about the second coming.
Here is just one of a number of critiques of those who confuse Christianity with the religion of Revelations. As the author of this article suggests, many serious, well educated Bible scholars think that Revelations really shouldn't have been included in the New Testament at all.
This is from the CNN religion blog.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/31/four-big-myths-about-the-book-of-revelation/
I understand there is another new book called Forgered by Ehrman that questions Revelations and other books of the Bible that may not be what fundamentalists claim.
(CNN) - A frail man sits in chains inside a dank, cold prison cell. He has escaped death before but now realizes that his execution is drawing near.
“I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come,” the man –the Apostle Paul - says in the Bible's 2 Timothy. “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
The passage is one of the most dramatic scenes in the New Testament. Paul, the most prolific New Testament author, is saying goodbye from a Roman prison cell before being beheaded. His goodbye veers from loneliness to defiance and, finally, to joy.
There’s one just one problem - Paul didn’t write those words. In fact, virtually half the New Testament was written by impostors taking on the names of apostles like Paul. At least according to Bart D. Ehrman, a renowned biblical scholar, who makes the charges in his new book “Forged.”
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/13/half-of-new-testament-forged-bible-scholar-says/
If you are having to deal with fundamentalists and their crazy ideas, this and other books on the history of religion and the Bible might be very helpful to you. It's really good to know the true history of myths and imaginings and to be able to explain to others just what the scholarship on these issues is.
Another book is "Sins of the Scriptures" by Episcopal Bishop Spong.
http://www.amazon.com/Sins-Scripture-Exposing-Bibles-Reveal/dp/0060778407
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shelby_Spong
A lot of the crazy talk is just that -- crazy talk. Unfortunately it has taken over the Christian Church nowadays. Makes these churches unpleasant places to visit. It's very disappointing.
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