tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62312741225860938872024-03-19T04:46:30.054+02:00Virus MindObserve. Understand. Identify. Avoid being infected.Lucas Cavacopouloshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14125158798986008888noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6231274122586093887.post-73155527441529002922007-12-28T13:34:00.001+02:002013-10-09T14:22:05.876+03:00THE IDENTITY OF ANTICHRIST… REVEALED! HE WAS EMPEROR TITUS.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Many are the scholars who tried to reckon the cryptic meaning of “666” and reveal the real identity of the “Antichrist”. "Who is and how will be revealed as the Antichrist?" was their question.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Most of them tried to identify 666 with a VIP of their own times. Very few of them –if any– cared to check if “666” were a carefully coded marker for some person living when Apostle John wrote <i>Revelation</i>! This, in my view, was very short-sighted, because all “signs of Antichrist”, as are presented in <i>John's Revelation</i>, are matched with amazing precision, as we turn our gaze towards the Roman Emperor who ruled </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Rome</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> ...when <i>Revelation</i> was written. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>This emperor was Titus Vespasian Augustus – and <span style="font-style: italic;">he </span>was the Antichrist!</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Titus matches so perfectly with “666”, we are forced to disregard </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Revelation</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">as a prophetic text from now and on. With this in mind, it is clear that </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Revelation</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> was nothing more than some kind of underground religious and political agitprop of its time!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Let's cut short to the facts…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">First of all, </span><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Revelation</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> portrays “Beast” as having “seven heads and ten horns and wearing ten crowns” </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">(<i>Revelation</i>, 13.1). “Coincidentally", <b>Titus was the seventh great emperor of the </b></span><st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></b></st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">(after August, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudio, Nero and Vespasian)<b> while three more "small emperors” tried to take over </b></span><st1:city><st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Rome</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">'s throne, </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">after Nero's suicide</span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">. </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">These three "small emperors" was Otho, Galba and Vitellius, and they “reigned” in the “Year of Four Emperors” (69AD).<o:p></o:p></span> So, there were exactly 10 "Crowns", but only 7 great "Heads", in Roman Empire when Revelation was written.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">In <i style="font-weight: bold;">Revelation </i><span style="font-weight: bold;">13.3</span><i>,</i> we find that one of the heads of the “Beast” </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">is</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> mortally wounded by some unidentified "blow". The Beast soon afterwards is cured and becomes even more powerful ("</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">και</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">είδον</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">μίαν</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">των</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">κεφαλών</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">αυτού</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">ως</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">πεπληγωμένην</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">θανατηφόρως</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">και</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">η</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">θαναφόρος</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">πληγή</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">αυτού</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">εθεραπεύθη</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">και</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">εθαύμασεν</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">όλη</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">η</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">γη</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">οπίσω</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">του</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Θηρίου</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">” in greek original text, meaning “and I saw one of the heads [of the Beast] mortally wounded. And his lethal wound was cured, and all of Earth behind of the Beast marveled”).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>Once again, the “Beast” is the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> and its heads are its Emperors:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Christians, as other subordinates of the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">, always considered </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> as a powerful "entity" no person could dare stand against. This "entity" sometimes claimed their lives, sometimes made them suffer and asked for their total, body and soul, obedience.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">But, </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> was not always like this. Under the rule of honest Emperors like Vespasian, it became a very civilized and organized kingdom. It changed to a “Beast’ only when dangerous madmen like Nero were in its helm. Madmen who wanted to be worshiped like gods and who tried to suppress any mental or actual freedom of their people.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">This powerful “Beast” lifted its ugly head for the first time when Nero was in power, but suffered a “deadly blow”</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> <b>when Nero committed suicide in 69 AD</b>. And, since there was no heir to Nero’s throne, a very unstable political situation followed.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> Three would-be emperors tried to take over the throne to the Empire, waging war on each other for about a year. During that year, many people believed that this could be the end of the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Vespasian, the Emperor who finally took over, restored Empire’s power but avoided Nero’s illusions of grandeur. He denied to be worshiped as a God. He was a sincere man who cared for the people. Even Jews regarded him highly. Vespasian served for a time as procurator for </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Judea</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">; he is remembered by Jews as a fair and humane official, in contrast to the notorious Herod the Great! (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian</a>)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>Soon after Vespasian’s death, Empire’s ugly head seemed to rise again when his son, Titus, proclaimed himself as God. <b>The “fatal wound” to the Roman Beast caused by Nero’s death was miraculously “cured” and another Emperor seemed to go down Nero’s crazy road again. </b>(This was also the time when <i>Revelation</i> was written – a very interesting coincidence, don’t you agree?)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">The coincidences are not ending here, as this blasphemous Emperor was the same one that stood in “Armageddon”!</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">In <i>Revelation</i> 16.16 we find that the “Final Battle” is going to occur to “Armageddon”. Ar-mageddon (“Har Megiddo”=“</span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">mountain</span></st1:placetype><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> of </span><st1:placename><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Megido</span></st1:placename></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">”) is a hill somewhere outside </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jerusalem</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">, and a place of great historical significance to the Jews. Two important battles for Jewish history occurred there against the Egyptians, at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">15th</span> and 7th centuries BC.</div>
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<span class="google-src-text"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Most important of all, </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Armageddon</b><span class="google-src-text"><b> </b>was the place where the roman army gathered in </span>67 AD, <b>just</b> <b>before the invasion of </b></span><st1:city><st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jerusalem</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">. </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">It was </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">the main military base of a Roman military campaign with the primary objective to quench a very powerful Jewish ”terrorist” uprising unfolding in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jerusalem</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">. This operation led to the <b>final destruction of the </b></span><st1:place><st1:placename><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Great</span></b></st1:placename><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><st1:placetype><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Temple</span></b></st1:placetype></st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> of Solomon in 70 AD. </span></b></div>
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Head of roman forces, ie the Destructor of the Temple of Jerusalem, was <b>General Titus.</b></div>
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<b> </b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJJk68KNXkPPIbOzziWIIszeNrQVbMLIoPtocl_Hzfuv6Sn7ZlC5Kq5KvSJD0Vob9xJ3wfLPGGcV6H2yJptnQvNzZ3KvbD2NRRAcgja7GdDDBrfXpCjSlsw8c4o6Cyc6ED2AevcZ81oQ5/s320/723px-Kaulbach_Zerstoerung_Jerusalems_durch_Titus.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJJk68KNXkPPIbOzziWIIszeNrQVbMLIoPtocl_Hzfuv6Sn7ZlC5Kq5KvSJD0Vob9xJ3wfLPGGcV6H2yJptnQvNzZ3KvbD2NRRAcgja7GdDDBrfXpCjSlsw8c4o6Cyc6ED2AevcZ81oQ5/s320/723px-Kaulbach_Zerstoerung_Jerusalems_durch_Titus.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 356px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 429px;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">(In this painting of Wilhelm von Kaulbach, we see the destruction of Jerusalem, a real Revelation for a lot of people of its time. Titus is the Roman General on horseback to the right.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">I<span style="font-weight: bold;"> think that it is now crystal clear that the “Beast”, with it’s “</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;">seven heads and ten horns and wearing ten crowns” is the </span><st1:place style="font-weight: bold;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Roman Empire</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span> And its herald, the 666, is the Emperor who stood in Armageddon, Titus!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>After his very successful campaign against the “Jewish terrorists”, which left more than one million people dead(!), Titus returned victorious to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Rome</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">. He </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">became very popular, and few years later, in 79 AD, he became Emperor of Rome. He was so popular that many Romans called him as «favorite man of the human race». Even Christians respected him and often cherished him, because he was reputable, good natured and –above all– he didn’t persecute them…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>But Titus, soon after he became Emperor, dared something so blasphemous he reminded Christians of their most hated persecutor, Emperor Nero: <b>Titus, as “Pontifex Maximus” (Arch Priest) of the Empire, asked to be worshiped as a God!</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>The facts doesn’t end here! Let’s see some more:</span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">John says that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Antichrist will remain in power only 3.5 years. Titus remained in power for 3 years, in 79-80-81 AD. </span>He didn’t last longer, because in 81 AD died mysteriously. He was succeeded by his brother, Domitian, who proclaimed himself as a God, too, and prosecuted Christians like no other emperor.</span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Revelation</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> refers several times to some “Scarlet Woman” (Revelation, 12.1, 17.3) and calls her also “Whore of Babylon”. She has, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation</span>, a special relationship with the “Beast”. <br />Who would be that “Red Woman”? Once again Titus had an amazing match: <b>His mistress was the very beautiful jewish princess Berenice, sister of Herod Agrippa! </b>Several people of that times called Berenice “the New Cleopatra” and ”whore of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Babylon</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">”. She was very unpopular to Christians and Jews, and assuredly to Apostle John, who was both a jew and a Christian!</span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Amazingly, <b>j</b></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">ust one month after Titus came to power</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">, the exact same time <i>Revelation </i>was allegedly written<i>,</i><b> the </b></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">volcano</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> <b>of Vesuvius</b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><b> exploded. </b>This explosion</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> destroyed </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">the cities of Pompeii</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">, Heraklion, Stavies and Oplontis! It was a real “end of the world”, which shocked the Empire for many months! <br />What Revelation says about the time of the coming of the Antichrist?</span></li>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Several numberologists calculated the name of Titus as equal to 666.</span></b></li>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">One more interesting detail: <b>Titus looked a lot like Nero!</b> Their resemblance was amazing! So, some people certainly saw in the face of Titus the return of Nero, Christendom’s most evil adversary…</span></li>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRoi3gfpCGNbhnXpxffJskgUjcCYBYh7lCSCgegGJ4WkfB5Fr8enU0PPFuB48GiV9IxjbmgKUtkGtxC5O1ZBJ3ALmhEmd49GMyGvL6QRTD9_o_g1XhoM4hlcVNuHW5eueJDXWFY73u-NH/s320/portr-nero.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRoi3gfpCGNbhnXpxffJskgUjcCYBYh7lCSCgegGJ4WkfB5Fr8enU0PPFuB48GiV9IxjbmgKUtkGtxC5O1ZBJ3ALmhEmd49GMyGvL6QRTD9_o_g1XhoM4hlcVNuHW5eueJDXWFY73u-NH/s320/portr-nero.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 211px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 157px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruysx-kMm1B-OJ9lw-5xTZnKJx5TGhIuZmJKk1hzErTehHbhFWF_JP_wa4mI7LH_GXI-5xvsIRZCFqZ6CFIYR7778FvwuXZzFbT0kY-hH2gkw0l7OYEIakxJQp-sotuIeN9bZVafg7xYn/s320/titus_vespasian.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruysx-kMm1B-OJ9lw-5xTZnKJx5TGhIuZmJKk1hzErTehHbhFWF_JP_wa4mI7LH_GXI-5xvsIRZCFqZ6CFIYR7778FvwuXZzFbT0kY-hH2gkw0l7OYEIakxJQp-sotuIeN9bZVafg7xYn/s320/titus_vespasian.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 212px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 152px;" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><br /><br />(To the left we see Nero and to the right stands Titus. Their resemblance is also evident in roman coins etc.)<br /><br /><br /><br /> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">After all these "coincidences", can we really avoid the question: <b>Is <i>Revelation, </i>just an Apostle John’s warning to Christians that they should not trust Titus?</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span> <br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">We must </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">also </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">remember that <b>Titus was the murderer of </b></span><st1:city><st1:place><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jerusalem</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> and the destroyer of the </span></b><st1:place><st1:placetype><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Temple</span></b></st1:placetype><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> of </span></b><st1:placename><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Solomon</span></b></st1:placename></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">. The at least 80 years old Apostle John was always a Jew, so he had all the reasons to hate Titus.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Do you still believe that Tito was not the real Antichrist?</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">«</span></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Let he who have understanding reckon the number –name– of the Beast»</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> asks John. How can someone reckon a name, if he is not the name of a real, historical and existing person?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Finally, we have to say that as far as the 8th century AD, <i>Revelation </i>wasn't accepted among the texts of Christian Canon, for a number of significant reasons:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">All Christian texts were optimistic and full of positive messages, except <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation</span>, which is full of slaughter, death and war. </span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation </span>shares many inelegant "similarities" with Daniel prophesies. </span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">The spirit of Love and Forgiveness in not at all present in it. </span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">It is not confirmed that "John" who wrote Revelation was the same with Apostle John... </span></li>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">So, the first official acceptance of <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation </span>as an canonical text came only after 419AD, after Synod of Carthage. The debate around its acceptance lasted as long as the 8th century AD.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maybe the early Christians knew the true propagandist nature of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Revelation</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, and that's why they hesitated so long to accept it as a true Christian text.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Today, a very big part of Christian Mythos -and of Church's intimidation of its faithful- is based in <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation. </span>This dark and gory virus-tale have superseded all other texts of Christianity and haunts with its grizzly visions the christian mind...</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Maybe it's time its reign to end?</span></div>
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Lucas Cavacopouloshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14125158798986008888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6231274122586093887.post-24901032384055744362007-11-17T23:38:00.000+02:002007-12-28T13:26:54.791+02:00John's Revelation: Just some age-old superhero comics?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpOMAW4Vnoo1gx0ui3VUtkClqVYRNo82B1jqB9THMpXiZaoLrfzQRz-50QsnTbeYn_xQud85b7jUCmbrG3Dd0LAVUuFWMCk4q6GKlJ_4PrB1JBnJAww1jlkdHHdDKvBFYXeNVA2dclWtn/s320/JmI.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpOMAW4Vnoo1gx0ui3VUtkClqVYRNo82B1jqB9THMpXiZaoLrfzQRz-50QsnTbeYn_xQud85b7jUCmbrG3Dd0LAVUuFWMCk4q6GKlJ_4PrB1JBnJAww1jlkdHHdDKvBFYXeNVA2dclWtn/s320/JmI.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Recently, I was guest in a greek TV show where the subject matter was two greek </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">books that </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">argue that “Antichrist”, whose coming is prophesied in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Saint John’s</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"> <i style="">Revelation,</i> will appear in 2012 and the “End of the World” will soon follow. The writers of those books (Theodosios Efstathiou and Father Maximos) are strong believers in Holy Scripture’s infallibility, and their views are based on it. <o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">In that TV show were also 6 or 7 theologians along some other people, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Arial;">all of them</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"> “strong </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Arial;">believers”. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p>I was the only non believer among them; so </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">whenever I tried to raise any objection, I was interrupted with hostile manner. So, I had to become aggressive. At some point I came to <span style="">say</span> that the whole issue <span style="">of “Antichrist” and of the “End of the World” –since it was b</span>ased solely on the Christian mythology (Scripture) and there wasn’t any observable ties of this with reality– has <span style="">the same degree of seriousness as super-hero comics have.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">You know how it goes: “Antichrist” seems to be the </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Arial;">arch</span></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">-villain who wants to destroy the world and “Christ” is Superman who comes to fight him! </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Only difference is that today </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Arial;">we </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">pay US dollars to read comics by ourselves, yesterday we had to submit fully to some priest to preach his stories to us.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p>I hadn’t the time needed to argue that today’s comics are as well-written as the <i>Holy Scriptures. </i><span style="">Also,<i> </i></span>I couldn’t show that some comics, such as Marvel’s and DC’s, have fully developed theologies and they introduce powerful and well-thought deities –i.e. “Celestials” or “Galactus”- leading complex hierarchies of super-beings, reminiscing Angels. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">All I wanted to say was <b>if comics are discovered after thousands of years by some future archaeologist, I am fully certain he will think that today’s people have superpowers, can fly, and they are in daily contact with aliens and other “higher entities”! </b><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">I am very sure that if this future archaeologist will be prone to believe everything he reads, like a lot of today’s people, he would accept <i style="">Superman</i> and <i style="">Spiderman</i> as real existing persons who are some kind of supernatural saints!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">So, what is there to argue we don’t make the same mistake with <i>Bible?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">What is there to believe <i style="">Revelation</i> isn’t some age-old sort of superhero comics?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p>I</o:p>t is very easy to make a theology similar to these of the three monotheistic religions (which some people consider to be “theopnefstes” – “given from God”). Sufficient proof to this is </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">that some today’s corporations created their own theologies, with holy persons and saints so inspired and loved as Superman, Batman and Spiderman... <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p>A final observation from this comparison of comics and <i style="">John’s Revelation</i>: Any comic company that comes through a period of bad sales tries to set up a <b style="">Big Event, </b>some cataclysmic and “ultimate” showdown of the mega-forces of their universes that will catch reader imagination and boost their sales.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p>I cannot avoid thinking <i style="">Revelation</i> as that Big comic Event, written in a period that there were a lot of internal problems in the new-founded Christian Church (that’s why John starts <i style="">Revelation</i> with some warnings to the seven Churches of his time), a time when the promise of Jesus’ Second Coming also started to seem improbable (Jesus said will return while most of his original 12 Apostles were still alive - clearly he didn’t keep that promise) and some roman Emperors like Nero expressed openly and brutally their hatred against Christian followers…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p></o:p>So, just like “Captain </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">” beat the hell out of Hitler in 1940’s comics, Jesus also beats the hell out of some amazing beasts with many heads and world-ending powers and their armies of evil henchmen in <i style="">Revelation</i>.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">And you don’t have to be a very wise to think that <b style="">“Beast” and “</b></span><st1:city><st1:place><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Babylon</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">” were just metaphors for the Roman Emperor and </span></b><st1:city><st1:place><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;">Rome</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Arial;"> itself, metaphors that some holy comics company CEOs thought better be forgotten…<br /><div align="right"><a href="http://www.digg.com/"><br /><img alt="Digg!" src="http://digg.com/img/badges/91x17-digg-button.gif" height="17" width="91" /></a></div><br /></span></b></p>Lucas Cavacopouloshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14125158798986008888noreply@blogger.com0