New Jerusalem: A Monolith? A Biosphere?

by cameo-d 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  funkyderek

  journey-on:

  God, Funkyderek, you have absolutely NO imagination. You can't even entertain the idea that this is a possibility? You are so dogmatic with your "absolutely-no-way" philosophy.

  I have no problem imagining New Jerusalem, although perhaps my creative powers could never reach the psychedlically absurd levels of John of Patmos. I just don't see the point in pretending that those drug-fuelled ravings actually represent something real. I can accept that it's a possibility only in the trivial sense that anything anybody can imagine could be possible in an infinite universe. It seems to me that it's those who try to match everything that happens in the real world with ancient scribblings who show the real lack of imagination. They can't even begin to imagine that these books contain something other than true predictions about the time they themselves live in. What a small-minded egocentric view of the world!

  I bet in one of your past lives hundreds of years ago, you were one of those individuals that INSISTED there was no way the earth was not flat.

  No doubt you and cameo-d were the sort who painted "Here be dragons" on the uncharted areas of maps.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  No doubt you and cameo-d were the sort who painted "Here be dragons" on the uncharted areas of maps.

  I just paste pictures of FunkyD's avatar in those areas.

  Derek Incognita

  BTS
• 

  Caedes

  Try looking into that place where you dare not look! You'll find me there, staring out at you!

  An appropriate quote regarding Mr Burns' confession.
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  cameo-d

  I just don't see the point in pretending that those drug-fuelled ravings actually represent something real

  It's called quantum physics.
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  funkyderek

  cameo-d:

  It's called quantum physics.

  No, no, no! Don't even try that nonsense with me. Just because two things are both hard to understand that does not mean they are equivalent. Hokey ancient religious texts bear only the most superficial similarities to cutting-edge science.
• 

  cameo-d

  from wiki:

  One of the more striking features of the New Jerusalem is its vast size. In 21:16, the angel measures the city with a golden rod or reed, and records it as being 12,000 stadia by 12,000 stadia at the base, as well as 12,000 stadia high. A stadion is usually stated as 185.4 meters, or 600 feet, so the base has dimensions of about 2225 km by 2225 km, or 1500 miles by 1500 miles. These measurements equate to an area of 4.9 million square kilometers, which is larger than the 3,892,685 km² of the 25 states of the European Union in 2005, but smaller than the 7,617,930 km² of Australia. It is 79% of the area of the Middle East which may have around 6,289,592 km². In the ancient Greek system of measurement, the base of the New Jerusalem would have been equal to 144 million square stadia. If rested on the Earth, its ceiling would be inside the exosphere. If the entire flat area of the foundation was supported by the Earth, a chord of 1500 miles would generate a trench on the Earth of about 71.6 miles deep at the very center of the base: .

  It is unclear whether the city is in the form of a cube or a pyramid:
• 

  snowbird

  It is unclear whether the city is in the form of a cube or a pyramid :

  I definitely think cubical, monolithic, and biospherical. From The Message Bible:

  Revelation 21: 12 -14 The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.

  15 -21 The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits ...

  Hmmm ... multiples of 12 all over the place.

  Sylvia
• 

  cameo-d

  A pyramid can have four sides as well as a cube.

  It is unclear whether the city is in the form of a cube or a pyramid:

  Shape		Notes	Volume
  cube		Many hold that the cubic form is more likely, as a cube carries symbolism obvious to John's audience at the time and is more in keeping with John's establishment of Judeo-Christian continuity throughout the text. A cube is the specific geometry of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple of Israel. Also, in the form of a cube, each of the New Jerusalem's twelve edges of 12,000 stadia each, when added together, would equal a total of 144,000 stadia, a number important to the Seer's numerology elsewhere in the text.	If in the form of a cube, it would have a volume of 11 thousand million cubic kilometers, which is about half the volume of the moon, about a cubic mile for every monotheist ever alive since the time of Abraham.
  square pyramid		However, the pyramid interpretation still has several adherents. A pyramid would allow a slope for the river of the water of life to flow down from the throne of God, and for the street of the city to ascend. Also, the New Jerusalem in the form of a pyramid would be a less incredible size. Given the Book of Exodus' narrative, the pyramid is sometimes considered a symbol of slavery.	If in the form of a pyramid, the New Jerusalem would have a volume of 3.7 thousand million cubic kilometers - about a cubic kilometer for every follower of an Abrahamic Religion alive today.
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  snowbird

  A pyramid can have four sides as well

  No argument here, but the context suggests a cube with room for all who wish to enter.

  Sylvia
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  cameo-d

  I am curious....could someone tell me what Watchtower says about it? Do they say it is a "housing" structure....or, are the size and dimensions actually a metaphor for...something else?