Apocalyptic literature isn’t meant to be taken literally. It’s a common mistake though, even among so-called Christians. “Mouth like a lion” could mean boastful, roaring, brave, loud, threatening, or any number of things.
And yet I’ve not seen anyone figure out that the locusts in Revelations was just a poetic taxonomy for the local middle eastern hornet, Vespa Orientalis, down to the golden crown on its face.
People like to interpret those texts in all sorts of fantastical ways as long as it titillates them, but shy away from actually looking plainly at what’s being said.
So by all means don’t take it literally. But also maybe don’t think that a text written by a syphilitic old man in antiquity is talking about the 2024 United States presidential election without a more compelling case.
Oh I didn’t mean there wasn’t literal things in it. Absolutely I would agree with you there’s a lot of playing around with stuff that is just plain. A lot of literal stuff that gets overlooked, and in no way talks about some future events but was talking about something that happened back then. Particularly in Matthew 24, which is clearly talking about two different events, but seems to always get rolled up into one.
But Daniel 8 paralleled with Daniel 11 (actually the entire prophetic last half of Daniel) is one of the best examples of apocalyptic literature paired with an interpretation that we have. Daniel’s apocalyptic vision has more explanation attached to it than any other we have in the Bible, and it’s very instructive as to how we’re supposed to take apocalyptic writing.
By the way it’s Revelation not revelations. I don’t care because you obviously are well-informed about these things, but it will matter with some people and automatically discount your message if you don’t say Revelation. Not trying to be a smartass.
Apocalyptic literature isn’t meant to be taken literally. It’s a common mistake though, even among so-called Christians. “Mouth like a lion” could mean boastful, roaring, brave, loud, threatening, or any number of things.
And yet I’ve not seen anyone figure out that the locusts in Revelations was just a poetic taxonomy for the local middle eastern hornet, Vespa Orientalis, down to the golden crown on its face.
People like to interpret those texts in all sorts of fantastical ways as long as it titillates them, but shy away from actually looking plainly at what’s being said.
So by all means don’t take it literally. But also maybe don’t think that a text written by a syphilitic old man in antiquity is talking about the 2024 United States presidential election without a more compelling case.
Oh I didn’t mean there wasn’t literal things in it. Absolutely I would agree with you there’s a lot of playing around with stuff that is just plain. A lot of literal stuff that gets overlooked, and in no way talks about some future events but was talking about something that happened back then. Particularly in Matthew 24, which is clearly talking about two different events, but seems to always get rolled up into one.
But Daniel 8 paralleled with Daniel 11 (actually the entire prophetic last half of Daniel) is one of the best examples of apocalyptic literature paired with an interpretation that we have. Daniel’s apocalyptic vision has more explanation attached to it than any other we have in the Bible, and it’s very instructive as to how we’re supposed to take apocalyptic writing.
By the way it’s Revelation not revelations. I don’t care because you obviously are well-informed about these things, but it will matter with some people and automatically discount your message if you don’t say Revelation. Not trying to be a smartass.