The folly of seeking premonitions in sacred texts
by Salman Hameed
I have written before about the futility of finding science in the Qu'ran and other scriptures. None of these efforts actually lead to any scientific developments (because this is as far away from science as you can get - and lacks a fundamental curiosity about the natural world), but instead are used by followers of each individual religions mostly for proselytization purposes. The same is true for seeking premonitions in sacred texts.
I'm currently listening to a fascinating Teaching Company course titled, The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meanings in Western History. It us taught by Professor Craig Koester, and is one of the best courses I have done there (One of my absolute favorites has been the series of three course on the Middle Ages by Philip Daileader). The first 12 lectures are spend on exploring the context in which the Book of Revelation was written and how people understood it in their own times. For example, the seven-headed dragon stood for the various aspects of the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of the book - and the infamous 666 stands, most likely, stood for the name of Emperor Nero (his name's numerical value adds up to 666). Koester calls the example of the dragon as a word-picture, and compares it to editorial cartoons in modern times (for example, a donkey and an elephant in political cartoon in the US would be interpreted by all to be the Democratic and Republican party, respectively).
But one of the fascinating bits in the lectures is about a particular change in the 12th century, where the Book of Revelation was interpreted by a reformer, Joachim of Fiore, to be a map of history. Apart from other things, for him, the seven heads of the dragon meant seven periods of history where the Christian Church was under a serious threat. Of course, he believed that he was living in a special time. And so he divided up the time periods from birth of Christ to the present. Some of the early Roman emperors represented couple of heads and early Islam was also included as one of the heads of the dragon. He assumed that the 6th and 7th heads were in his own time - and Saladin was considered as the 6th head, and his potential collaborator - the anti-christ - to be the 7th and final head.
Here is the relevant bit for this post: He also believed that the year 1260 was of paramount importance, as it will launch the final stage of history. Why 1260? He derived this from the Gospel of Matthews, that mentioned that there were 42 generations before Christ. Well, 42 times 30 years for each generation, leads to 1260 years. He assumed time to be symmetrical around Christ, and so he believed that the age of Jesus would last 1260 years after his death. Joachim of Fiore died in 1202, but some of his followers did believe in a drastic change in the world in the year 1260. Nothing major happened.
But this mapping of history onto the Book of Revelation then took hold, and it transformed the book from a purely spiritual document to providing a roadmap of history and future events. And of course, people see themselves - no matter in what century - as playing an important role in the ultimate history of the world. If Joachim and his followers saw apocalyptic events in the 13th century, then it is not much of a surprise that many see signs in the of end-of-times today.
Many Muslim interpreters have done the same with the Qur'an and the Hadith (For a recent example, you can check out this sensational Urdu TV special, Hidden Truth by Shahid Masood). The impulse comes from the drive to make one's existence more meaningful and to envision the ultimate triumph of one's own religion (be it Christianity or Islam) over all others.
This mining of clues in the sacred texts for premonitions reminds me of the search for modern science in the same books (and yes, Muslims find modern science in the Qur'an, Christians find it in the Bible, Jews in Torah, Hindus in the Gita, etc). Both approaches are clearly flawed and problematic. The science one stymies intellectual growth - and that is a loss for that particular culture. The obsession with end-of-times can lead to actions be some that can be harmful to others as well. I hope people keep their worse-righteous impulses in check.
And I hope that people use their Sacred books for their spiritual value.
I have written before about the futility of finding science in the Qu'ran and other scriptures. None of these efforts actually lead to any scientific developments (because this is as far away from science as you can get - and lacks a fundamental curiosity about the natural world), but instead are used by followers of each individual religions mostly for proselytization purposes. The same is true for seeking premonitions in sacred texts.
I'm currently listening to a fascinating Teaching Company course titled, The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meanings in Western History. It us taught by Professor Craig Koester, and is one of the best courses I have done there (One of my absolute favorites has been the series of three course on the Middle Ages by Philip Daileader). The first 12 lectures are spend on exploring the context in which the Book of Revelation was written and how people understood it in their own times. For example, the seven-headed dragon stood for the various aspects of the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of the book - and the infamous 666 stands, most likely, stood for the name of Emperor Nero (his name's numerical value adds up to 666). Koester calls the example of the dragon as a word-picture, and compares it to editorial cartoons in modern times (for example, a donkey and an elephant in political cartoon in the US would be interpreted by all to be the Democratic and Republican party, respectively).
But one of the fascinating bits in the lectures is about a particular change in the 12th century, where the Book of Revelation was interpreted by a reformer, Joachim of Fiore, to be a map of history. Apart from other things, for him, the seven heads of the dragon meant seven periods of history where the Christian Church was under a serious threat. Of course, he believed that he was living in a special time. And so he divided up the time periods from birth of Christ to the present. Some of the early Roman emperors represented couple of heads and early Islam was also included as one of the heads of the dragon. He assumed that the 6th and 7th heads were in his own time - and Saladin was considered as the 6th head, and his potential collaborator - the anti-christ - to be the 7th and final head.
Here is the relevant bit for this post: He also believed that the year 1260 was of paramount importance, as it will launch the final stage of history. Why 1260? He derived this from the Gospel of Matthews, that mentioned that there were 42 generations before Christ. Well, 42 times 30 years for each generation, leads to 1260 years. He assumed time to be symmetrical around Christ, and so he believed that the age of Jesus would last 1260 years after his death. Joachim of Fiore died in 1202, but some of his followers did believe in a drastic change in the world in the year 1260. Nothing major happened.
But this mapping of history onto the Book of Revelation then took hold, and it transformed the book from a purely spiritual document to providing a roadmap of history and future events. And of course, people see themselves - no matter in what century - as playing an important role in the ultimate history of the world. If Joachim and his followers saw apocalyptic events in the 13th century, then it is not much of a surprise that many see signs in the of end-of-times today.
Many Muslim interpreters have done the same with the Qur'an and the Hadith (For a recent example, you can check out this sensational Urdu TV special, Hidden Truth by Shahid Masood). The impulse comes from the drive to make one's existence more meaningful and to envision the ultimate triumph of one's own religion (be it Christianity or Islam) over all others.
This mining of clues in the sacred texts for premonitions reminds me of the search for modern science in the same books (and yes, Muslims find modern science in the Qur'an, Christians find it in the Bible, Jews in Torah, Hindus in the Gita, etc). Both approaches are clearly flawed and problematic. The science one stymies intellectual growth - and that is a loss for that particular culture. The obsession with end-of-times can lead to actions be some that can be harmful to others as well. I hope people keep their worse-righteous impulses in check.
And I hope that people use their Sacred books for their spiritual value.
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