Thursday, September 25, 2008

Background Info

The apocalypse was written by a man named John, who was a servant of God. We don't really know much about the author of the apocalypse, except for that he received this message through an eccentric vision. The apocalypse is the last book in the Bible and it was written shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but there is no specific date of when the book was written .

Practically the entire book is symbolic and very difficult to decipher. it gives you a series of events that we must suffer through in order for Christ to come again and save his people from the anti-Christ who at the time will be ruling the earth and eliminating anyone who worships Christ. This book of coarse is only accepted by Christians and anyone who doesn't believe in Christ most likely doesn't believe these events will happen

There are many interpretations for this book and most of them are exactly the same or very similar to one another. The most common interpretation is that a seven-eyed sheep represents Jesus Christ, a beat represents the anti-Christ, and a seven-headed dragon represents the Devil. The general story id the following:

  • The world will suffer through many natural disasters and wars.
  • The anti-Christ will fix everything causing the world to think he is the messiah.
  • The anti-Christ will rule the world.
  • Jesus Christ will come to earth again and will defeat the anti-Christ and the devil, he will put them in chains and throw to the bottomless pit.
  • After 1000 years of peace the Devil will break loose of chains and try to defeat God again.
  • There will be one final battle in the heavens, angels vs. demons, God vs. The Devil, but of coarse God will win
  • After the war God will create a perfect world for his believers to live in and he will once again put the Devil in chains and throw him in the lake of fire forever.

This is basically what the Apocalypse is about and how it all will happen. These are the beliefs of Christians and how they believe the world will end. This book is called the Apocalypse because the definition for apocalypse is a revelation or total devastation and doom, which is why the apocalypse is also known as the book of Revelation. While this topic may be very difficult to understand, it is very interesting and engrossing.

Reader's Digest Bible. Rev. (also Apoc.) 1.1-22.21. Illustrated ed. New York, NK: Reader's Digest association Limited London, 1995. 958-74.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Intro

The apocalypse is the last book in the bible, it is also known as the book of revelation because it is essentially that. In this book God revreals to John, through a dream, how the world will end. I don't know much about this topic but the following is what I have heard. From what I understand there will be a seqeunce of events leading up to the end, these events are in a way clues telling us that the end is near. The whole thing will end with the second coming of Jesus Christ and he will come to save the people that trully believe in him and know he is the son of God almighty.
I chose this topic because it has always really interested me, however I had never really gotten to actually learn about it and know what each separate part means. One of my three questions is has this already begun? my second question is will anyone know when this is happening, if so how will they know? And my last question is how many different interpretations are there of this book and how do you know which one is the right one?