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We become more Christ-like by the studying of Scripture. The Spirit teaches through the Word/Scripture.
I can tell by your posts that you have not had any formal Bible Training. You don't understand the Apostolic Age and the subsequent Church Age. The Scriptures are taught to Christians by the Spirit as they study the Word, not some mystical experience that God only gives to a few. All believers are on the level and can understand the truth that Christ said is how we are sanctified, or Christ-like. You are trying to bring back the Apostolic Age but that concluded with the end of the first century when John died.
Revelation 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
My default hermeneutics is to take the Bible literally, and as I said before,as for numbers, I take them literally unless very good reason dictates that the number not be taken literally. Each number has to be judged by itself and the context in which it is found. There are many commentaries that try to find hidden meanings in numbers, and I am not of that persuasion. But, I would not quibble with someone who wants to understand this "one" as a short time, in fact, the time span for this number is 3 1/2 years, the second half of the Trib. So, when I see the number one, I first of all will attempt to interpret this as literally one hour. If that obviously doesn't work, I would see it representing the last half of the 7 year Tribulation, i.e., being a short period of time. Rev 3.10 talks about the Tribulation being an hour of trial, so we have some previous reference to the hour of testing. So, the hour is part of the Tribulation in 17.12 and stands for the second half of the Tribulation, which is considered a short period of time by virtue of the use of number one.
Revelation 5
Why? I don't believe that is wise. There are more types of text in the Bible than just literal. Some scripture is literal, some is symbolic (figurative, metaphorical, etc.), some is poetic, some hyperbolic, some Apocalyptic, etc. It makes no sense to have a default hermeneutics to take the Bible literally. Especially a book like Revelation that undeniably contains a good amount of symbolism. Context determines what type of text any given verse or passage of scripture is written in, so there's no reason to assume it's literal before looking at the context. But, that's what you end up doing when using your literal hermeneutics.
I'd say a good reason to at least consider that a number may not be literal is when the number exists in a highly symbolic book like Revelation.
I agree, but your literal hermeneutics makes you biased towards assuming each number is literal.
So much for all the numbers in Revelation being literal.
Hmmm. I'm not buying that logic.
You should consider that the "one hour" is not the only case where a number is used symbolically in Revelation. Why would that only be the case once? I personally believe all of the numbers in Revelation in relation to time are symbolic.
Why? I don't believe that is wise. There are more types of text in the Bible than just literal. Some scripture is literal, some is symbolic (figurative, metaphorical, etc.), some is poetic, some hyperbolic, some Apocalyptic, etc. It makes no sense to have a default hermeneutics to take the Bible literally. Especially a book like Revelation that undeniably contains a good amount of symbolism. Context determines what type of text any given verse or passage of scripture is written in, so there's no reason to assume it's literal before looking at the context. But, that's what you end up doing when using your literal hermeneutics.
I'd say a good reason to at least consider that a number may not be literal is when the number exists in a highly symbolic book like Revelation.
I agree, but your literal hermeneutics makes you biased towards assuming each number is literal.
So much for all the numbers in Revelation being literal.
Hmmm. I'm not buying that logic.
You should consider that the "one hour" is not the only case where a number is used symbolically in Revelation. Why would that only be the case once? I personally believe all of the numbers in Revelation in relation to time are symbolic.
That is the difference between a symbolic hermeneutic vs a literal hermeneutic. As I said above, I take everything in the Bible literally, and if the literal interpretation does not work, then I will consider other ways to interpret it, but my FIRST approach is a literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic.
You're not understanding me. I don't use a symbolic hermeneutic. I interpret any given verse or passage based on the context and on making sure my interpretation doesn't contradict any other scripture. My doctrine is actually primarily based on literal, straightforward scripture. But, the book of Revelation is clearly not all literal and straightforward. I believe that using a literal hermeneutic for a book containing descriptions of things like a harlot woman sitting on many waters while riding on a beast with seven heads and ten horns is not wise.
See if this helps. i apologize for misunderstanding you.
Maybe that's what he literally saw in his vision, but what he saw symbolically represents things in reality rather than being reality themselves. I can't imagine that you are saying that you think the woman is actually a literal woman rather than symbolically representing something besides an actual woman and that the beast is actually a literal beast with 7 literal heads and 10 literal horns instead of symbolically representing something that isn't literally a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns?
i definitely believe that John saw an actual woman on an actual beast. And yes I believe John saw a beast with 7 literal heads and 10 literal horns. There is nothing unusual taking this as literal. We can consult Daniel to get some help on what the beast represents and make sure that we are not subjectively saying this vision means x,y, and z without some reference point. Unless you are arguing that the beast symbolizes man in his natural state, and the horns symbolized the 70th week of Daniel.
