The Book of Revelation

Even though I grew up with a religious background, I too seem to remain neutral on this subject. The bible was put together in the 16th century at Nicence, well after the biblical books were written. If you read revelations, it speaks of wars, rumors of wars, famine, a great power rising from the east etc etc. But these are ongoing events throughout history. Based on that, I am sure so sure how futuristic Revelations actually is. Interpretation of this book of the bible seems very open ended to me. I am by no means a biblical scholar, and would be reprimanded by my own parents for this opinion. I can already hear my father's voice saying it is not for us to know when the Second comming is to take place. "he will come like a thief in the night" How much worse do world events have to become before the apocalypse? It feels like we have been living it for centuries. Just check the history books.

I believe that the book of revelation is true at the time it was written. But many had happened since then and some events may have affected it's fullfilment which is yet to come. However, I believe and remain positive that it will only come true if we, as people, would go down to the lowest of the low and sin. But as I could see now, even in times of great trials and tragedies, we managed to show our humanity and our capacity to give so much of ourselves. As long we know what is love, believe in God, have goodness in our hearts and help each other, the predicted end of the world may never happen. We are getting sceptical each day because of war, famine, sickness and poverty, but everyday we get to see people working too and making sacrifices to make other lives better. They give us hope that all is not lost.

I haven't read Revelations yet, but if your faith is strong, then I believe that you would believe the word of God. I'm trying to read the whole Bible by the end of this year. I've gotten a little side tracked. But I know I'll get to Revelations. I might just skip to it next week. I hope you find some answers. I know I'll be checking on your discussion to see what people have written.

I believe that it is the word of God of things to come. And obviously so, as it is also pretty much the same thing scientists predict will happen. I believe that it is when this world and this life will be over.

The Book of Revelation is Pure Fact. Revelation Describes the end days, the rapture, heaven, the anit-christ, the 7 years of tribulation , the millenumim reign of christ the new heaven and the new earth. the author of revelation was given a vision from GOD. he was not a psychic.

I would like to believe the Book of Revelation would be similar to the events that take place in the Left Behind Series. The Left Behind series is about biblical events that is going to take place before the world ends and the Second Coming of Christ. Some of my friends believe the book is just fiction, but I like to believe that everything which happens in the book is going to occur! You can find more information about the Left Behind book series at http://leftbehind.com/. These books are written by two pastors.

John was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus and if the bible days he was given a vision of things to come, for me it means just that. God shows the future to people who he thinks can carry out his greater plan. Revelations is a way for us Catholics to prepare for the 2nd coming of Christ our king. I do not know how the symbols of the revelation can be interpreted but those who are gifted by God will know. We cannot question the creator who made the heavens and earth and all of us.

i think whatever it is that was written in the book of revelation is still yet to be reveal to us. i dont think this happened already. this is more of what the author saw in the future.

if your not a believer then its a fiction for you but for us no its not..although interpreting it needs a guidance on spiritual leader and also through the enlightenment of the holy spirit by praying first before reading it ..and it must be done sincerly not on just curiosity sake..

I believe its prophecy fortold by God of the signs of the end times, you can see that some of the things have come true and some that are happening right now.

I was thoughth that the book of Revelation is most definitely a fact and it is describing stuff that is about to come although some of the things mentioned had already happened except for the very last days and Christ's second coming.

If you believe that all the words written in the bible is true,and its God's Word then all these things happened,happening and will happen in the future.Our time is not the same in the time of our God,that's why some think that these revelations will never come,it is already happening in some parts of the world.Faminie,war,calamities,earthquake were already suffered/experience in some parts of the world,even if we say that powerful countries were uniting to make these world be in peace we will never achieve it,because these world we live in,will come to its destruction.The thing we can do is to seek His Kingdom and live a life according to His Will.

I believe its a fact coz all the things said there happened.

I have just done my symbol interpretation paper in Revelations. Actually, biblical scholars are divided on what to make out of Revelations. Some believe (preterist) that the things described has already happen, others believe that is still in the future (futurist). The genre of the book is clearly apocalyptic, but its form is of a letter. It is written to the seven churches of asia minor for the purpose of exhortation, correction and encouragement. The early church were very much under persecution, as scholars estimate the date of the book to have been written in the reign of Emperor Domitian, in the late first century. Interestingly, many of the symbols can better be understood if the book is read while taking note of its historical and social context. Babylon the mother of harlots best represent the Roman empire and 666 best point to Ceasar Nero (using Hebrew numerology, Nero name is equivalent to 666). Yet it is interesting that Babylon seems to represent not only Rome at that time, but all oppressive powers, that is, it can still point to any entity or institution that robs God of the glory that is His. Revelation can thus be considered a forthtelling and a foretelling. It speaks of an immediate future, while looking forward to an eschatological end of evil. Sorry, but the world will not end, but evil will. The world will be transformed for the better, back to its Edenic state. We may argue with the details of the prophecies, but one thing is sure... God will not let evil go unpunished. A time will come that God will judge all people, he will punish the unrighteous and vindicate the saints. A day is coming when justice will be served, and God will declare Himself Lord over all creation. This is central, others are trivial.

Thank you for your nice topic, anyway, God gave a vision to John to see what will happen in the future. The book of Revelation says the future. I will highly apreciate if you will send a message to me for me to response your discussions and your comment. Send a message and it will be great pleasure for me to give my side, biblically. Thanks a lot.

i believe it is a prophrcy of the near future !we can read both revelation and the book of daniel and see things happening in front of our eyes when we watch the news!

Yes I believe the book is true. It is the ONE bible book that promises a special blessing on those who read it (and believe in it). Which is great! Yes I actually did have a class on it in high school, very interesting. Its something to come but not all of it. The letters to the churches was for more present day when written I believe I learned, and the rest is for future stuff. It hasnt happened yet, we are still here. But its getting close. In my personal opinion I wont guess when the rapture will happen. But I do believe it will happen before I die naturally. Thats just me though. And God gave Him a vision, cause God can see past, present & future all at once He is eternal.

The book must be interpreted like many other books i.e. get the right context, and understand the language which people of that time used to convey certain kind of message. I think the book has both elements, by which I mean to say that there are things which had happened in the past and there things which will happen in the future. Many times the Biblical writers used imageries which do not make sense until we understand the literary genre of their times. For example, when the author talked about beast crawling out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, he did not mean a literal beast. He meant a nation or a kingdom. I don't think John was a powerful psychic. His personality as we come across in other writings did not fit into that scheme of label.

It is all part of a dream that John had, but I believe this dream came from God and is as it is named a "revalation" of things to come. There are clear interpretations of the symbols, some are about the different countries, as in the eagle represents the US, and there are kings and kingdoms represented. It takes some deep study to understand what it means, and there is a lot of room for errors in the interpretations. But if you use the right tools, such as the strongs exhaustive concordance and go to the greek language to get the true meanings you will find that a lot of the words transliterated into english lose their meaning. I believe that it is not the end of life, but the beginning of eternity and is meant to be very assuring to those who believe and a warning to those who do not.

John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. It speaks of future things to come but it also mentions the birth of Jesus and the nation of Israel and how God has protected that nation from the wrath of satan many times. The end times are for those Who have rejected Jesus, He will protect His own as He always has. The end times will come when He determines it, we can not set a date but just be observant as to the signs of the end. A wise person will get themselves right with God by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He won't be a Suffering Servant when next He comes, He's coming as King!