The False Teaching of Walid Shoebat

3 April 2011: On 29 March I received a link to a YouTube video recorded in 2008 entitled Walid Shoebat – Mark of the Beast. Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I consider Walid Shoebat to be one of the most infamously eisegetical of all current Bible prophecy expositors. The YouTube link of Shoebat’s nauseating and unhinged eisegesis is included here only for the purpose of providing a direct reference to Eschatology Today’s readers; otherwise this kind of eisegesis should be avoided as if it were the plague.

It is specifically Shoebat’s patently ridiculous declaration within this video that the original Greek manuscript of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapter 13 Verse 18, was not written in Greek, but in the Arabic language, and that the number of the Antichrist’s name has the meaning of, “In the name of allah” that will be proven to be false teaching. In making his assertions I believe Walid Shoebat, and those who support, defend and reiterate his false teaching on this subject matter, have firmly walked themselves directly into the most foreboding of all of the Lord’s promises regarding the adding to and taking away of the literal Word of God in The Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Revelation 22:18-19

“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

To begin with, here is the plain, English-language translated (per the King James and New King James Versions) from the original Greek-language verse which is the crux of the matter:

“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is (Chi Xi Stigma) Six hundred three score and six, 666.”

Let’s go to the YouTube video tape, and this verbatim transcript of what was stated as fact by Walid Shoebat:

Joe Van Koevering: “It’s Chi, Xi and Stigma…”

Shoebat: “Yes…

Joe Van Koevering: “…in the original language.”

Shoebat: “Yes, that’s what they think it is. They didn’t know [what] these symbols - were. So, they thought they were Greek symbols. Then they began to evolve into, let’s see, what these symbols really mean. Why would there be three Greek symbols into the text? Why would God put three Greek symbols into the text as a mystery? Well, God is not an author of mysteries, by the way, His yoke is easy.

What they thought were symbols were in reality a different script than even the Greek. God is not interested in gematria! Gematria is the process of adding numerals regarding names. … Gematria is a process that was used in witchcraft; God is not interested in this gematria stuff, okay?

So, this devolved and then the translations started to put down six, six, six because they thought it was about the gematria. But if you look at the Codex Siniaticus, it’s a different codexes, they don’t have six six six, they got these symbols! Some even translated these symbols as six sixteen! But it’s not!. When I first saw the Codex Vaticanus (checks his on-stage notes), I was literally shocked. Because I could read the text! It was Arabic!”

Walid Shoebat goes on to eisegete how the original “Chi, Xi Stigma” text, six hundred three score and six was not written in the Greek language but in the Arabic language, and that the literal meaning of the Arabic text is “in the name of allah.”

What abject nonsense this is!

To begin with, it was in 1844 that the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus manuscript was discovered by Constantine Tischendorf on Mount Sinai within St. Catharine’s Monastery. The Codex Sinaiticus is not written in “symbols,” it is written in the uncial characters of the Greek language, and comprised a sum total of forty-three leaves of the Septuagint. Those Greek-language leaves of text were just portions of Chronicles, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, I and II Maccabees, Esther and two fragments of Genesis. The Revelation of Jesus Christ was not part of this codex manuscript.

Unical Greek Letter Characters

Secondly, the Codex Vaticanus, so named because it is kept in the Vatican Library, and also referred to as the Codex Vaticanus, is also a 4th century manuscript written on fine parchment in the uncial characters of the Greek language. The Codex Vaticanus also does not contain the Revelation of Jesus Christ (a/k/a The Apocalypse). Sometime during the 15th to 16th centuries the missing books and portions of books of both the Old and New Testaments were added to the codex so that it might be used in the Vatican Library.

In all of the past two thousand-some odd years and of all the innumerable, highly learned Bible scholars who have ever studied this passage, here in the first decade of the 21st century we have the appearance of one Walid Shoebat trying to impress upon us the truth that he alone possesses the wisdom necessary to understand this verse because it is, “in reality” written in Arabic. If only Shoebat were a standup comedian this would have some inherent and monumental humorous value. However, given the true reality of the situation, there is precisely as much veracity in Shoebat’s assertions on this issue are there are in his longstanding and highly disputed claim to be a former PLO terrorist. According to a former CIA chief-of-station in the Middle East I know, Shoebat was no PLO terrorist; a low-level go-fer, yes, but he was never, ever an operational PLO terrorist.

So, the plain text of this verse, which is identical in every language in the world to which it was translated from the original Greek, the Lord informs us of three prophetically important things:

1.) Calculate the number of the beast

2.) It is the number of a man

3.) The number is six hundred sixty six (666)

None of this has anything whatsoever to do with the false, satanically deceptive cult of islam, or of its false-god “allah.”

When it comes to the wisdom of understanding this verse, I reference the reader to 1 Corinthians 2:14, which teaches us, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” In this is the foolishness of Walid Shoebat exposed, for nothing he has said has come from the Spirit. It has, in fact, come from within his own fanciful mind as yet another feeble, snake oil salesman’s attempt to further the thoroughly discredited Islamic Antichrist eisegesis.

View the original article here

The False Teaching of Walid Shoebat

3 April 2011: On 29 March I received a link to a YouTube video recorded in 2008 entitled Walid Shoebat – Mark of the Beast. Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I consider Walid Shoebat to be one of the most infamously eisegetical of all current Bible prophecy expositors. The YouTube link of Shoebat’s nauseating and unhinged eisegesis is included here only for the purpose of providing a direct reference to Eschatology Today’s readers; otherwise this kind of eisegesis should be avoided as if it were the plague.

It is specifically Shoebat’s patently ridiculous declaration within this video that the original Greek manuscript of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapter 13 Verse 18, was not written in Greek, but in the Arabic language, and that the number of the Antichrist’s name has the meaning of, “In the name of allah” that will be proven to be false teaching. In making his assertions I believe Walid Shoebat, and those who support, defend and reiterate his false teaching on this subject matter, have firmly walked themselves directly into the most foreboding of all of the Lord’s promises regarding the adding to and taking away of the literal Word of God in The Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Revelation 22:18-19

“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

To begin with, here is the plain, English-language translated (per the King James and New King James Versions) from the original Greek-language verse which is the crux of the matter:

“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is (Chi Xi Stigma) Six hundred three score and six, 666.”

Let’s go to the YouTube video tape, and this verbatim transcript of what was stated as fact by Walid Shoebat:

Joe Van Koevering: “It’s Chi, Xi and Stigma…”

Shoebat: “Yes…

Joe Van Koevering: “…in the original language.”

Shoebat: “Yes, that’s what they think it is. They didn’t know [what] these symbols - were. So, they thought they were Greek symbols. Then they began to evolve into, let’s see, what these symbols really mean. Why would there be three Greek symbols into the text? Why would God put three Greek symbols into the text as a mystery? Well, God is not an author of mysteries, by the way, His yoke is easy.

What they thought were symbols were in reality a different script than even the Greek. God is not interested in gematria! Gematria is the process of adding numerals regarding names. … Gematria is a process that was used in witchcraft; God is not interested in this gematria stuff, okay?

So, this devolved and then the translations started to put down six, six, six because they thought it was about the gematria. But if you look at the Codex Siniaticus, it’s a different codexes, they don’t have six six six, they got these symbols! Some even translated these symbols as six sixteen! But it’s not!. When I first saw the Codex Vaticanus (checks his on-stage notes), I was literally shocked. Because I could read the text! It was Arabic!”

Walid Shoebat goes on to eisegete how the original “Chi, Xi Stigma” text, six hundred three score and six was not written in the Greek language but in the Arabic language, and that the literal meaning of the Arabic text is “in the name of allah.”

What abject nonsense this is!

To begin with, it was in 1844 that the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus manuscript was discovered by Constantine Tischendorf on Mount Sinai within St. Catharine’s Monastery. The Codex Sinaiticus is not written in “symbols,” it is written in the uncial characters of the Greek language, and comprised a sum total of forty-three leaves of the Septuagint. Those Greek-language leaves of text were just portions of Chronicles, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, I and II Maccabees, Esther and two fragments of Genesis. The Revelation of Jesus Christ was not part of this codex manuscript.

Unical Greek Letter Characters

Secondly, the Codex Vaticanus, so named because it is kept in the Vatican Library, and also referred to as the Codex Vaticanus, is also a 4th century manuscript written on fine parchment in the uncial characters of the Greek language. The Codex Vaticanus also does not contain the Revelation of Jesus Christ (a/k/a The Apocalypse). Sometime during the 15th to 16th centuries the missing books and portions of books of both the Old and New Testaments were added to the codex so that it might be used in the Vatican Library.

In all of the past two thousand-some odd years and of all the innumerable, highly learned Bible scholars who have ever studied this passage, here in the first decade of the 21st century we have the appearance of one Walid Shoebat trying to impress upon us the truth that he alone possesses the wisdom necessary to understand this verse because it is, “in reality” written in Arabic. If only Shoebat were a standup comedian this would have some inherent and monumental humorous value. However, given the true reality of the situation, there is precisely as much veracity in Shoebat’s assertions on this issue are there are in his longstanding and highly disputed claim to be a former PLO terrorist. According to a former CIA chief-of-station in the Middle East I know, Shoebat was no PLO terrorist; a low-level go-fer, yes, but he was never, ever an operational PLO terrorist.

So, the plain text of this verse, which is identical in every language in the world to which it was translated from the original Greek, the Lord informs us of three prophetically important things:

1.) Calculate the number of the beast

2.) It is the number of a man

3.) The number is six hundred sixty six (666)

None of this has anything whatsoever to do with the false, satanically deceptive cult of islam, or of its false-god “allah.”

When it comes to the wisdom of understanding this verse, I reference the reader to 1 Corinthians 2:14, which teaches us, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” In this is the foolishness of Walid Shoebat exposed, for nothing he has said has come from the Spirit. It has, in fact, come from within his own fanciful mind as yet another feeble, snake oil salesman’s attempt to further the thoroughly discredited Islamic Antichrist eisegesis.

View the original article here

Teaching nothing.

Children as young as four are to be educated in atheism.

Use your own expletives. If I type what I'm thinking I'll be arrested under the profanity laws.

Four years old. This is Spot the Dog age, Janet and John age, this is Sunday school where the other kids didn't get referred to their parents for excessive use of red paint in their depiction of the Crucifixion. My father couldn't keep a straight face and neither could my grandmother but that's another story entirely.

Apparently Satan wasn't there but come on, I was only four. All I knew was something about him getting stabbed in the side and I was confused with the pitchfork-wielding red guy. Lots of information for a little kid to assimilate and sort.

Four years old, learning atheism, and we have fourteen-year-olds who watch a new DVD every day but can't spell it. What is a four-year-old supposed to be learning? Lego, Play-Doh, rabbit-gutting, Action Man/Barbie, Bagpuss, the Flowerpot Men, butchering calves, fitting shapes into boards, basic reading and evisceration, 2+2=4 and drawing pictures of dismembered bodies. That is a normal childhood.

What?

My first experience of school-based dedicated religious teaching was Religious Knowledge class in secondary school. By this time we were all becoming aware of the lustiness of the female form but our contemporary females had no decently lustable womanly bits yet. The RK teacher had a figure the Daily Mail would hide in bushes to photograph and hair down to her buttocks. She was there to teach us the Puritan way. Not a chance. All the desks were six inches higher whenever she entered the room. Well, apart from those with girls behind them.

She was definitely Christian and fundamentally so. We could send her into a frenzy by asking about satanism or most other religions and if we got onto the dinosaur thing her eyes would bleed and her nipples would stand out like Scania wheel-nuts. Ah, school days...

We never thought to question her on atheism. Why? Well, at that time, atheism wasn't a religion. It was the absence of religion. It was an irrelevance. Atheism meant you'd looked at religion, decided 'Nah, don't believe it' and dropped it.

It was like... well, let's try this one. In the first years of secondary school we all took Spanish class. I didn't continue to O level because I saw no need to learn Spanish beyond 'Huevos, fritos, cerveza'. I figured I could stay alive in Spain if spontaneously transported there so no need to push the envelope. I stopped learning Spanish BUT that did not make me anti-Spanish. In fact I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the bullfight I went to when I was thirteen. Great fun. The bull won, the picador got his half-armoured ass kicked, the banderillos ran like Disney cartoon characters and the toreador left on a stretcher with a big horn-hole in his shoulder. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

I didn't continue with RK past the compulsory years but that did not make me anti-religion. I used to consider myself atheist but not now. It's become a religion with meetings and all that crap and I can't be bothered with it so now I am an apathist. There might or might not be a God. I don't care.

Many people believe in God. In the quantum universe described by physics, that might actually be enough to bring a God into existence. Seriously. It could even bring a God into existence before the decision was made to believe in him. Yes, quantum physics is that weird.

Science can't prove or disprove God and it is just silly to try. Belief has nothing to do with science and vice versa. Science piddling around with religious matters - as it seems to be increasingly doing - is wasting its time. Science can neither win nor lose this argument. Just drop it.

As to how you teach four-year-olds to not-believe something, that has to be worth seeing. If only to giggle at the baffled little faces.

'Today, children, we will learn how to not believe in a thing that is not a thing or might be depending on what you believe. You will learn how to not believe in a thing that might or might not be real, but which might become real according to the laws of physics if enough of you believe in it, but you must not believe because it is not real. Or it might be.'

They plan to do this to four-year-olds. And to think, I thought Sunday School was confusing.

I didn't know I was born.

View the original article here

Teaching Standards Are Slipping

When he’s not running a football club or advising Bank of America, part-time MP David Miliband teaches politics to the students of Haverstock School in Chalk Farm. He apparently “taught the theory/practice of ministerial accountability this morning.” No doubt without a trace of irony.

As a minister Miliband was hardly the most loyal of servants to his Primus Inter Pares. Triggering various leadership crises and letting his disdain be well-known. Presumably that’s the practice part of the lesson.

Miliband’s less than exemplary record in government has even come under attack from William Hague. Finding his recently lacking quick wit, Hague quips about being Foreign Secretary to this month’s Total Politics; “this isn’t a launch pad to one day be leader again, which, I think must be a great distraction, and has been for some of my predecessors.” Miaow.

View the original article here