Montanus was a former priest of Cybele. A recent convert to Christianity, he began his ministry as a prophet and mouthpiece for God during the late 2nd Century in the small village of Ardabau in Phrygia (Asia Minor-Modern Day Turkey).
He claimed that God came to him and filled Him with His Spirit, causing ecstatic utterances and prophecies. He gathered to himself two others who proclaimed to have the same gift, Maxamillia and Priscilla, and the two of them went about Asia Minor proclaiming that God Himself was speaking through them and the end of the world was nigh. As his message of Apocalypse spread across the world, Montanus commanded his followers to gather together in the city of Pepuza, which (according to his prophecies) would become the New Jerusalem after the global conflagration. His followers obeyed and came to him in this new city of hope and awaited the appointed time. But the end of the world did not happen. Some were dissapointed, but some still 'girded their loins' in determination and continued to believe in the prophecies of Montanus. Later the prophet would be condemned as a heretic for various bizarre teachings, the foremost being that he proclaimed to be God the Father Himself when he made his prophecies, and not just a prophet indwelt with the Spirit of God.
For us today in the early 21st century the dire mystery of the 2012 Apocalypse prediction looms menacingly. I will not go into any of the theory, I am sure most of the readers have heard of it and the multitude of substatiating 'facts' that surround this view that the world will end on December 21st 2012. You do not even have to do any research, you just have to watch the History Channel regularly to get the full rundown. Myan Calander interpretation, planetary and galaxy alignments, solar storms, climate change, economic disaster and an upcoming volitile Presidential election all seem to point to a very rough time is to come near the end of 2012.
It seems as if someone flushed an M80 firecracker down the cosmic toilet and we are all waiting for the big explosion.
Of course when there is fear with potential death and mayhem Hollywood can't but be drawn to the fire and produce an epic movie where all our previous fears pale to the technicolor global holocaust that assaults our eyes in a darkened movie theater. So this weekend as the epic opens we are also bombarded by various news monkeys who have just discovered that the world will end soon. Of course almost all of them do not take the source material for the movie seriously. But with most reports you do see an ominous tension.
I think it is because socially we feel like we are all teetering on the edge of the abyss, and are waiting for something to push us over.
Many are overwhelmingly pessimistic because of the dire straits they find themselves in. Be it economic trouble, environmental worries or social and political disdain, many find themselves gripped by a fear that the worst is yet to come. We are communally holding our breath and waiting for what we feel is inevitable, hoping that we are wrong.
So the end of the world is a natural conclusion, not just because of the substantiating evidence of the 2012 theory, but because of the global angst we all perceive.
But such is the human condition. Since the dawn of civilization mankind has been waiting for the dusk to overwhelm them in darkness.
A clay tablet dated at 2800BC was found that has the inscription "Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common."Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts
Since then humanity has faced the coming apocalypse thousands of times, mostly fired by social or religious motivation. An incredible resource for those who wish to study the history of Doomsday is found on the website A Brief History of the Apocalypse, where you can view each failed prediction chronologically.
Armageddon for good or ill is hardwired into our human consciousness. Prognosticators and those who diligently follow are part of who we are as human beings. It is a means to find order out of the chaos that surrounds us. There will always be a coming apocalypse. And one day there will be an end of the world. How will we know which one is the real end? Christian Scripture can shed some light on that. In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 the Disciples ask Jesus how they will know when the end is near:
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them- “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.-the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:3b-4a;36;44b.
So safe to say from a Christian perspective is that whenever a 'prophet' or anyone else claims to know the exact date or time that the world is going to end, you can rest assured that that will not be the day or time. There might be incidents of trouble, disaster or tribulation. But such is life on the planet Earth. Looking at the dilemmas brewing worldwide, we may face unprecedented challenges for freedom, liberty and survival on a global scale in the years preceding and following 2012.
The Mayan calendar does stop in December 21 2012; but then it starts all over again.
It has a new beginning.
Like any situation we find ourselves in we can look at the end pessimistically, or in hope we can look at the new beginning with optimism and take advantage of a new opportunity.
Mankind grows and flourishes when faced with trouble, for it is a challenge to overcome which brings with it personal and communal character.
In the words of Captain James T. Kirk, "Man stagnates if he has no ambition...We were meant to fight our way through - struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way."
So whatever befalls us on Friday December 21, 2012- Saturday the 22nd will prove to be a most exciting day.
Until Next Time,
Pastor Swope
I have found the date to be numerologically related to the trinity and perhaps this is why those before perceive this to be the last day. However way you look at it 12/21/12=3/3/3. Even to add all numbers makes it 9, then it's prime is again 3. I think this may be the beginning of a time of our darkest years, but the darkest time always comes before the dawn. If I were to perish, I am ready and have no fear of death or what will be. I do have children to, but many tragic fates await children every day. Should they now fear a better place should it happen in an untimely manner?
ReplyDeleteMany Blessings,
Frances (parapsunomally@myspace.com)
I can't figure out why people get so excited about the Mayan calendar ending sometime in December 2012. Shoot our Gregorian calendar ends December 31 every year and no one gets upset about that. The Mayans just figured out it was easier to have a calendar that goes for a number of years instead of redoing one every year.
ReplyDeleteFried Pork Rinds. Just as long as I can still get fried pork rinds after 2012 I'll be happy.
ReplyDelete"We are communally holding our breath and waiting for what we feel is inevitable, hoping that we are wrong."
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, I think many hold their breath in hopes that the prediction is true and the world will end [and if you believe in heaven and that you'll go there, even better, right?]. Isn't it easier for everything to come to an end, rather than fix it?
I really do think that we will wake up on the morning of December 22nd 2012, and will realise that we still have this mess to sort out. Perhaps we should focus on that, instead of crying doomsday?
Apologies if I sound a bit rude, but I think we are better off trying to fix the world rather than waiting for an apocalypse that may or may not come.
Getting everyone to focus on making the world a better place is a whole other matter, though =P is my idealism showing?
Some people are looking forward to the apocalypse. It will bring an end to the old order, and bring in a new one. From the Christian perspective, it's not just the end of the world, but the beginning of a New Heaven and a New Earth. The destruction of the old order allows the survivors to have a fresh start. Consider the last destruction, the story of Noah. The flood did away with the old order of things; corruption, sin, etc. Noah and his family had the opportunity to begin again anew. They had the world to themselves. Some people today want that same opportunity. The opportunity to leave government corruption, taxes, inflation, debt, poverty, and jobs they don't like behind. All of that would be gone, and they would have the world to themselves, and the opportunity to set it up without all the corruption they left behind. That's what the excitement and hype is all about.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope the world ends in 2012!
ReplyDeleteI've done all my financial planning based on that!
Fools' mother is always pregnant. The lessons of past never work. From 1.000 A.D. to today many people followed many prophets, seers, clairvoyants foreseeing "the end of the world" that never happened. Today is the same old story but people never learns.
ReplyDeleteBill gates has predicted the end of the world, it's in the end of 2099. That's as high as the calendar goes on Microsoft Windows operating systems!
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that some people conveniently leave the year 2000 off of the date 12/21/2012(i.e. 12/21/12).
ReplyDeleteAs anonymous did in the previous post(Frances (parapsunomally@myspace.com)
November 14, 2009 5:02 PM ).
If done correctly it should read, 1+2+2+1+2+0+1+2 = 1+1 = 2. So the date 12/21/2012 = 2 in numeroligical terms, not 9! But if you believe in numerolology in the first place, then some form of ignorance is involved in ones thinking.
Am tired of folks stretching a given to thier own needs or desires.
Pastor Swope is correct. 12/21/2012will be just another day in terms of mans existense.
On the History and Discovery chanel I've seen all sorts of things regarding December 21, 2012.
ReplyDeleteCall me an optimist or insane but I believe that it'll be a time of great change. I don't believe that the world as we know it will end but rather other things will be happening.
If I'm wrong and we all do die then everyone who said the world would end has permission to point and say "I told you so!"
my husband and i recently watched a special on the 2012 drama. if i remember correctly, the last time the mayan calendar ended, it was close to when we "think" the great flood happened... (i could be remembering wrong... i'm typing in a comment box, not a stone tablet)i thought that was interesting...
ReplyDeletei am a newcomer to your blogs and still haven't decided what i think. so far, it's been fairly different from what i was raised on (EXTREMELY southern baptist). but then, that's exactly what i'm trying to... "debunk". :)
I think it's telling that the surviving Maya think the whole silly show is just Westerners making money off their ideas. Would be good to see them get a cut of whatever "Hollywood" make out of "2012".
ReplyDelete"(M)outhpiece for God "? Perhaps you meant that as a way of saying "spokesman", Pastor, but I think for most people "mouthpiece", has a negative connotation. To me a mouthpiece is a low scoundrel, who is happy to manufacture any kind of lie or false story just so long as he is well paid to do it.
ReplyDeleteSurely this was just a "slip of the keyboard", made in an attempt to find some lively descriptive language.... but without the luxury of having enough time to sit and ponder it all day long. ;)
God bless you and your work, Pastor. I think you are quietly and patiently planting seeds that will bear fruit. I see much bigger things for you.
Thanks for the comment Jum,
ReplyDeleteHowever 'Mouthpiece' is the appropriate reference since he was condemned as a heretic for these utterances which he said were the direct voice of God, i/e he was claiming to be God.
Whereas a prophet is but an instrument as God's Spirit works through them, Montanus claimed to be the direct voice of God the Father.
I see exactly what you mean, and you were correct. Be well.
ReplyDeletePastor Swope - Great post!! You make a lot of sense out of all the nonsense associated with the 2012 doomsday predictions. You summed it up best with the quote from the bible where Jesus said that we will not know the hour until it is upon us. And really, what more needs to be said than that?
ReplyDelete12/21/12 is a prime date, and could be the beginning of some truly dark days, but it's not like Hollywood has cast it. Mayan shamans say it is the end of one Age and the beginning of another, a day when the old is swept away and the new begins -- and birth can be painful. It is a time to let go of all that has harmed, all that is begrudged or guilty or enraged or wronged and just give it all back to the eye of the galaxy. This novel is about paranormal events leading up to the Second Coming of King Antiochus, and the sequel is about using the winter solstice of 2012 to wash away all wrongs (due to be released). Check it out at the website for Something Coming. And keep spreading the word, Pastor. As Terrece McKenna said, “The apocalypse is not something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions of the planet and it's only because we live within a bubble of incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury of anticipating the apocalypse. If you go to Bosnia or Somalia or Peru or much of the third-world then it appears that the apocalypse has already arrived.”
ReplyDelete--I would add the Gulf coast to that list.
But what about the Apocalyptic prophesy (or Revelation?) made by the Master alchemist known as Fulcanelli in his analysis of the mysterious Cross of Hendaye? Fulcanelli gives no exact year or date, but says these things will happen at the time of the galactic alignment, that we now know is on 21st December 2012. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, not long now....
ReplyDelete