One of the better explanations I have read is that apocalyptic revelations are deliberately vague so as to represent repeating patterns of history on different levels. The revelation does not refer to a single event, but rather is a type and shadow comparing current events with larger cycles, including the history of the world as a whole. Thus, Revelation is about Nero, but it is also about the Roman Empire in general, and also is about the creation, life, and ultimate destruction of the world.
It is, in essence, a poetic form beloved of Semitic peoples, related to pre-Islamic Arabic forms. It is not intended to fit any event or sequence of events exactly, but rather the narrative is created to fit the poetic form.
I’m not going to dispute the research of this article, but I don’t understand why ancient theologians insisted that God created the world in seven days. He created it in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. Ergo, God took a day off. So why did they say it took seven days to create the world?
I heard from a reliable source that the true “mark of the beast” is a constantly “flushed orange” complexion that is due, they say, from being constantly exposed to the severe heat of hell. I don’t have a specific cite for that, but that’s what “they say”.
It’s probably a ridiculous assertion because who could possibly have a constantly orange complexion?!
Why think that is their purpose when the real world interpretation is always “It applies to this event!”
Ancient revelations and prophecies still around today aren’t deliberately vague so they can last through the ages, they have lasted through the ages because they were vague.
John was so whacked on the local fungi when he had this vision that the numbers probably looked like squiggles to him: no frame of reference. I figure bar codes.
The way I read the hypothesis in the OP is that they were deliberately made vague because the crafters somehow knew that they were going to NEED to last through the ages.
And they were RIGHT! Man, these dudes must have been some kind of PROPHETS!
Jokes aside, (even if a funny one appears in this thread), that is exactly the case. Many societies/cultures have never actually incorporated a day of rest into their calendars, yet Judaism has made it part of the cornerstone of its theology, (passing it on the Christianity), and thus codifying it in law and culture. Judaism is not completely alone in this, Buddhism has Uposatha that may be celebrated from two to six times each month, depending on the local tradition. Similarly, while Roman, Greek, and Egyptian calendars did not specify a “day of rest,” they were often filled with holidays of one sort or another. What Judaism and Buddhism did differently was to specify that there would be a periodic and regular day of rest for its own sake rather than knocking off work to celebrate a specific god or emperor or whatever.
We all know that Sundays and Christmas are not business days. As someone (Gibbon?) pointed out to me, n ancient Rome you had to pay a priest to determine which days are “auspicious” for dong business. By “late” Rome it was codified.
