A Skeptic’s Guide To Bible Prophecy

We tend see whatever we want to see whenever there is nothing else to see.

– Xenocrates

I had a, revelation recently. It came to me while I was trying to understand various people’s motivation for reinterpreting The Book of Revelation. As I talked to different pastors, teachers and philosophers over the past three months, it became more and more apparent to me that what we think we understand from the book is not what is actually in the book as much as what is in their hearts. There is a difference between seeking the truth and trying to invent it.

The Anatomy of Belief

“Conflict over belief is as worthwhile as conflict over a favourite colour.”

– Xenocrates

There are many systems of belief in the world. Most beliefs are propagated by the innate compulsion of their subscribers to derive purpose from the world around them. As such, religion is effectively a moderate transmutation of mythology, philosophy and science. It attempts to be the silver bullet that is the catch-all solution for all of life’s problems. That’s why religion is the most conspicuous of all systems of belief. It attempts to explicitly fill the gaps science and philosophy do not. However, there are some dark, disturbing characteristics about religious belief that a lot of religious people are either unaware of or seem to ignore altogether. Growing up in an environment that catered to the far Christian right taught me a lot of highly valuable lessons about these characteristics. This post details the top ten most valuable lessons I’ve learned about religious cognition. Most of these I learned after intense debate and oftentimes, vicious confrontation: