Well, I read the Book of Revelation and found that, like many books of the Bible, what is in the Bible and what is common knowledge about the Bible are two very different things. For example, the Four Horsemen:
Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death
This interpretation replaces Conquest with Pestilence. This interpretation is generally espoused by those unfamiliar with the actual Biblical texts from which the Horsemen are derived. And, though apocryphal, it is this interpretation which is most commonly used as the inspiration for popular culture's uses of the Four Horsemen concept.
The origins of the name "Pestilence" as a distinct Horsemen are unclear, though certain Bible versions, such as the Jerusalem Bible do refer to Death--rather than Conquest--as "Plague" (a synonym for Pestilence).
(From Wikipedia's article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse
I know, I know, "Don't trust everything you read on Wikipedia." But it's good stuff!!)
So let's start at the beginning of the four. We have:
The White Horse, wearing one crown (as apposed to several by the White Horse Rider of Revelation 19) and is bent on conquest and carries a bow, but no quiver. (if you read the full article, you can see some scholars view this rider as the Antichrist, while some call it simply conquest, and still others claim it is associated with civil war.)
The Red Horse, referred to as war, the rider carries a fiery sword which represents death on the battlefield.
The Black Horse, famine, and carries a pair of scales to weigh the bread during the years of famine.
The Pale Horse, named Death in the text, carries no weapon but rides with Hell following close behind.
Just a note, The White Horsemen of Revelation 6 and Revelation 19 can be viewed as the same, or two different riders. The choice is yours, but to me they look like opposites rather than one and the same. Revelation 6 depicts the rider with a bow for a weapon and one crown, bent on conquest. Revelation 19 describes a rider with a sword wearing several crowns upon his head "and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." He is named the word of God. Faithful. True. The King of Kings. And Lord of Lords.
(Therefore the horseman in verse 9 can be viewed as the Antichrist while the rider from verse 19 is Christ. They are opposites. Enemies.)
So like several others before me, I was deceived by popular culture before I went looking for the truth for myself. (And yes, I guess this confirms that my X-Men reference to the Bible is based more in common perceptions of the Bible than the actual text itself. But what isn't?!)
Finally, if I were going to end the world, I would do it with pestilence, war, famine, and death instead of using two different kinds of war, but that's not how the Book of Revelation does it.
Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death
This interpretation replaces Conquest with Pestilence. This interpretation is generally espoused by those unfamiliar with the actual Biblical texts from which the Horsemen are derived. And, though apocryphal, it is this interpretation which is most commonly used as the inspiration for popular culture's uses of the Four Horsemen concept.
The origins of the name "Pestilence" as a distinct Horsemen are unclear, though certain Bible versions, such as the Jerusalem Bible do refer to Death--rather than Conquest--as "Plague" (a synonym for Pestilence).
(From Wikipedia's article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse
I know, I know, "Don't trust everything you read on Wikipedia." But it's good stuff!!)
So let's start at the beginning of the four. We have:
The White Horse, wearing one crown (as apposed to several by the White Horse Rider of Revelation 19) and is bent on conquest and carries a bow, but no quiver. (if you read the full article, you can see some scholars view this rider as the Antichrist, while some call it simply conquest, and still others claim it is associated with civil war.)
The Red Horse, referred to as war, the rider carries a fiery sword which represents death on the battlefield.
The Black Horse, famine, and carries a pair of scales to weigh the bread during the years of famine.
The Pale Horse, named Death in the text, carries no weapon but rides with Hell following close behind.
Just a note, The White Horsemen of Revelation 6 and Revelation 19 can be viewed as the same, or two different riders. The choice is yours, but to me they look like opposites rather than one and the same. Revelation 6 depicts the rider with a bow for a weapon and one crown, bent on conquest. Revelation 19 describes a rider with a sword wearing several crowns upon his head "and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." He is named the word of God. Faithful. True. The King of Kings. And Lord of Lords.
(Therefore the horseman in verse 9 can be viewed as the Antichrist while the rider from verse 19 is Christ. They are opposites. Enemies.)
So like several others before me, I was deceived by popular culture before I went looking for the truth for myself. (And yes, I guess this confirms that my X-Men reference to the Bible is based more in common perceptions of the Bible than the actual text itself. But what isn't?!)
Finally, if I were going to end the world, I would do it with pestilence, war, famine, and death instead of using two different kinds of war, but that's not how the Book of Revelation does it.
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