The latest statistics (Census-based) show that the United States of America still has over 75% of its population claiming to be Christian, with another 10% believing in some form of God or higher being. This posting is directed towards those calling themselves Christian.
I woke up this morning leaving behind a dream of recall, where Christians have taken the self-righteous approach of belittling my claims that Nostradamus was a prophet of Jesus Christ, using the defense that goes like this:
“I just cannot understand why we would need to know what Nostradamus wrote when we have the Bible to tell us all we need.”
In my dream recall, I could see this one woman (of some type living in the Philippines), who used the fire and brimstone approach to “cast down the false prophets like Nostradamus,” through one biblical quote arrow after another aimed at the heart of the beast she feared so much. Her biblical scripture was loaded, aimed, and fired in a well-prepared manner (obviously trained in retorts), designed to slay that beast, cut off its head, and stand proud like young David after he had slain Goliath, raising high the head of Nostradamus, after she had severed it once and for all. In the last glimpse of my dream, I could see flashes of this verse, or that verse, zinging by my head, saying, “I Cor. some number, and Gen. some number, etc.” These were her reasonings why the Bible was all we needed. “We don’t need that devil-worshipping Nostradamus leading us down the wrong path with his lies,” she would shout (on an Amazon book discussion forum blog).
I woke up realizing how illogical her reasoning was (and all others just like her).
First of all, for all she could quote from the Holy Bible, she could not quote one thing (specifically) that Nostradamus wrote. Basically, all she knew was what someone told her as a young girl, “Don’t ever go around that. It is evil.” She believed that without ever learning exactly what that “evil” was, and why it was something to be feared. Instead, she learned to defend against her fears, when in reality fear is a statement that one does not have God’s protection surrounding you. We all fear, but the fears are removed when we turn back and see God is there. God is the defense, not verses.
Second, the “Bible” can be defined by the word, “bible,” in a dictionary as being, “A book or collection of writings constituting the sacred text of a religion.” This is because the word is rooted in Latin, from the Greek word “biblia,” which means, “books” (“biblion” is the singular, “book”). Another word for “library,” where many “books” are housed, is a “bibliotheca.” That word’s etymology is, “From Ancient Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothēkē) “library” < βιβλίον (biblion) “book” + θήκη (thēkē) “box, vault”. (from Wikipedia)
When one understands that by saying, “All I need is the Bible,” it begs the question, which book are you referring to? By saying, “I believe the Bible is all I need to get to heaven,” the question then becomes, “Which book is most important to know?” The “Bible” is a collection of “books,” itself being a “library” of “books,” but those “books” in the Holy Bible have been deemed by some human beings as from the divine inspiration of God. It assumes that those human beings were themselves led by divine inspiration to pick out the “books” that were indeed “holy,” up to the year 100 AD. They made that determination, after much arguing, around 400 AD (give or take a few decades).
When human beings start stepping onto the pedestals of self-reverence, placing themselves above the crowd and closer to God, they start to act as if they are God. That elevation makes them cry out judgments towards others, like, “How dare you question the human beings who argued over what was holy back in 400 AD! I condemn you!” This is itself a form of evil, as it is one human being playing god before others.
Third, when one starts to believe that the Holy Bible, which was forged after much debate around 400 AD, is the only thing one needs to get to Heaven, it says three things about how faulty that belief is. First, it says human beings were godlike, making no mistakes about what was holy, and making no mistakes about what was not worthy of being holy. Man has been placed before God – a sin. Second, it says the Apocrypha is unholy, along with the Gnostic books that were ruled out by those human beings that determined what was holy was all that would be in the Holy Bible. Man, again, is acting godlike, and casting judgment on others – a sin. Third, it says that God stopped talking to prophets, inspiring them to do holy things, and write holy words on paper, creating holy books, once human beings determined all that was holy should be in the Holy Bible. Man, once more, has determined God has left it upon Man to make the world holy – a sin.
Look at how small-minded one is when he or she stands up fully armed with the Holy Bible, prepared to rip to shreds anyone who suggests, “I have a message for you from the Lord Jesus Christ, through the prophet Nostradamus.” Only a fear rooted in being disconnected from the God one hopes is real, but is unsure enough to truly believe God can defend them no matter what sin approaches, makes one strike out with anger to stop something completely unknown. If one does not know Nostradamus is a prophet of Jesus Christ, investigate it. Do not be afraid of investigating something potentially evil. Learn the specifics of what makes it evil, and destroy it by exposing the truth. However, if it is news that should be paid attention to, as the truth of the Gospel (Good News), they your faith calls upon you to happily desire to know of the message send by Jesus for all to know.
On the other end, tell me something written that was not assisted by God. Human beings would be nothing more than the animals they are, if it were not for God speaking wisdom into our brains. Everything written serves a purpose for God. If it is holy, it will prove to be truth. If it is evil, it will prove to be false. That is why the “Bible Code” was found in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The point is not to dismiss the Bible Code because of that. The point is to show anything written that does not have the Bible Code in it. God is in everything we produce.
So, Christians tell me where I am wrong. I believe God never stopped talking to human beings. I believe Human beings just stopped believing that. I believe Nostradamus has a message for everyone, which comes from Jesus Christ and God. Who is brave enough to listen? Who is brave enough to respond?
R. T. Tippett.