Originally posted by NOTurTypical
reply to post by autowrench
Wow. lol. Let's not even consider that John was a JEW and would never touch a mushroom let alone eat one.
Forget that for now, It's rather remarkable then that mushrooms could lead a man to write a book with a heptadic structure underlining the text that
supercomputers couldn't replicate today.
Quite remarkable indeed.
edit on 28-10-2011 by NOTurTypical because: (no reason given)
Opium poppies are also very prevalent on the Isle of Patmos. Naturally hallucinogenic substances have thrived in Asia and the Mediterranean since
ancient times. I've always thought it curious that the Bible (both OT and NT) warns against drunkenness and abuse of strong drink, but there are no
warnings to avoid these naturally growing plants. No admonitions to "beware the opium den", "eat not the magic mushroom", etc. Why not? Perhaps
because the usage was an accepted practice...
There's no moral or religious reason to think that the author of Revelation WOULDN'T have ingested psychedelic substances. I believe that he did,
hence the incredible imagery. Regarding your "heptadic structure" comment, I would compare the substance's influence on the ideas and imagery of
Revelation to the fact that hallucinogenic substances influenced so many songs by The Beatles, especially Lennon; but that's not the same thing as
writing the songs while under the influence. The substances bring about a change in perception, and the creative writer/musician naturally begins to
incorporate that change of perception into their work, in various ways. Perhaps the 'divine inspiration' of the imagery/ideas of Revelation came to
the author via these naturally growing substances. Later, in a lucid state, he used his skills as a writer to create the book of Revelation. For me
(at least), that does not detract from the spiritual truth/reality of the book, in any way.
edit on 13-11-2011 by The Stache because:
Spelling