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Originally posted by Betho
You want scary apocalyptic stuff, read the book of Revelations, last book in the Bible.

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Originally posted by Darren Garrison
This tale is known over the others because this is that was picked by committee in the 300's AD as "official bible" while the other books weren't.

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Originally posted by DodgingCars
The books should be read as fiction, because that's what they are. I don't think the authors claim it to be anything else.

However, as a Christian, I hate the whole "end of the world" mentality. It's stupid -- and even Jesus said no one knows when it will happen -- so I don't know why people spend so much time trying to predict it.

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Originally posted by Darren Garrison


Naaah, silly Apocalyptic stuff. Just one of many such pieces of political fiction that circulated around the area at the time. Most likely a commentary on the Roman Empire but placed in more cryptic language in an attempt to avoid being punished. This tale is known over the others because this is that was picked by committee in the 300's AD as "official bible" while the other books weren't. Other bits and pieces of the modern "end of the world" fictions are cherry-picked from other books in the collection patched together by that committee, written at various times and various places by various people for various agendas. The composite story is much more silly than just about anything that Hollywood comes up with, and about as "Scary" as Barney and Friends. Oh, wait...

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Christian Councils

Many believe that the Council of Nicea, held in 325 A.D., determined what books should constitute the Bible. This council did not determine the canon. So far as is known, the first church council which acted upon this question was the Synod of Laodicea which met in 365. This council rejected the Apocryphal books contained in Augustine's list, but admitted Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. It excluded Revelation.

Various councils, following this, adopted canonical lists. One council would admit certain books and the next council would reject them. The third council of Carthage in 397 adopted the list of Augustine which admitted the Apocryphal books and Revelation and rejected Lamentations.

The actions of none of these councils were unanimous or decisive. The list of books adopted was adopted simply by a majority vote. A large minority of every council refused to accept the list of the majority. Some advocated the admission of books that were rejected; others opposed the admission of books that were accepted. As late as the seventh century (629), at the sixth Council of Constantinople, many different canonical lists were presented for ratification.

The damaging facts that I have adduced concerning the formation of the Christian canon are admitted in a large degree by one of the most orthodox of authorities, McClintock and Strong's "Cyclopedia of Biblical and Ecclesiastical Literature."
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The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

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John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. . . .

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