Bob,
Hmmm... it occurs to me that, on this subject, there is probably nothing short of agreement that would not illicit a charge of naivete or, worse, conspiracy. Eh, what the hell...
Regarding any one of these "super-rich elitist" organizations, is there any one specific concrete event that you can point to that demonstrates their influence?
With regards to Revelation, I lean very much towards the idea that the subject matter of that book deals less with our time than with the times (or immediate expected future) of the author. Consider Rev. 13:16-18 regarding the mark of the beast. At the time of the author, was it the case that all, of whatever rank or occupation, were made to use the Imperial stamp for all transactions? Is this an intentional juxtaposition by the author with Deut. 6:8, "You are to tie them as a sign upon your hand..."? Does the Imperial stamp during the 14th year of Domitian's reign, in Greek, using the equivalent numerical values of the letters, add up to 616? Does adding an N = 50, for Nero since Domitian was known as "the bald Nero", bring this total to 666? Are these questions/explanations reasonable? Are they true?
I've lifted most of this directly from the footnotes of "The Original New Testament" by Hugh J. Schonfield - the version of the NT which I am currently reading. The Deuteronomy quote is from "The Five Books of Moses" by Everett Fox (a wonderful translation, IMHO). Perhaps they're both secretly published by the Illuminati. :-) Just kidding.
Seriously though, Bob, what do you make of these explanations? If they are misleading or incorrect, I would like to know and to know why.
Greg |
