If you accept that human beings are generally rational, thinking beings, you should have a hard time believing this book is anything but an elaborate hoax.
“the world is about to enter a time of destruction that will ultimately end 6,000 years of man’s government - man’s self rule.”
2008 - God’s Final Witness , by “End Time Prophet of the God of Abraham” Ronald Weinland, is a classic example of nutty apocalyptic prophecy. Reading it is like reading the script of a tongue in cheek comedy:
Over the century’s , people have seen natural disasters and predicted that man was at the end time of Bible prophecy. But throughout time, they have been wrong. The Bible has much to say about such times, therefore it has been a natural consequence that these “religious” people have made such predictions. The difference is that now it is true! We have entered the end-times.
The emphasis is in the original. Seriously, the guy actually says that there have been lots of previous end times prophecy’s because people have read significance into the occurrence of natural disasters, but they were wrong. And he admits that this is an end time’s prophecy based on the supposed significance of natural disasters, but “The difference is that now it is true!”.
Check out the following examples Weinland gives that the world is ending:
“In 2004, a great tsunami, originating in the Indian Ocean, struck several countries with massive destructions … The United States witnessed a record breaking year for hurricanes in both number and magnitude … Letters of the greek alphabet have never been used to name storms, but even now in December Hurricane Epsilon has become the fifth named storm in the Greek Alphabet. In August Hurricane Katrina produced the greatest destruction from a natural disaster ever seen in the U.S.. … This devastation is so great that there is not enough time to rebuild it before this age of man comes to an end”
And of course Ronald Weinland foresaw all of this, in his previous book The Prophesied End Time.
“These events are occurring exactly these books say”
He foresaw it! Well, he foresaw it in about the same way psychic John Edwards speaks to the dead.
You can see why I might suspect that this book is a parody. But a parody would be more readable. There is something about the writings of the religiously deluded that is so indigestible.
There are the paragraphs that ask hypothetical questions or talks about “The two clear proofs”. Obviously the author believes they are highly significant, but they’re then never answered or explained in any clear fashion. They are then followed by yet more chapters asking similar “significant” or “ground breaking” questions that will supposedly reveal great insights into the truths of the author’s delusion, but are then again not answered in any clear fashion. I still couldn’t tell you what Weinland’s “Two clear proofs” are, and not for lack of searching.
There is the extensive talk about the “Seven Thunders of the Book of revelation, which the apostle John saw but was restricted from recording”. Thankfully the author is in direct communication with god, and he can thus tell you what John saw, and what it all means.
Apocalyptic delusionists are often accused of being wishy washy, the apocalypse will occur “in my lifetime” for example. Not with Weinland, the apocalypse is scheduled for July this year. And it will take 3.5 years, and then Ronald will die!
“I am to announce, through god’s direct revelation, I am one of those two witnesses [which god will send to witness the apocalypse, or some such nonsense]. The other witness will be revealed to the world during the time of great tribulation - within the final three and one half years of man’s era. During that period of time, we will, together, completely fulfil all that god has given us to witness to this whole earth. Then at the end, we will die in the streets of Jerusalem; and finally, exactly three and one half days later we, we will be resurrected (Revalation 11). The world will see this resurrection via television.”
I could poke fun at this guy all day. The more you read, the more scatter brained the ideas become and the greater his abuse of punctuation. Ronald Weindland seems like just another example of what happens when you take religion seriously.
But there’s something else about the book. Something that troubles me.
It’s free. And it’s not crappy either, it’s a well bound paperback. He’ll send you a copy anywhere in the world, I’ve been mailing them to all my friends as a prank. And he sends them. Ten to the same address if you submit the orders over and over again. Such things cost a lot of money.
But there is no call to action at the end of the book, beyond “believe me”. There is no Church that he demands you join, or a bank account that he wants you to send an urgent donation too. I just can’t work out what this guy’s scam is.
If you want to scare a friend, or poke some light hearted fun at a fundamentalist Christian, mail them a copy of the hilarious 2008 - God’s Final Witness.
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on May 15th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Me too! It’s great!
on Jun 13th, 2008 at 3:25 am
Have you checked out his website? On April 19th, he announced that the 2nd of God’s witnesses is his wife, Laura. Surprise, surprise….