Pope Benedict: No Doomsday in 2012
For more than a thousand years the Bible has pretty much had a monopoly on apocalyptic prophecy. Today Pope Benedict, head of the Catholic church, has denounced the Mayan doomsday, as well at Biblical prophecy:
During his weekly Angelus address from the window of his Vatican apartments on St Peter’s Square, Benedict spoke of extracts from the Bible that speak of ‘‘the sun and moon going out, the stars falling from the sky’’.
…But Benedict said that Jesus ‘‘does not describe the end of the world, and when he uses apocalyptic images, he is not acting the prophet’’.
That’s called having your cake and eating it too. Like many of his disciples, Benedict is telling us that everything in Bible is literal, true and divinely inspired – except for the parts that we should ignore.
- The only connection between Biblical and ancient Mayan prophecy is that they both predict a tragic end for most. The Pope is not an expert on this topic.
- They are different doomsdays – the Bible promises that 144,000 people will be saved. The Maya suggest, via the Popol Vuh, that nobody will be spared. The Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on apocalyptic prophecy, and there is room in this world for more than one.
- The Bible makes it clear that no man will know the day of the apocalypse. The Mayans had more balls, and named it.
Obviously Central America is very Catholic, and so Benedict feels a responsibility to comment on any notion that might be disturbing his followers. I have no real problem with that. But I do find it disturbing that I am probably the only 2012 writer responding to what the Pope said.
It is very interesting that the Pope would come out now just a month before the December 21st, 2012 date to tell all of us that we have nothing to fear about a supposed Doomsday.
But it flies in the face of a late Pope … Pope John Paul II who warned a small group of German’s in 1980? … The Vatican has not changed? … Pope Benedict hopefully has access to the same information that Pope John Paul II had?
Here is what Pope John Paul II told this small gathering of Germans in 1980.
“Holy Father, what has become of the 3rd Secret of Fatima? According to Our Lady’s instructions, wasn’t it supposed to be revealed in 1960? And what will happen in the Church?”
‘THE HOLY FATHER’S RESPONSE: “Because of the seriousness of its contents, in order not to encourage the world wide power of Communism to carry out certain coups, my Predecessors in the Chair of Peter have diplomatically preferred to withhold its publication.
“On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this much: if there is a message in which it is said that the oceans will flood entire sections of the earth; that, from one moment to the other, millions of people will perish…there is no longer any point in really wanting to publish this secret message.
“Many want to know merely out of curiosity, or because of their taste for sensationalism, but they forget that ‘to know’ implies for them a responsibility. It is dangerous to want to satisfy one’s curiosity only, if one is convinced that we can do nothing against a catastrophe that has been predicted.”
At this point, the Holy Father took hold of his Rosary and said: “Here is the remedy against the evil! Pray, pray and ask for nothing else. Put everything in the hands of the Mother of God!”
“We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-to-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because it is only in this way that the Church can be effectively renewed. How many times, indeed, has the renewal of the Church been effected in blood? This time, again, it will not be otherwise.
“We must be strong, we must prepare ourselves, we must entrust ourselves to Christ and to His holy Mother, and we must be attentive, very attentive, to the prayer of the Rosary. ”
So, here you have two different statements from Popes, telling the direct opposite … who to believe?
Here is one more item to add on the side of Pope John Paul II … in 2007, Dr. Courtney Brown started a Remote Viewing study for the years June 1st, 2008 to June 1st, 2013 … http://www.farsight.org/demo/Demo2008/RV_Demo_2008_Page1.html The results from this study back up what Pope John Paul II told the group in 1980 …
This project describes change between the years 2008 and 2013 across nine geographical locations with a global spread. The locations are
1.Vaitupu, Tuvalu
2.Fort Jesus, Mombasa Kenya
3.Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
4.Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
5.United States Congress Building, Washington, D.C.
6.Malé International Airport, Malé, Maldives
7.KITV Building, Honolulu, Hawaii
8.The Vehicle Assembly Building at Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida
9.Key West, Florida
In general, these remote-viewing data suggest the following types of physical changes across many of the above geographical locations by mid-2013:
1.Impacts from what appear to be large meteors leading to tsunamis and possible volcanism
2.Extensive and forceful flooding of coastal areas
3.Excessive solar radiation
4.Storms and other severe weather
In terms of the effects of these changes on humans, these data also suggest:
1.Massive self-organized relocation from coastal areas (refugees)
2.The breakdown of rescue or other notable governmental functioning
3.The breakdown of the food supply system
4.The breakdown of the vehicular transport system
5.Extensive loss of buildings near coasts
So, take you’re pick of who to listen too
You are responding to the Pope’s comments and I feel the need to respond to yours. If you think the Pope is ignorant of Bible prophecy, you are wrong.
But, what I find most disturbing is interpreting the Book of Revelations in such passing way. The book blesses anyone who reads it. What would a blessing imply? Being saved in the end of the world?
The book, written by John the Divine, not the apostle, is an afterthought to the violent destruction of Israel in 70 AD and a response to the Roman Empire.
The book of Revelations makes no mention of an antichrist as part of an end of time prophecy. That is another different subject in the book of 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. I thought I would just throw that in.
Revelations 7:9:
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
This a great multitude of saved that are in heaven. The multiple of 12 (144,000) are on Earth. The number is of course a symbol; twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles.
The words in the book of Matthew 24 make reference to the destruction of Jerusalem also.
I am not a person belonging to any religion. Just a woman who fought long and hard to exit a cult into which I was inducted as a child that placed images of the nightmarish Armageddon constantly as a way of control. My ‘redemption’ (sarcasm) was a birth by fire studying prophecy and theology for over 45 years, reading the Bible (a collection of manuscripts, not a book) and many other religious books as well. The writings of the journey of a nation, writings that include lots of traditional end of the world scenarios borrowed from other cultures and lots of contradictions.
End of the world scenarios were probably born with the Sumerians and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Of course, the Pope does not have a monopoly on this. The Mayans, Australian aboriginals, and many others have their own version. These cultures had to describe their endings in the best possible way they could. Many of the ‘prophecies’ were written after the fact. So many prophets, so little time.
Since my native language is Spanish, I have heard Mayan elders speak about the theme. It is not what the popular versions say.
This is a voluminous topic that cannot possibly be addressed in a few short paragraphs. Addressing prophecy with non factual data, does more harm than good.
Just saying…
The 3rd Secret of Fatima was extricated from the Vatican by an Italian journalist who distributed it worldwide and was published in obscure journals. The main gist of the issue is the destruction of the Catholic church and its power.
I have read several books from Dr. Brown. In one of them , there is a remote viewing session described that supports a writing from the Book of Urantia.
So, yes, who to believe? There is a huge problem with prophecy, remote viewing and the like; these are subjects colored by personal perceptions and problematic regarding the perceived timing of events.