Lately I've been reading the Book of Revelation because I learned it has a very interesting lore; I mean, it seems almost as interesting as an end-of-the-world movie. It's like a futuristic, apocalyptic plot that even includes angels, and well, my question is: What do you think the beings that appear in the book symbolize? The Great Harlot, the woman with the twelve stars, the beast that was wounded in the sea, the lamb with the voice of a dragon, etc. I have a feeling that, for example, the beast that will be wounded in the sea refers to a naval battle, for instance.
They are the same goblins, zombies and magical spooks that every other dumb religion has. For all their pretensions to literate monotheism, the early Christians did not seem interested in reducing the number of supernatural wizards and aliens in their stories down to the minimum.Whatever symbolism wasn't taken straight from Isaiah et al was just some guy trying to add whiz-bang to his stories in order to get the attention of the locals.
>>18220510The whole thing is a thinly-veiled allegory about Rome and Domitian, and the writer had expectations that the Eschaton was going to happen imminently. It was not written as some kind of future prophecy, but rather was wishcasting for it to happen to him.
>>18220530Domitian? I had heard that the mark of 666 was an allegory to Nero, or rather a way of saying that the Antichrist would be like Nero.
>>18220541Revelation was written c. 90, when the persecutions by Nero were fresh on the minds of Christian communities. The 666 (616 in some translations) gematria encode his name as an example of the Antichrist.Domitian was ruling at this time and did also at minimum allow for local authorities to persecute Christians (as attested by Pliny the Younger). If he is supposed to be symbolized there, he's likely serving as a Nero-typed character walking in his predecessor's footsteps of persecuting Christians.
>>18220510Revelation already happened, Nero is the antichrist. The beast is his persecution of Christians, the lamb represents the eventual triumph of Christendom. Much of revelation is a coded series of warnings and concerns of early Christians coded as a mystery cult
>>18220526They're not zombies. The same book says the Great Harlot is a symbol of nations and kings (some say it's a certain church, others Rome, others a critique of how empires and powers boast of their military and economic might more than God, others that it will be a religion founded by the Antichrist, etc.). Therefore, it explicitly states that they are not literal goblins.
>>18220526>yahh d00d religion is just like a heckin' gimmick, just like how they put special effects in star wars (my favorite) to keep my attention!!
>>18220510>The Great HarlotSystems of power that have existed in all ages, the "powers that be", "capitalism", "the financial system", etc.>the woman with the twelve starsThe Virgin Mary>the beast that was wounded in the seaThe Antichrist.>the lamb with the voice of a dragonJesus
>>18220530This was so obvious to me while reading it that I am perpetually baffled at the amount of people who don’t see this, and are constantly spinning up new takes and analyses of revelations. Shit, even hearing a super wealthy individual like Thiel sperg about the antichrist makes me feel like im going insane. How many people are actual retards?
>>18220510>have a feeling that, for example, the beast that will be wounded in the sea refers to a naval battle, for instance.What kind of retardation is this? Read it, it's clearly talking about an individual, not a fucking naval battle:>And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”>And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:>If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
>>18222056Even if historical parallels can be identified for some of the symbols, it doesn't mean that the symbols are mere one-to-one ciphers. For example although the Beast can be identified with Nero, it is a type-pattern - present in the Bible and which can be expanded - representing characters like Nebuchadnezzar or Decius.
