Revelation 20-22

[wolfpurplemoon]

The technicalities of heaven's legal system are such that they can only chain up Satan for one thousand years and then have to let him go to have another attempt at deceiving the world before apparently being defeated one final time.

Also, if your name isn't on the list then it's into the lake of fire with you. Sounds like the most extreme celeb party ever.

I do wonder why anyone would want to worship this God who uses humans as pawns in his celestial feud with Satan, condemning any who are deceived by Satan and only letting those into heaven who were already destined to go. Seems that if there was even a slim chance of his existence then I'd choose not to worship him.

Once all this stuff has happened there will be no more death, pain or crying, at least for the special chosen ones. All the people who didn't get chosen, or sinned will have all the suffering. But if you cowardly pick the mindless worship in fear of the lake of fire, I don't think that helps you because one of the detestable people who'll be going there are cowards.

A shiny new Jerusalem will appear, all shaped and measured according to various factors of 12, and decorated with expensive gems, with fruit trees in season all the time.

There will be no more night, God's light will shine down on them forever. How do you get any sleep?

More circular logic, this is all true because the angel within the story said it was all true. He also said that the time of this prophecy coming true was near, so truth is probably relative.

I think that's it, that's the end. I'm thinking about writing some sort of final conclusion post soon, but for now, that's all folks, thanks for following me through this long year!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hell is a place God created for satan and his demons. God is not going to send anyone to hell he actually came to save everyone from hell. God did not intend for anyone to perish. If people go to hell it is because they chose not to be saved from it.

[(Anonymous)]

And we are all chosen by God but only some of us respond. We all have the same opportunity.

[morgian-le-faye.livejournal.com]

You are my hero. Any time I try to read the Bible, I end up throwing it across the room in frustration that so many people believe it. I'm reading The Silmarillion which is very similar to the Bible. Creation myths, crazy things happening. The only upside is that if anyone were to go around saying that Middle Earth were real and Era... Ero, whatever his name was, was The One and Only God, they'd be put in a nuthouse. It's much easier to stomach like that.

[wolfpurplemoon]

Yeah, after reading it all the way through I still can't understand how anyone could believe it!

[willbemissingu.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on finihsing a long task! I really respect the fact that you read the Bible all the way through, even though it must have been very fustrating to you (taking into account that you are an athiest). I get that you do not understand how anyone would believe this. The Scripture is right when it says that the Bible is foolishness to many but for others the power of salvation. I read the Bible daily. In it I find peace, love, joy, direction. I read about a God who loves me, not one who uses me as a pawn. We have different views, the question now is: In our mutual quest for peace, can we respect eachothers' beliefs and choices, even though we do not understand them? Respect for one-another's choices is the first step toward peace. I pray that believers and non-believers alike take this crucial step. You may not believe this, but I love you and all people and wish you the best. This is where Christians, like myself, will say "May God bless you" as our highest desire, but since you do not believe, I will respect that and say "May your life be filled with love and your days with joy". Peace be with you!

Congratulations

[(Anonymous)]

I commend you on the feat you have achieved. I know you intended to read it with as little bias as possible, but I think it's virtually impossible for a hardcore atheist to read through with absolutely no bias. That being said, I saw in previous posts that people recommended books for you to read. I agree with them that it will help with some questions you posed. I'm sure reading more books on this Jesus stuff isn't high on your priority list. If you do end up doing it, more power to you. Jesus Without Religion by Rick James is a book I would recommend. A more convenient alternative would be a film. The Case for Christ is a film I would recommend - if you have access to Netflix, you can stream it online.

[zen-says.livejournal.com]

good that you read the bible in the correct light, which reflects the atrocities of the bible god in the OT and the eternal punishment for a 3 scores and 10 years on earth.

luckily all the hell broke lose with internet, and guess who, hell is not real, bible is not real, and best of all, god is not real.

hallelujah,,,,,

don't think you want to prove or disprove the authenticity of the bible since many have attempted to do them and they will never be meeting of minds.

have a life, live a godless and moral life...

cheers

[wolfpurplemoon]

Thanks for following me through this year, cheers to you too!

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You made it all the way to the end. Not exactly up to the standards one would expect of a book authored by a supreme being, was it?

When are you going to start on the Qur'an? (ducking and running).

[wolfpurplemoon]

Thanks! Yeah, you'd think a supreme being would have been able to boil down the main ideas into something a bit more readable and concise without all the boring bits.

I dread to think what sort of interest my blog would get if I tried the same thing with the Qur'an!

[justdiscourse.livejournal.com]

If a person honestly believes the bible then they would not be wrong in thinking that after reading the entire bible God can show you in a mind blowing way that it is indeed the truth and all that good stuff. Is that not what happens multiple times in the bible? Anyway Christians don't believe what they believe because they get brownies when they get to heaven or something. They honestly believe that salvation through Jesus Christ is ultimately the cure to death, and if a person really believes this, they will be selfish in not telling other people their crazy opinions. So know that when we say we are praying for you that we actually are - in the good way. I really respect that you read the entire bible. kudos.

[wolfpurplemoon]

Thanks!

I guess as there is no way that our conscious minds can live separate from our bodies, as our mind and thoughts are in the electric connections between the neurons in our brains, it seems to me that no matter how much you want to believe you will survive your death it's just not possible. So while you think you are being selfless by sharing your path to salvation, it seems sort of pointless. Better to make the one life we have as meaningful and enjoyable as possible.

Something else to think about...

[ee-1337.livejournal.com]

I think you will find this very interesting, especially part 1 of the video.

http://ow.ly/402rB

Good job

[levi-dude.livejournal.com]

Well it seems to me that if God knew everything why create Satan. So assuming that God does know everything, I would have to say God is evil or at the very least it gives God pleasure to see pain from the human race because he knows everyone won't choose him. I know this just questions the bible word for word but one would have to think why there is gold and expensive gems in heaven, if God created gold it has no worth to him the most precious thing God has created would be mankind(says the bible). On the other hand Man puts a great deal of effort saying what is valuable and what is not and of course it's in the bible because man wrote it, but then knowing that God cares not about Gold and riches as these are meaningless earthly possessions can it truly be said this is the word of god or the word of men.

I grew up Christian but questioned it at an early age so I did what you did I read the bible from front to back and the Quran as well as many other books. These books are based on faith which defies logic it's the only way it can work it makes sure you can't ask any questions just believe as we say mentality.
I am now an athiest and will never be controlled again.

Wow!

[andreas wenger (from livejournal.com)]

(even if I'm a little late) Well done, Sir!
The only problem you have: what if it was God's word?
I remember when I became a Christian (or how do you call them? in German it's becoming a Fischli) (six years ago): From one week to another I "knew" that the bible is God's word and started reading, afraid that I would find passages like "kill everybody who's not attending church".
Fortunately, there are none of this kind (but still some difficult lines). But it's not the same (as you can imagine) to read the bible, if you really believe, that it's true. As far as I remember it's COMPLETELY different. And soon you're addicted.
best wishes.

Congrats

[1cor2-14.livejournal.com]

I too want to commend you for your endeavor. I certainly appreciate your comments. As a former skeptic (never an atheist but did flirt with it at one time), I can only tell you what happened to me to lead me to faith. Over twenty years ago, I was challenged by a Christian friend to read one book of the Bible and point out what I didn't like. It was Matthew and I had a litany of things including the whole sermon on the mount (really, mutilate ourselves so that we can get into heaven?). Far from being a conversion experience for me, it just re-inforced my non-belief. For the next 20 years, I enjoyed discussing and arguing the silliness of man-made religions.

What changed for me was one day realizing that despite all the objectionable things I found in the Bible, there were many good things as well. Further, that there is a wisdom behind certain parts/passages that I began to doubt could have come from man.

Two weeks after having that thought, I came to understand, from my heart, what repentance really meant and I became a Christian. It was not an act of reason and to say it was from the heart is not really accurate either, for it was not an entirely emotional decision either. But I was led.

Since then, I read through the entire Bible and was amazed at how much I misunderstood. As 1 Cor 2:14 conveys, the Bible has a whole different meaning to those who have received God's spirit. Not that I understand it all now, far from it. In one sense, I have more questions now than I did before. I have not stopped being a skeptic and I have some issues with some of the mainstream Christian doctrines.

And I am certainly not saying that believers are 'better people' than non-believers. I know many non-believers who are great people by human standards. But the difference between believers and non-believers is the spirit that comes when you believe in Jesus and 'repent' (I struggle to use that word as its meaning has been so hi-jacked by modern culture). The spirit is not about words, but about power. How many drug addicts, adulterers, murderers, etc... have turned their life around when they became believers? How many people have died horrendous deaths rather than renounce their faith? Do you seriously think all of them did so because of their own power?

For me personally, I had a lust affair with porn. While I rationalized that I wasn't hurting anyone, it was not something I shared with anyone as I was not 'proud' of it. The few times I made an attempt to stop never lasted long. I always caved. But with the power of God's spirit, I have been porn free since becoming a believer. And who had I hurt? The intimacy I now share with my wife is incredible compared to my prior self. I'm like an 18 year old again.

For what its worth, that is my testimony. I pray that what happened to me will happen to you. I wish it for everyone.

Love and Joy

Interesting

[kim zuber (from livejournal.com)]

1. You've entered a supposed learning experience with a closed mind. Not the mark of an intelligent man.
2. You can very easily be critical of anything, there are always junk thoughts one can pull out of their imagination to criticize even 1+1=2. Again, not a mark of any intelligent discourse whatsoever.
3. You are a self described atheist, so understanding that, etiquette scholarly research dictates you should put yourself into the shoes of a believer in order to understand the Bible. I could go to Japan, a country from which I have no cultural roots, and tear apart their culture as stupid and lacking judgement. If I did, however, the world would be sickened by my lack of reasonableness and shallowness of character. You have done the same thing, not a mark of character or of any semblance of someone genuinely trying to learn, only a person so conceited, derogatory, and cynical that they can only see life through their own lenses.

4. If you really are interested in learning rather than destruction, you will find God most definitely. But then again, the billions who have found Him are all miserably misled, right?

Here is some common sense, if the book doesn't make sense, go to the author. Ask the author if you can meet Him and what it would take for that to happen. He will most surely take the time to meet with you and thoroughly discuss all your questions, and on top of it, you will leave a better man for being in His presence which changes the heart of all who are open.

Re: Interesting

[beneatherbeauty.livejournal.com]

and your word choice dictates you're a huge dickwad. congrats for being an aggressive asshole for no reason.

[beneatherbeauty.livejournal.com]

good job on finishing it all. do you have any other projects you're going to work on soon?

Maybe ask?

[gabriel teo (from livejournal.com)]

Hi

Can I offer an alternative to your approach of the bible? It is as you know not an easy book to read, why not take resources from experts. People who dedicate their lives to finding out what the bible is actually about. Not necessarily Christians, but I dare venture that Christians know their bible best!

I am sure that you would do the same with any other subject. I am not an electrician, if I venture to learn about electricity on my own, my conclusion would probably be that electricity is dangerous! And miss out on the wonderful things about it :)

[godis4real.livejournal.com]

I think you might enjoy this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqKqRHNVYb0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irhWHG6bsXE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

While you're at it please visit:

www.Spiritlessons.com

May the Lord open your eyes to the truth!

Answer me this...

[stephanie e. bell (from livejournal.com)]

Wow.. I wonder what made you take on the endeavor to read the Bible from cover to cover? It is a daunting task to say the least, however, after all your reading, you were still not able to see the God of Heaven and Earth? I am sure that you read the verse in the New Testament that states that spiritual things are foolishness to the natural man!?! What was the purpose of your reading? Did you do it to find God and believe? Or to prove that it's a book of gibberish and foolish talk?