That would be a natural disaster, something which can also be referred to as "An act of God." But in Genesis 8:21 YHWH promised that He would never again initiate a major world-wide disaster: Never again will I curse the earth because of man, because his heart contrives evil from his infancy. Never again will I strike down every living thing as I have done.
Therefore, asteroid strikes, comet collisions, volcanic eruptions, etc. are eliminated from the possibility of being the cause of the disaster predicted by OT prophets.
Only one possible cause remains: man will invent the means to wipe out life on earth.
Again, this is a plea to irony rather than Scripture.
The problem with your interpretation of Genesis 8:21 is that you want the phrase “as I have done” to cover all possible natural disasters. However the phrase could just refer to the particular option of flooding.
We do not know the day or the hour, or the method.
The Book of Revelations has seven trumpets and seven bowls so clearly He has more options than you seem to insist.
Look. I share your feelings on nukes. I've been a supporter of Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament since forever.
It obscures the case surrounding it with dubious interpretations of Scriptures which most people don't accept as authoritative anyway. Your audience is limited first to those who do - some Christians, Jews and Muslims. It's further limited to that subset of those subsets of those faith communities who find your interpretations compelling, which from what we've seen on here is virtually no-one.
Why not oppose nukes on the perfectly reasonable grounds that they're indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction whose use would be mass murder at best and genocidal ecological annihilation at worst?
If we ban nuclear weapons, then we void the prophesies. So, there's a dilemma here...
Well, it's not our dilemma. After Jonah prophesied to Nineveh, he sat on an overlooking hill to see what would happen. But the people of Nineveh had repented, and so YHWH canceled His plans to destroy that city. Jonah was upset, but YHWH told him that it was wrong to feel that way.
Our Lady of Akita:
" .. .the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity...the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead."
If the Bible says that there is to be a nuclear war, then we as Christians are duty bound to make it happen. Is that how it works, undead rat? Like making Israel the state fulfil the prophecy some read into the Bible about the end of days?
Psalm 9:15-16 The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making,
they are caught by the feet in the snare they set themselves.
YHWH has made Himself known, has given judgment,
He has trapped the wicked in the work of their own hands.
If the Bible says that there is to be a nuclear war, then we as Christians are duty bound to make it happen. Is that how it works, undead rat? Like making Israel the state fulfil the prophecy some read into the Bible about the end of days?
Like an extreme version of the guy who took a roan/red cow to Jerusalem to fulfill a prophecy. (Others, too, have done it since.) Trying to force God to jump-start the end times. Unwise, and very arrogant.
Our Lady of Akita:
" .. .the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity...the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead."
And, how is this relevant to the original premise (that the Hebrew Scriptures predict a nuclear catastrophe)?
If we accept that Sasagawa-san received a genuine message from the Lord via a series of visions of Mary, then these are messages for the mid 1970s rather than messages for the Jewish people more than 2500 years ago. There is a strong theme within the Prophets along the lines of "repent of your sins or the [insert nation that's currently stomping other nations in the region] will defeat you" or "because you didn't turn from your sins the [insert nation ...] defeated you, return to the Lord and your prosperity will be restored". Mid 1970s, and the threat of nuclear war was very real - a decade before and the world had come to the brink of nuclear war over Cuba, a proxy war against Chinese Communism was being fought in Vietnam. It's consistent with prophetic utterances to phrase the warnings in the context of the threats of the day. Today I'd expect to hear such prophecies to be in terms of environmental destruction or global pandemic.
I Googled “what did Jesus use, sticks or carrots?”
Near the top of the list -
“ The answer is fairly straightforward - both blessings and curses are law! In fact they are the quintessence of law.
Law is: "If you... Then He'll..."
Gospel is "Since He... You are..."
Notice therefore that "If you... Then He'll..." is a message that could include curses or blessings. If you obey then He'll bless you. If you disobey, then He'll curse you. Whether the carrot is being dangled or the stick is being threatened the real issue is the phrase "If you...". What makes these messages law is not the curses or the carrots, it's the conditionality.”
Psalm 9:15-16 The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making,
they are caught by the feet in the snare they set themselves.
YHWH has made Himself known, has given judgment,
He has trapped the wicked in the work of their own hands.
Psalm 9:15-16 The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making,
they are caught by the feet in the snare they set themselves.
YHWH has made Himself known, has given judgment,
He has trapped the wicked in the work of their own hands.
Sorry old mate. Bit thick here. Please spell out exactly what you mean.
If the Bible says that there is to be a nuclear war, then we as Christians are duty bound to make it happen. Is that how it works, undead rat? Like making Israel the state fulfil the prophecy some read into the Bible about the end of days?
I wrote a series of linked short stories positing exactly that. Obviously, the people concerned were all heretics, but there is still the glimmer of recognition in that urge, 'How long, o Lord?'
Back to GNW - I seem to recall Ken Livingstone, when he was Leader of the GLC, remarking that if London was nuked, he'd prefer to simply stand in the street, and wait for annihilation.
His point was, of course, that what was left of the world (if anything) would be so awful as to be not worth bothering about.
It may just be a sort of backhanded compliment (YMMV) if someone like undead_rat edits a post, and then quotes the edited version as if it were the original.
I have a NYT article from March, 2019, which is titled: The Islamic State Is Not Defeated.
Here are some quotes:
"More than 40,000 foreigners traveled to the territory of the Islamic State, and most are missing.
"The Islamic State is like herpes: It can be managed but never cured. . . .
It will break out again."
When ISIS's capital, Raqqa, was captured, its thousands of ISIS soldiers were not made to surrender. Instead they drove off in convoy to places unknown. If substantial numbers have entered Europe, they could present a great danger to the Catholic hierarchy. ISIS has made threats against the Vatican, saying that Muslims will be praying there instead of Christians.
Well, if Islamic terrorists were to attack the Vatican, it would probably still be about the Crusades. Deep wound back then to Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, and anyone else in the area. Not sure how much it's ever healed.
Well, if Islamic terrorists were to attack the Vatican, it would probably still be about the Crusades. Deep wound back then to Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, and anyone else in the area. Not sure how much it's ever healed.
I have a NYT article from March, 2019, which is titled: The Islamic State Is Not Defeated.
Here are some quotes:
"More than 40,000 foreigners traveled to the territory of the Islamic State, and most are missing.
"The Islamic State is like herpes: It can be managed but never cured. . . .
It will break out again."
When ISIS's capital, Raqqa, was captured, its thousands of ISIS soldiers were not made to surrender. Instead they drove off in convoy to places unknown. If substantial numbers have entered Europe, they could present a great danger to the Catholic hierarchy. ISIS has made threats against the Vatican, saying that Muslims will be praying there instead of Christians.
Uh huh. It's unstoppable then. Carry on. How does it precipitate Global Nuclear War™?
Well, if Islamic terrorists were to attack the Vatican, it would probably still be about the Crusades. Deep wound back then to Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, and anyone else in the area. Not sure how much it's ever healed.
Comments
Yes, it’s an all-too-short live excerpt on Abraxas, running into Gypsy Queen, and sung by keyboard player Greg Rolie. As you say, very good!
Again, this is a plea to irony rather than Scripture.
The problem with your interpretation of Genesis 8:21 is that you want the phrase “as I have done” to cover all possible natural disasters. However the phrase could just refer to the particular option of flooding.
We do not know the day or the hour, or the method.
The Book of Revelations has seven trumpets and seven bowls so clearly He has more options than you seem to insist.
No s.
It obscures the case surrounding it with dubious interpretations of Scriptures which most people don't accept as authoritative anyway. Your audience is limited first to those who do - some Christians, Jews and Muslims. It's further limited to that subset of those subsets of those faith communities who find your interpretations compelling, which from what we've seen on here is virtually no-one.
Why not oppose nukes on the perfectly reasonable grounds that they're indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction whose use would be mass murder at best and genocidal ecological annihilation at worst?
D’oh! I only needed 11 in that last sentence and like a prawn, I typed 12.
You sod. LOL. I mean LOL!
Well, it's not our dilemma. After Jonah prophesied to Nineveh, he sat on an overlooking hill to see what would happen. But the people of Nineveh had repented, and so YHWH canceled His plans to destroy that city. Jonah was upset, but YHWH told him that it was wrong to feel that way.
And it didn't work. Or at least, Jonah didn't make the transfer of empathy from the plant to the people like God was wanting him to.
" .. .the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity...the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Akita
Like an extreme version of the guy who took a roan/red cow to Jerusalem to fulfill a prophecy. (Others, too, have done it since.) Trying to force God to jump-start the end times. Unwise, and very arrogant.
If we accept that Sasagawa-san received a genuine message from the Lord via a series of visions of Mary, then these are messages for the mid 1970s rather than messages for the Jewish people more than 2500 years ago. There is a strong theme within the Prophets along the lines of "repent of your sins or the [insert nation that's currently stomping other nations in the region] will defeat you" or "because you didn't turn from your sins the [insert nation ...] defeated you, return to the Lord and your prosperity will be restored". Mid 1970s, and the threat of nuclear war was very real - a decade before and the world had come to the brink of nuclear war over Cuba, a proxy war against Chinese Communism was being fought in Vietnam. It's consistent with prophetic utterances to phrase the warnings in the context of the threats of the day. Today I'd expect to hear such prophecies to be in terms of environmental destruction or global pandemic.
Sticks and carrots.
I Googled “what did Jesus use, sticks or carrots?”
Near the top of the list -
“ The answer is fairly straightforward - both blessings and curses are law! In fact they are the quintessence of law.
Law is: "If you... Then He'll..."
Gospel is "Since He... You are..."
Notice therefore that "If you... Then He'll..." is a message that could include curses or blessings. If you obey then He'll bless you. If you disobey, then He'll curse you. Whether the carrot is being dangled or the stick is being threatened the real issue is the phrase "If you...". What makes these messages law is not the curses or the carrots, it's the conditionality.”
Food for thought.
Wow! You are the Psalmist?!
Sorry old mate. Bit thick here. Please spell out exactly what you mean.
I wrote a series of linked short stories positing exactly that. Obviously, the people concerned were all heretics, but there is still the glimmer of recognition in that urge, 'How long, o Lord?'
Much the same as regards usefulness...
Ask the Death of Rats https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Death_of_Rats
(Let the reader understand).
Back to GNW - I seem to recall Ken Livingstone, when he was Leader of the GLC, remarking that if London was nuked, he'd prefer to simply stand in the street, and wait for annihilation.
His point was, of course, that what was left of the world (if anything) would be so awful as to be not worth bothering about.
Only about once a week now (in my old age . .. )
I did not write that.
There comes a point where you have to consider whether the critics might have a point.
You knew what I wrote and you edited it and quoted your edit as my original. Typical of your disordered thinking.
And bugger me, when Martin calls your thinking disordered...
It may just be a sort of backhanded compliment (YMMV) if someone like undead_rat edits a post, and then quotes the edited version as if it were the original.
IYSWIM.
The Islamic State Is Not Defeated.
Here are some quotes:
"More than 40,000 foreigners traveled to the territory of the Islamic State, and most are missing.
"The Islamic State is like herpes: It can be managed but never cured. . . .
It will break out again."
When ISIS's capital, Raqqa, was captured, its thousands of ISIS soldiers were not made to surrender. Instead they drove off in convoy to places unknown. If substantial numbers have entered Europe, they could present a great danger to the Catholic hierarchy. ISIS has made threats against the Vatican, saying that Muslims will be praying there instead of Christians.
Aye. We ate them.
Uh huh. It's unstoppable then. Carry on. How does it precipitate Global Nuclear War™?
Not literally, I hope?
Well then, having got the message again here, it must be time to pack up your travelling show and look for another new audience of ingrates.