough, or repent enough to achieve heaven. Salvation can only be achieved through the worship of a man, sometimes called the son of G-D, sometimes called G-D himself.

Or

All of us could achieve heaven if we focus our body, mind, and soul to worshiping G-D, peace, or some existential philosophy.

I find it very interesting that throughout history, the pendulum that swings between the gates of heaven changes based upon what I call "Interpretations Of Convenience." It seems that the narrow viewpoints of religion shifts to what ever makes it easiest to control the masses.

There was a time when you could purchase "indulgences" from "Pardoners" in the Catholic Church, for sins yet to be specified, to be insured remittance from earthly punishments. Unfortunately, this practice evolved into a belief that heavenly forgiveness could be attained as well. It was not unheard of for a man to purchase forgiveness before he lied to a supervisor, slept with a prostitute, or even committed murder.

Then, in his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, Martin Luther speaks out against how the Catholic Church views repentance, salvation, and indulgences. Christians who were being falsely told that they could find absolution, the forgiveness of their sins, through the purchase of indulgences, rather than through the free gift of God's mercy offered in and through Jesus Christ.

Just as this is a corruption of what salvation and forgiveness is supposed to be, so to has this lead to a corruption in the interpretation of scripture and prophecy.

Ask any believer who reads the Torah, Holy Bible or Quran. It seems to me that we mistake a narrow viewpoint for a much grander vision. Let us take the story of Noah and his Ark, for example (in the bible Genesis Chapters 6- 9, in the Quran Suras 11 and 71).

Noach ben Lamech (known as Noah) was a G-Dly man who lived roughly 6,000 years ago, by some accounts. In his 600th year, G-D had looked upon the land and saw wickedness in his creation. This saddened the heart of G_D immensely, because G-D had given man the ability to have good and evil in his heart, and a majority of men had chosen an unrighteous path.

Of all the people who would be effected by the flood, G-D had found one man that could be considered "righteous for his generation."

To some, he was only a righteous man, to others he was a prophet. The extent of Noah's righteousness has been a matter of debate for scholars. The statement that he was "righteous for his generation" may mean that he was considered righteous compared to other people in the land he inhabited. One could compare the statement to a thief being righteous when in the presence of a group of murderers.

Some even think that Noah's righteousness would not compare to that of Abraham, Joseph, or Moses, because never prayed to G-D on behalf of the people the flood would have effected (according to the Torah). If you took Abraham's life in comparison, Abraham prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, some scholars believe that Noah was only concerned with the safety of his own family while ignoring the safety of those around him.

Noah was warned about an impending flood that will cover the earth. In many translations of the Bible it says "Earth." If we look at the literal Hebrew translation, it uses the word "Erets" which can be defined as "land" like the English "land," but can have the sense of "ground," "country," or even of "soil."

The following definition is taken from scripturetext.com/genesis/6-13 Genesis 6:13 "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

'erets (eh-rets): Hebrew The earth (at large, or partitively a land) -- common, country, earth, field, ground, land, natins, way, + wilderness, world.

We, also, have to take into account that Noah lived in a time where there was rather limited modes of transportation; sandal, beast, or boat, and that the average man did not travel further then 30 Kilometers away from home. Considering at sea level the line-of-sight to the horizon line is about 5 Kilometers. Even if a man stood on a hill 100 meters high, the edge of his world would only be 36 kilometers away. Realizing this it would be easy for a man, in those times, to believe that the whole earth was flooded.

Then, there is a question of how exactly did the flood occur. Was it rapid like a sheet of water falling upon the earths surface? Was it engulfing like a flood from a river during a storm? Did the people drown because they felt they were safe in their roofed houses? Did they even have roofs? Was their people pleading to Noah to let them into the Ark after the flooding started?

In reality, when it comes to the discussion of the Great Flood, we do not have a lot of data to go by, and the importance of this event is actually the formation of the Noahide laws and the availability of G-D's mercy, as opposed to the punishment that G-D deemed necessary.

With so many questions in regard to a past biblical event, why do we presume to even understand the nature of prophecy in the bible? Is prophecy truly for the believer or is it for the unbeliever so that they may gain faith? More importantly, should prophecy really play such an important role in our worship of G-D?

In the United States, ask 1000 believers to interpret for you the book of Revelations and you may end up with 340 different interpretations of prophecies, and 50 honestly saying they have no idea. If you multiply that by the number of countries, or even further divide it by ethnic groupings, you start to realize the extent that prophecy interpretations can diverge.

"No man treats a motor car as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behavior to sin, he does not say, "You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go." He attempts to find out what is wrong and set it right."~Bertrand Russell

The Cult of Prophecy: Can a hope for the future interfere with you living for today?
Part Two, Interpreting The Future

Originally Posted by DanielSlack

Part One, Interpreting The Past

"Religion tells us what Man is to the Universe, Science tells us what the Universe is to Man," Daniel Slack

Everyone has a religion. From the strongest Atheist, most logical Scientist, submissive Muslim or devout Christian, all have a set of parables, symbols, beliefs and practices that gives meaning to our lives, and it usually gives reference to a higher truth or power. We see examples of this that we practice everyday.

Some of us carry religious icon of some sort, be it a crucifix, Buddhist rosary, or lucky rabbits foot.

Some of us use age old rituals to ward off evil, like blessing someone after they sneeze, praying a certain number of times a day, or seeking the answer to the unknown amongst the stars. Many of these types of practices are not really dangerous to individual or groups, and give us a feeling of control or order in the universe.

Some of us meditate on the doctrine of the religion that we claim, whether it focuses on unifying and respecting all of G-D's creation or exclusionary for only a small group of people.

Some of us meditate on the prophecies that our religion cherishes. Prophecies offer comfort and hope that further strengthen our faith. In joyous times, prophecy reminds us of the responsibility we have to our G-D. In tragic times, prophecy reminds us that time passes and good will be an ultimate end.

There is a danger in the religions of the world. There is a trap that we may not even realize that we have fallen victim to. That trap is the worship of prophecy. Prophecy has been used to manipulate people on a whole.

The reasons for this is plain to see within the human psyche. Humans wish to have things well ordered, regardless is that order is more virtual then effectual. Humans want a reality to be better, stronger, and faster than the reality we live in. No one but the creator can provide a better reality than the one we live in. Ultimately humanity seeks immortality, one can not find this amongst the finite world we live in. Unfortunately, many of us devote ourselves to a faith because of selfishness. Often religion is sold to us in one of two ways:

None of us is good enough, work hard enough, or repent enough to achieve heaven. Salvation can only be achieved through the worship of a man, sometimes called the son of G-D, sometimes called G-D himself.

Or

All of us could achieve heaven if we focus our body, mind, and soul to worshiping G-D, peace, or some existential philosophy.

I find it very interesting that throughout history, the pendulum that swings between the gates of heaven changes based upon what I call "Interpretations Of Convenience." It seems that the narrow viewpoints of religion shifts to what ever makes it easiest to control the masses.

There was a time when you could purchase "indulgences" from "Pardoners" in the Catholic Church, for sins yet to be specified, to be insured remittance from earthly punishments. Unfortunately, this practice evolved into a belief that heavenly forgiveness could be attained as well. It was not unheard of for a man to purchase forgiveness before he lied to a supervisor, slept with a prostitute, or even committed murder.

Then, in his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, Martin Luther speaks out against how the Catholic Church views repentance, salvation, and indulgences. Christians who were being falsely told that they could find absolution, the forgiveness of their sins, through the purchase of indulgences, rather than through the free gift of God's mercy offered in and through Jesus Christ.

Just as this is a corruption of what salvation and forgiveness is supposed to be, so to has this lead to a corruption in the interpretation of scripture and prophecy.

Ask any believer who reads the Torah, Holy Bible or Quran. It seems to me that we mistake a narrow viewpoint for a much grander vision. Let us take the story of Noah and his Ark, for example (in the bible Genesis Chapters 6- 9, in the Quran Suras 11 and 71).

Noach ben Lamech (known as Noah) was a G-Dly man who lived roughly 6,000 years ago, by some accounts. In his 600th year, G-D had looked upon the land and saw wickedness in his creation. This saddened the heart of G_D immensely, because G-D had given man the ability to have good and evil in his heart, and a majority of men had chosen an unrighteous path.

Of all the people who would be effected by the flood, G-D had found one man that could be considered "righteous for his generation."

To some, he was only a righteous man, to others he was a prophet. The extent of Noah's righteousness has been a matter of debate for scholars. The statement that he was "righteous for his generation" may mean that he was considered righteous compared to other people in the land he inhabited. One could compare the statement to a thief being righteous when in the presence of a group of murderers.

Some even think that Noah's righteousness would not compare to that of Abraham, Joseph, or Moses, because never prayed to G-D on behalf of the people the flood would have effected (according to the Torah). If you took Abraham's life in comparison, Abraham prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, some scholars believe that Noah was only concerned with the safety of his own family while ignoring the safety of those around him.

Noah was warned about an impending flood that will cover the earth. In many translations of the Bible it says "Earth." If we look at the literal Hebrew translation, it uses the word "Erets" which can be defined as "land" like the English "land," but can have the sense of "ground," "country," or even of "soil."

The following definition is taken from scripturetext.com/genesis/6-13 Genesis 6:13 "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

'erets (eh-rets): Hebrew The earth (at large, or partitively a land) -- common, country, earth, field, ground, land, natins, way, + wilderness, world.

We, also, have to take into account that Noah lived in a time where there was rather limited modes of transportation; sandal, beast, or boat, and that the average man did not travel further then 30 Kilometers away from home. Considering at sea level the line-of-sight to the horizon line is about 5 Kilometers. Even if a man stood on a hill 100 meters high, the edge of his world would only be 36 kilometers away. Realizing this it would be easy for a man, in those times, to believe that the whole earth was flooded.

Then, there is a question of how exactly did the flood occur. Was it rapid like a sheet of water falling upon the earths surface? Was it engulfing like a flood from a river during a storm? Did the people drown because they felt they were safe in their roofed houses? Did they even have roofs? Was their people pleading to Noah to let them into the Ark after the flooding started?

In reality, when it comes to the discussion of the Great Flood, we do not have a lot of data to go by, and the importance of this event is actually the formation of the Noahide laws and the availability of G-D's mercy, as opposed to the punishment that G-D deemed necessary.

With so many questions in regard to a past biblical event, why do we presume to even understand the nature of prophecy in the bible? Is prophecy truly for the believer or is it for the unbeliever so that they may gain faith? More importantly, should prophecy really play such an important role in our worship of G-D?

In the United States, ask 1000 believers to interpret for you the book of Revelations and you may end up with 340 different interpretations of prophecies, and 50 honestly saying they have no idea. If you multiply that by the number of countries, or even further divide it by ethnic groupings, you start to realize the extent that prophecy interpretations can diverge.

"No man treats a motor car as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behavior to sin, he does not say, "You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go." He attempts to find out what is wrong and set it right."~Bertrand Russell

The Cult of Prophecy: Can a hope for the future interfere with you living for today?
Part Two, Interpreting The Future

Hi Daniel, a question. Why do you not spell out God? Just curious.

[DanielSlack]

Originally Posted by BruceG

Hi Daniel, a question. Why do you not spell out God? Just curious.

"Sometimes it is wise to practice in your heart, what we don't understand in the mind. Other times, we can only attain through logic what our hearts are hardened against. In order to respect the name of G-D, G-D's name must be respected!"

It is out of respect for HIS name that I do that. In this day and age, to easily we her the word god, and assume someone means G-D. Either way, god or G-D, is but a pronoun for the Creator. Using god, or G-D, would be like calling you "man", or a child "boy."

We need to bring the faith back into our belief. Belief without faith is useless, faith without works is useless, works without intention are empty, and removing the sacredness of G-D's name is blasphemy.

HE is not any god, he may not even be your god, but he is my G-D. It is out of respect have I adopted this practice.


Fi aman ALLAH! (In God's care!) arabic farewell

Daniel Slack
daniel-slack.newsvine.com - Daniel Slack

[Brad]

Danny, I'm not being rude, but wouldn't it be preferable if what you posted was written in a blog? You could then maybe enter into debate with a brief synopsis and then use a link to your newsvine comments as a way to clarify your points.

I've always taken a forum as a place for discussion but I've got a feeling that a lot of people are by-passing what you've written due to the length of the posts.

Just my opinion...

Originally Posted by Brad

Danny, I'm not being rude, but wouldn't it be preferable if what you posted was written in a blog? You could then maybe enter into debate with a brief synopsis and then use a link to your newsvine comments as a way to clarify your points.

I've always taken a forum as a place for discussion but I've got a feeling that a lot of people are by-passing what you've written due to the length of the posts.

Just my opinion...

Most people in a forum will not read a lengthy post myself included so a lot of the information is just picked through that said replying to the OP. Prophecy is not a cult.

[DanielSlack]

Originally Posted by Brad

Danny, I'm not being rude, but wouldn't it be preferable if what you posted was written in a blog? You could then maybe enter into debate with a brief synopsis and then use a link to your newsvine comments as a way to clarify your points.

I've always taken a forum as a place for discussion but I've got a feeling that a lot of people are by-passing what you've written due to the length of the posts.

Just my opinion...

"By definition, A Forum is a message board or bulletin board system in the form of a discussion site allowing for discussion or debate on a specified topic. From a technological standpoint, forums the term forums' refers to the site, while the term forum refers to one of many containers (directories) that the site uses to organize the user submitted content or boards ..."

See, my problem is I am trying to understand religion. I believe that there is a creator, but i want to see the many facets of his expression in our lives, so that I might understand him better. G-D is SO Vast that I believe that he has a different face for every person ever born. No two peoples understanding of G-D is identical.

I was hoping to gather empirical information on the tolerances and ability for people to pleasantly discuss controversial issues. unfortunately, at least my experience thus far, has alluded to the same nepotism that occurs in churches is also happening on the web.

My posting are relevant to the nature of faith, attitudes and belief. One person emailed me saying the problem is that some of my posts are too controversial for this forum and that is why I am not getting many responses.

It is really funny, I have been published in the New York Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer, and Newsweek. I have been on CNN, NPR, and was even invited to the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart". My writings have ene been used a number of times by President Obama, he even sent me a hand written (caligraphy) copy of two of my articles and put his signature and presidential seal on them.

So it is a question of why is there no response to my articles? Is it possible that thinking outside the box may make some people uncomfortable? Is it possible that my striving to be accurate in my information and showing proof elongates it a bit too much? Or maybe it can be summed up in a statement when we are talking about the ten commandments:

I mentioned that the english translation of the ten commandments was flawed. For example, it does not say "Though Shalt Not Lie" , it says "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neightbor." then I have many examples of people lying for G-Dly reasons, and showed "G-Dly" people lying for humanistic reasons. The response from several Christians was that they will believe what they choose to believe about the Ten Commandments.

Dash it all, that is not how religion works. You cannot just start believing only the bits and pieces you want to, and change the bits that are too controversial. That is how the Nazi's, Klu Klux Klan, and the Black Panthers came into being.

Unfortunately, in the Jewish belief system their are hundreds of laws, and when comparing the Ten Commandments, they hold no importance greater than or lesser than the other laws. In essences, it seems in Christianity that this might be evidence of "Symbolic Word Worship." I believe all revelation from G-D is holy and equally important. Too look upon the scripture and say "These laws are more HOLY than those laws" only shows how self serving and deluded many christian viewpoints are.

If you want to know what the bible really says and means, ask one of the Jews who walk among you. The old testament is their book, their heritage, if anyone has an understanding on the significance of the Law, the Ten Commandments, the whole TANAKH (the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim), it is the people that have given their time and their lives to seek a true deeper understanding with the language that it is written in. As christians, we have relied on translators who are politically motivated to keep things vague when it comes to wholly translating the sacred scriptures. Christians keep referring to "Sacred Mysteries" and "Complexities of Scripture."

In reality, you suffer from really bad translations of Jewish scripture, with political motivations to keep people ignorant behind them. Your socalled "mysteries" are not so mysterious when you know the language they were written in.

For example, did you know that there are lots of "Son's of G-D?" Many of the great prophets in history were referred to as Son's of G-D. It is a title used as a description of how close to G-D and righteous a man was. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Enoch, and many others have had the term applied to them.


Anyway, I am ranting, thank you for your comment.

Hi Daniel. I agree with you that prophecy can be a tool to control the masses. And that the pendulum swings mostly towards the end towards which the prophet wants it to swing. Some people who use prophecy or act as a prophet after some time, somehow begin to believe that what they think and say means more or carries more weight than what God has to say. Arrogance sets in. There seems to be a need for people as you say, to have order, and when they find themselves searching for the invivisible god, and things feel a bit disorderly due to there being nothing to grab hold of, it is much easier to find the local prophecy shop than it is to search for god. When we have found god, ironically when he finds us, we wouldnt need to look for a prophet or an interpreter of gods will, would we? I think that there are too many people who try to be the conscience of the church. They are ready to tell the world and the church what god is saying to her, conveniently forgetting that the husband does speak to her himself.

Been to your blog. LOL...the fishhead man is scary!

God bless you
Heneni

Understanding the Prophets Mantle is key.

I agree with you that prophecy can be a tool to control the masses.

I disagree.

Some people who use prophecy or act as a prophet after some time, somehow begin to believe that what they think and say means more or carries more weight than what God has to say.

It is people such as these that are false prophets. These are the ones that want the attention on themselves and not on the Word of God.

[DanielSlack]

Originally Posted by PropheticallySpeaking

Understanding the Prophets Mantle is key.



I disagree.



It is people such as these that are false prophets. These are the ones that want the attention on themselves and not on the Word of God.

You know what else makes false prophets? FALSE PROPHECY!!!! In the early day of Jewish Faith, and the early days of Christiandom, false prophets were stoned because the claimed to have divine information and was wrong.

In todays world, we have lots of false propets, and they are actively using psychological manipulation to spread their vision.

Hal Lindsey, David Wilkerson, and many others have had "prophetic word" which proved to be false. SO where does this put them as "Prophets". The left behind series is a fiction story inspired by one man's interpretation of what may be, not what is. Ever since I can remember, Lindsey, Wilkerson, Roberts, Roberson, the "Bible Giants" of our age have made prophecies that have not come to pass.

Yet hardly any believers remember this.

Hal Lindsey cowrites the left behind series and he is considered by many to be a prophet.

L. Ron Hubbard who wrote science fiction creates religious books of his own imagination, and he is considered a prophet.

So you tell me,

What is the difference between the two?

One is inspired by the Word of God the other is inspired by fame and fortune. These people take scripture and add to it to enhance their position and monetary gain. Jesus said "Many will come in my name".

In todays world, we have lots of false propets, and they are actively using psychological manipulation to spread their vision.

Your right. Its here that the true inspired Word of God shines and these people only have as I said fame and fortune to guide them not the Word of God.

Ever since I can remember, Lindsey, Wilkerson, Roberts, Roberson, the "Bible Giants" of our age have made prophecies that have not come to pass.

And they will not either. Agian applying their own twisted version. God teaches us through his word not through monetary gain or fame and fortune.

So you tell me,

What is the difference between the two?

Suffice it to say brother you must read deeper into the word or you will never understand. Its obvious to me that you are being misled by those who wish fame and fortune and not the true meaning of the Word of God.

God Bless.