tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52912413020249030.post3191366776697743378..comments2024-03-12T11:58:24.510+13:00Comments on Otagosh: Scoffers score againGavin Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965552923012880262noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52912413020249030.post-51052483685100996972013-12-20T12:19:03.292+13:002013-12-20T12:19:03.292+13:00Yes, by the late second century, when 2 Peter was ...Yes, by the late second century, when 2 Peter was written, I imagine people were beginning to scoff at a prophecy that was to be fulfilled during the lifetimes of the original apostles. <br /><br />2 Peter mentions the epistles of Paul which were unknown by the early church 'fathers' until after the time of Marcion and I would bet a dollar against a donut that Marcion's copies were entirely different than the ones with which we are familiar. The writer of 2 Peter seems to imply that those "scoffers" were the very same people who had recently become followers of the epistles of Paul, i.e., Marcionites. That they were of the docetists persuasion seems pretty clear in 2 Pet. 2:1.Corkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15894537940881776504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52912413020249030.post-89595098945088732982013-12-20T04:36:34.630+13:002013-12-20T04:36:34.630+13:00Apocalyptic religion is addictive. It is a religi...Apocalyptic religion is addictive. It is a religious drug. The purveyors, evangelists of various stripes, start with what seems to be an exciting and relevant message and then quickly come to understand that it generates a large influx of money. The addiction begins. Embedded in the message is toxic idea that the future in this world does not matter because the end is imminent. Consumers love this because it is an escape from a world that none of us like very much. Money is no longer important and it seems reasonable to the consumers in their obsessive excitement to turn it over to the prophesying evangelists. It is a market transaction. Both the drug dealers and the consumers derive a benefit. What is absent from the transaction is the truth. It is all a fiction. And eventually an embarrassment. <br /><br />I should mention that I have a preteristic view of Biblical prophecy so I tend not to get excited about time charts, type and anti-type, who the Pope is and how many sixes are in Barack Obama's driver's license number. My ears don't itch for that any more. <br /><br />I am put in mind of the evangelicals who advised President George W. Bush that it would be all right to pursue policies that destroyed the environment because Christ would come and fix things anyway. I mention this lest you think that the addictive properties of "prophecy" are confined just to religion weenies. <br /><br />-- NeoAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487906691943831671noreply@blogger.com