God to send delusions

Originally posted by darkroom ↑

Yes, this is such a big subject and incorporates myth and metaphor, psychology and the overreach to make special belief systems that don't need to be special in this way.

As I've mentioned before, hell for the Inuit is a freezing cold place and heaven is rather warm.

And yes, it's not that easy to discover the history and birth of Islam with any real certainty, but it is much less opaque than Christ and Christianity. In the Bible the writings further in time from the living Christ tend to embellish Him more. They introduce a virgin birth and a great range of miracles, He becomes increasingly supernatural.

So yes the nonessential ingredients of religion tend to outweigh the core teachings over time.

As for the bit of Revelation pointed out by Mr Gordon.

It is interesting that -

The woman has the sun at her head and the moon at her feet. Persia and Islam.
She is from God and about to give birth. Law of God and a new religion.
Red dragon, seven crowns and ten heads. Seven dominions of the Ottoman empire and ten rulers names and red for the war and bloodshed.
The dragon would destroy a third of the stars in heaven - a third of Muhammad's immediate family were murdered.
The woman fled into the wilderness and it was said that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days, which is 1,260 years. Daniel expresses it as three times and a half, which is also forty-two months, which are twelve hundred and sixty days, which is 1,260 years. In another passage of John's Revelation He speaks of twelve hundred and sixty days.

The year 1260 of the Hejira of Muhammad corresponds to 1844, and there is only one religion that I know of that is founded in Persian, began in 1844 and the founder is claimed to be a descendant of both Daniel and Muhammad.

Consequently the major religions of America all grew from a belief that Christ would return in 1844. Mormons, JW and Seventh Day and the various Millerite movements all have their roots in this year. The year 1844 was called, The Great Expectation, then it became, The Great Disappointment.

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Interpretation of so called prophecies, especially after the time, is problematic.
It is said that a key aspect for the survival and progress of humans is the ability to perceive and notice patterns.
Surely nowhere is this more apparent than the pastime of Biblical prophecy interpretation !

For example, the symbol of Persia is not the Sun but the Sun and Lion .. so where is the Lion in Revelations ?
Likewise Islam may be mistakenly associated by some Christians with a Lunar God but the symbol of Crescent and Star dates way before Islam and was used by the Ottoman Empire. It is not even accepted as Islamic by many Muslims. So again where is the Star in Revs ?
I couldn't find any confirmation that a 3rd of Muhammad's immediate family were murdered. Plenty were murdered, but who qualifies as a member and who were the 2/3rds others ?

For Christians, 1844 was a date calculated by some over enthusiastic evangelical chap using the 2300 year "rule".
The fact that 1844 corresponds with the AH date of 1260 means what ?

The Bab may have begun preaching in 1844 precisely because it corresponded to AH 1260 .. who knows ? However he did not found Baha'i and was not the Messiah. Also Baha'ullah did not come as per the second coming depicted in the Bible and did not found his religion until well after 1844.
It was later Bahai's who being aware of the significance for Abrahamic religions of these signs and prophecies who wove them into their narrative.

Not to mention the other multiple different interpretations of Revelations .. all of which prove without doubt some other scenario and players.
It's all about finding patterns that correspond with a desired outcome, whilst bypassing those that don't.

Anyway according to wotsup we will find out in a few months !

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