by AlmostAtheist 18 Replies latest watchtower bible
Hey Folks,
Just curious, any concensus on what John actually meant here? I doubt a guy in the first century could honestly envision a time when mankind could genuinely "ruin the earth" if the idea struck them. So what was John really talking about here? The same kind of "ruination" that the earth experienced at the hands of the pre-Noah folks that were said to have "ruined the earth"?
Thanks for any insight.
Dave
Yeah, he's just talking about people ruining the earth by being total @$$holes.
Whatever is referred to, it could not be meant in an ecological sense as we think of today. The earth can be used figuratively to refer to the people, as at Genesis 11:1 - "And the whole earth was of one language, and one speech." Those who understand Revelation historically consider the "beast" power to have been the Roman empire, and this, in turn, is based on the fourth beast of Daniel from the perspective of the first century. This beast was considered to be "the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." (Dan. 7:23)
Of the beast of Revelation - a composite of the beasts of Daniel - it is said that "power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." (Rev. 13:7)
Native American Indians believe in Mother Earth. What has man done to Mother Earth ecologically on an 'international' scale?
I think the whole book of Revelation is a denunciation of the Roman persecutions under Emperor Domitian.
The book promises that the persecutions will soon end with the setting up of God's Kingdom. As it says in verse 15 "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever". Verse 18 is a promise of retribution in kind for Rome.
One of the simplest explanations of Revelation is here: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01594b.htm
Native American Indians believe in Mother Earth.
do they? didn't know that "native american indians" is a religion...
Google
Native American Indians believe in Mother Earth.It's called Pantheism
do they? didn't know that "native american indians" is a religion...
Romans 1:22
Professing to be wise, they became fools 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. 25 For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the Creator... D Dog
Googlemagoogle, I believe in my mother does that me a religion unto myself?
Just how you got American Indians being a religion is worth knowing.
Guest77
Revelation is full of OT allusions and imagery. It is my guess that the author of this passage was alluding to Gen 6:12,13. There the 5th century P author uses the same hebrew word for the condition of the earth "corrupted/ruined" and the ordained "ruining/destruction" of the earth by his God.
No, this has nothing to do with pollution. As a moralist P viewed humanity that did not share his cultic sensativities as trash.
I think we would all agree that man today is indeed ruining the earth in just about every sense, ecologically, morally and spiritually. I think an all out nuclear war would ruin the earth just about permanently. Will God let that happen? We’ll see.
FM
