“It Took on a Life of Its Own!”

That saying applies well to theories that sound good in their early stages – so good, in fact, that they no longer stay as theories but have graduated (or slipped) into becoming next-to-eternal truths. They have taken on a life of their own, in other words – a life that perhaps they were never meant to have. And the longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to disengage… if and when further research and investigation reveals that a certain theory doesn’t explain the facts very well, and there is a better explanation available.

As an example, consider the theory of evolution. Despite numerous scientific evidences to the contrary, evolution theory is planted in the minds of most people as some kind of eternal truth. It’s “taken on a life of its own”. On this website, several posts are dedicated to unearthing the truth about our ancient heritage and bringing to light God’s hand in the formation of the natural world.

In addition, there are several posts that dwell on certain teachings of eschatology (End of the Age study) – especially those which seem to have “taken on a life of their own”. Probably the most prominent of those teachings, explored in this website, are those about

1) the image of the beast and the abomination of desolation,
2) the meaning of the harlot and beast and ten horns symbolisms, and
3) the meaning of the mysterious number 666 mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Misconceptions can arise because of attempts by past generations to understand what the prophetic passages in the Bible were supposed to mean. We are all naturally curious, especially when it comes to getting an idea of what the future holds. So there has resulted a good deal of opinion/speculation from the past written by scholars who lived in a culture and environment quite different to our own.

As a result their conclusions lack the greater clarity and deeper understanding that it is possible for us to have nowadays. We can witness first-hand the cultural environment and technology that is the future setting for so many of the ancient prophecies in the Bible. But unfortunately, these past interpretations and translations have “taken on a life of their own”, as the saying goes. And that tends to get in the way of an accurate understanding of how the ancient prophetic messages apply in our present day.

Now that the actual culture, historical reality, and technology have arrived, a perspective, different to the cultural perspective of yesteryear, is required. Some out-of-the-old-mindset box of thinking is the need of the day. For this is the way to find and forge ahead onto new paths and how a fresh, updated understanding can emerge.

There is a pitfall in this, however. And it could be summed up in the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” It is possible to get so out-of-the-box, so “alternative”, in one’s way of thinking that even the sensible concepts and discoveries of science or history are treated as inconsequential.

For example, if we know that the science world is greatly misled in their concepts about the origin of the natural world, we might throw out everything that science has discovered. Then it would be easy to get led into something like flat-earth speculation. To swallow this, one would have to imagine that NASA is nothing more than a movie-making company, and all the rockets and satellites and their pictures are nothing but fabrications. To take this kind of stance based on “alternative” thinking is apt to lead one into dead ends.

And the end result will be to destroy one’s credibility as any kind of reliable authority. Myriads of kooky ideas are floating around (on the internet especially) that people latch onto because those ideas like to bill themselves as anti-establishment and alternative.

So the key: Employ out-of-the-box thinking to forge ahead into new realms of discovery and understanding. But maintain a healthy skepticism against going off on a tangent into realms that appear good, only because they’re “alternative”, out of the box. Just because an idea glitters doesn’t mean it’s gold.

Clear guideposts are needed – what God has outlined for us in His Word. In the near future, humanity will depend all the more on those guideposts as history enters that final era known as the End of the Age, that tumultuous prelude to the climactic Second Coming of Christ!

So, while leaving the speculations and fool’s gold behind, let us not be afraid to venture out and forge ahead into new realms of understanding. With the ballast of solid backing from the Word, from science, from historical example, common sense, and especially the Lord’s guidance, it should be possible to stretch and expand our understanding. In this way we shall be mentally prepared and better equipped for the tumultuous days to come.