Re: Revelations

jason varsoke (jjv@caesun.msd.ray.com)
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 11:30:10 -0400 (EDT) 

> Hey, I've got another philosophical question for you.
> 
> Years ago as a young Christian, I went to a 2 week long seminar from the man 
> my old religion considered the world's foremost authority on Revelations.  
> This was still cold war years, & the USSR played heavily in his predictions. 
>   The rapture was supposed to come before 1995, etc.  I've reaserched 
> literally dozens of these guys & most have just made guesswork of it.  Let's 
> face it, it's completely incomprehensible. OK, so here's the deal:
> 
> If a prophecy is incomprehensible, what's the difference between that and 
> the ravings of a lunatic.  If it's only understandable from hindsight, what 
> use is it except to later say "wow, that guy knew it back then, but didn't 
> or couldn't tell us".  In other words, where does the line exist?  I could 
> spout ludicrice prophecies all day, & if you don't believe them it's because 
> they "haven't come to pass yet".
> 

Actually, there is a logical problem with telling the future.  When I say
Tell here I mean communicating in a decypherable manner.  The problem
looks like the following:

  A Judge presides over a trial accusing a Gypsy of being a fraud.  After
pleading her case the Judge says, "Okay, This is going to be really easy.
If you can predict the future, tell me how I will decide this case.  Will
I aquit you, or convict?"

  The judge has in mind to do the opposite of whatever she says, no matter
what she says.  Therefore it looks like she can't know this future.  But
if you look closely, you see that she can know the outcome, she just can't
tell it to the judge.    Hence there are logical problems with telling the
future.

   How does this apply to Prophecy?  Well, perhaps that's why they are
incomprehenible.  Personally, I think Prophecy is a bunch of houey.  I
believe they rely on certain reoocuring phenomina in human societies, or
in nature.  "The greatest civilization will be concured by relative
barbarians."  The terms are vague enough that you could be refering to
Rome, the US, Chinese Dynasties taken over by the Golden Horde, the assult
on the Library at Alexandria, or the popularity of Bevis and Butthead.

   Last year I spend a few days in the library looking into
interpretations of Nostradomus that were written in the 1950's.  Just so
you all know, the world ended in about 1979.

-j