Question & Answer for Thursday, 28 May 2015 - "Sheltie and the Cycle of 7?" from A New Chrisitianity for a New World with Bishop John Shelby spong on the News and Christian Faith
Question & Answer
Judith Barnit, via the Internet, writes:
Question:
Recently, I have had contact with people who are worried about something called “Sheltie and the Cycle of 7,” from the book of Daniel. I have looked this up on the Internet, but find no credible source of information. Since I trust your scholarship and approach to scripture, could you help me understand this issue? I enjoy reading your work and find that it helps me with what I have felt for many years.
Answer:
Dear Judith,
You could not find a credible source of information on the Internet regarding “Sheltie and the Cycle of 7” from the book of Daniel because there is no credible information on this subject. This is in the category of speculative biblical nonsense in which religious neurotics like to traffic. The book of Daniel along with the apocalyptic chapters in Mark (13), Matthew (24) and Luke (21) and the book of Revelation are the primary sources from which all the end of the world predictions are derived. Most people are too biblically illiterate to be able to counter this nonsense so they worry about it and it takes on a reality it does not have.
There are no hidden predictions of future events that are sure to come to pass anywhere in the Bible. That is to misread the Bible totally. There are no predictions of the prophets that Jesus literally fulfilled. The Jesus story was written to conform his life to the messianic yearning of the Jewish people. Jesus never “descended into hell” as the creeds suggest, nor did he preach to the souls in Hades during the time between his crucifixion and his resurrection.
So, sleep well tonight and allow others to play their religious games. There is not enough time in life to waste any of it on questions like these.
John Shelby Spong
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