[clue-talk] How do CLUEbies vote?

[dennisjperkins at comcast.net]

>> are not irrelevant because all of the book of Revelation is based on  
>> Prophecy and End Times issues and if most people would read it they'd  
>> probably "shit a brick" with the facts and figures in there. But most  
>> are in denial.

>To paraphrase Marvin the Paranoid Android: "I've read it; it's rubbish." I am
>not a big believer in the Bible, and that is doubly-so for the wilder books.
>The book of Revelations reads like a pretty cool psychedelic novel. It's a
>fairly entertaining bit of fantasy. But I would no more "shit a brick" about
>it than I would about "Lord of the Rings."

Revelations was one of a number of apocalyptic Christian books written around that time.  The genre was probably popular for a number of reasons:  plague, bad harvests, persecution by the Romans, etc.  It probably seemed to people back then that things were getting worse than they ever had been, and that these must be signs that the end was near.  When Constantine made Christianity a state religion, the Nicean council chose one of those books for inclusion in the Bible, probably on the basis of popularity and the fact that this book was attributed to John.
 
If I recall correctly, the Jews had similar books at various times of their history.  I think at least one of those became part of the Old Testament.