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Voltaire2

(12,995 posts)
1. His wife is the Roman Catholic Church.
Sun May 20, 2018, 10:17 AM
May 2018

Which makes each individual church a vessel he enters with his mighty spirit.

Have another wafer.

MineralMan

(146,284 posts)
2. Must. Not. Post. Sacreligious. Comment.
Sun May 20, 2018, 10:32 AM
May 2018

So I won't make a reference to an abusive husband and his bride.

Glorfindel

(9,726 posts)
3. From the "Book of Revelation," Chapter 21
Sun May 20, 2018, 10:45 AM
May 2018

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

Hardly sounds like the Roman Catholic Church to me.

Mariana

(14,854 posts)
5. I wonder why God's magic city needs a wall and gates.
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:10 AM
May 2018

If the gates are going to be open all the time, why build them in the first place?

Mariana

(14,854 posts)
8. Maybe, but why put all that decoration on the outside?
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:17 AM
May 2018

Wouldn't it make more sense to have sculpture and decorative structures inside the city, in the parks and squares and such, where the inhabitants can enjoy them?

marylandblue

(12,344 posts)
13. Because they want to impress the people entering
Sun May 20, 2018, 01:09 PM
May 2018

A pearly sign saying "Welcome to Heaven, established 4004 BC" just doesn't have the same effect.

Igel

(35,296 posts)
9. They served several functions.
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:27 AM
May 2018

One was defensive.

The other was jurisdictional. The city walls were the boundary of the city. There was a set of property laws for inside cities. You could buy and sell land, build, do whatever you wanted with land. Once sold, it was sold.

Outside was farmland and countryside. That land was partitioned and assigned to clans and families. You couldn't sell it. You just rented it. It was yours and if you rented it out for 5 years there'd be a year of restitution when it would again revert to your family. You could sell it again, but you get income from the land. Or you could move back and make a go at agriculture again.


There's at least one adjuration against those who "add house to house", meaning that towns could sprawl in a haphazard way. Got urban sprawl?

There's also a prophecy against those whose cities are at peace and without walls and therefore defenseless. I was never sure if that last bit, "without walls," was a good thing or a bad thing.

But with Revelations, deciding what to take seriously and literally and what's completely metaphorical or allegorical is a pain.

Mariana

(14,854 posts)
12. But this is about God's magic city, where the gates are always open.
Sun May 20, 2018, 12:45 PM
May 2018

If they're always going to be open, there's no defensive reason to have them or a wall. As for jurisdiction, signs should be adequate. "You are entering God's magic city. Please register at the city clerk's office."

I realize the whole thing is entirely a figment of the writer's imagination, and the writer figured God's magic city would have to look like the real cities with which he was familiar.

Voltaire2

(12,995 posts)
11. All cities had walls and gates.
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:46 AM
May 2018

It was the difference between “city” and “not city”. So a city without walls was inconceivable to the people creating the Christ myths.

Glorfindel

(9,726 posts)
6. I have always thought that it sounded like a pretty profound acid trip
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:11 AM
May 2018

Angels, Lambs, beasts, horsemen, flying cities, trumpets, seals, vials, loud voices, trees, rivers, etc. An insane person would have been more coherent and organized.

Igel

(35,296 posts)
10. Shamans and prophets.
Sun May 20, 2018, 11:28 AM
May 2018

Ecstatic visions don't need drugs. Drugs help, I guess. But they're crutches.

Voltaire2

(12,995 posts)
14. Well that is excessively judgemental.
Sun May 20, 2018, 02:15 PM
May 2018

Some methods of attaining transcendental states use drugs, some don’t. For example, there is nothing inherently inferior to using peyote compared to spinning in a circle.

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