What do you guys make of prophecies?

I'm open to the idea of prophecies, but if you look at history you will see constant cycles of war, revolution, conquest, etc. So the type of prophecies you find in the Bible or by Nostradamus could really apply almost anywhere.

I always figured if you make enough prophecies, some will come true.
Not saying I don't totally not believe in them, but I don't follow them.

I always find these prophecies very interesting. I could read stuff about the so called "dooms day" for hours.

Don't know why I find it so interesting, I guess I just have a passion for it

I could be wrong but hasn't the middle east been at unrest since the earth was flat?

Was there a time in history that the middle east wasn't in total chaos?

I think you should ask this question again on Dec 24.

I misread your subject line as "Popsicles" and was just composing a detailed response. Oh well...

It's very much than just a "stretch of the imagination", Bravo.

You do realize that Byzantium is nowhere near Egypt at all? It isn't even on the same continent.

Get rich quick idea - start making my own prophecies, and sell them as a warrior special offer? I'm pretty sure some of them will at least come true, especially if I make them vague enough haha

I think I'm like most people. I believe stuff that resonates closest with my intrinsic beliefs. I think people tend to shape their reality around their own beliefs.

I'm not much interested in Egypt other than the Sphinx and the pyramids and maybe your occasional spitting camel for laughs so I don't really care much about what some old dead guy had to say about the place.

Now, the end of the world thingy... That's different. Not buying into that one. Too much at stake. :p

I shall prophesize all prophecies are false - including this one.


:-Don

I find a few issues with the term "prophecies"

1.) The interpretation--people who make them are limited in their understanding of what the information obtained actually means. For instance, a "seer" gets information from his/her subconscious mind; that information usually presents itself in symbols, impressions, feelings and fleeting glimpses of an event/scene. If the person misinterprets any of these stimuli, the end-message passed on to the outside world is flawed, and possibly totally false.

2.) The future is never set in stone. There is always a possibility of a future event changing, presenting unlimited possibilities based on "current" decisions made by the people involved. Therefore, any prophecy is based on what could happen if other factors are all present, not what necessarily IS going to happen.

Another thing is that time is not really linear as we perceive it to be. The past, present and future is said to be occurring at one particular time--now. So it seems as if everything happens in cycles. Which is why many of the predictions in the Bible etc can seem to be true now.

A curious one is Psalm 22. (Not specifically for religious reasons)

It has to be read as a prediction of some sort - or the author would already be dead by the time of writing.

It may be possible that some details could have been engineered to match - at the Crucifixion of Jesus. Some practices (gambling over the robes) may have been routine at all such events.

It also stands apart from other (less detailed) predictions because it isn't the kind of event we see repeating itself through history.

There was a window of opportunity for history to have repeated itself - the time of Roman crucifixion practices. It could have possibly been applied to more than one crucifixion event - but even then, I'm not aware of records of any crucifixion practices at the time Psalm 22 was written.

As detailed "predictions" go it appears to qualify seeing as the practice (as described in Psalm 22) was not recorded as commonplace until close to 1000 years later.