"Telling the future", is there hidden dangers?

[freesoulhope]

I read a book called, “The bible and the future of the world” the author is catholic, his name is, Ronald L. Conte Jr.( i dont know if he is legit) He claims to be able to tell future events, not by forsight or any strange sensory perception, but by prophecies that are already written in the bible. He claims that it is a matter of interpretation. The book takes you on a detailed journey in to the future, where you learn about wars, the coming of the antichrist, the great chastisment, among other things. He claims that he interprets this knowlede from the bible. I dont know what to make of this guy, but i would like to know if he’s worth taking seriously. Im skeptical of his suposed tellings of the future regardless of him being a Catholic, but i have an open mind, that likes to learn. should i be warey of theses kind of books?

 

[asteroid]

My advice: Avoid this work. Stick with the present moment instead of books obsessing about their own end time theories.

A quick look at the book you refer to ( catholicplanet.com/future/index.htm%between% ) leaves me with major worries. Here’s one part:

Jesus Christ will Return in the year A.D. 2437. The Return of Jesus Christ is also called the Second Coming.

That’s a date I haven’t heard before. But the actual date is irrelevant. No one knows when he will return except for the Father. It can’t be found from codes in the Bible or anything else.

Something else from the foreword:

Formerly, I marked the Forty Years (see chapter 9) as beginning in late 1998 and ending in late 2038 or early 2039. In the third edition of this book, I adjusted this time-frame to begin in 2000 and end in 2039, but for this fifth edition I have to say that it could end in either late 2039 or early 2040.

In other words he made predictions. They didn’t work out. So he moved his predictions back. There still didn’t work out. So he moved them again. Why would anyone think his predictions will work out this time? Third time lucky maybe?
Lots of people down the centuries (and many recently) have tried to interpret the Bible to see what it says about future events. The problem, or a problem, is that they tend to have major disagreements with each other.

All I know for sure (after theology degrees) is that Jesus will return and we’ll understand the prophecies much better in heaven. But might not care about them so much then.

 

[thistle]

freesoulhope:

I read a book called, “The bible and the future of the world” the author is catholic, his name is, Ronald L. Conte Jr.( i dont know if he is legit) He claims to be able to tell future events, not by forsight or any strange sensory perception, but by prophecies that are already written in the bible. He claims that it is a matter of interpretation. The book takes you on a detailed journey in to the future, where you learn about wars, the coming of the antichrist, the great chastisment, among other things. He claims that he interprets this knowlede from the bible. I dont know what to make of this guy, but i would like to know if he’s worth taking seriously. Im skeptical of his suposed tellings of the future regardless of him being a Catholic, but i have an open mind, that likes to learn. should i be warey of theses kind of books?

Don’t concern yourslef about the future. It is only God’s to know.
Wanting or trying to find out the future is a mortal sin against the First Commandment.

CCC 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

He is right that it is a matter of interpretation. His interpretation tells him all sorts of things about the future.

Here’s the big danger in predicting the future: good chance you’ll be wrong.

That said, the worldly society EXPECTS us not just to predict, but to CONTROL the future. It’d be hard to explain without too many words but lately I’ve been noticing that people spend a great deal of time “holding each other accountable” for, in effect, not controlling the future.

We need some sanity in this society. We hold people “personally responsible” when things don’t go right, then we go around saying we never know what the future holds.

Something is wrong with that picture, and I think it leads many to this desperate practice of predicting. The predictions give them some sort of security because they think they can “be ready” for it. Again, society holds us to “be ready” for whatever happens, typically in hindsight, “well he Should’ve Known” or whatever.

Perhaps my tone is darker than usual because my mood seems to be… however, every day I see people punishing others for things beyond their control and it just seems like a really violent way to live. It is the worldly “Gospel of Accountability” that seems to fuel the fire that makes people fear the future so much they can’t even live in the present. If anything goes wrong there WILL be a scapegoat to be sacrificed before the altar of Should’ve Known Better.

Alan

 

[1ke]

This type of stuff is pure bunk. Do not be fooled because he calls himself a Catholic.

All we need to know of the Faith, and the future, can be found in the Church. The Magesterium teaches authoritatively, this man does not.