2012, Nostradamus Effect, and David Pack
Nostradamus
2012 has been in the media a lot lately. Here is one story related to it and The History Channel:
No Payments, No Interest, No Future?
The Age of Nostradamus
November 2, 2009
If you are the credulous type, there has never been a better time to treat yourself to some luxuries, at least if the terms of the deal are right. If the merchant or manufacturer says “no payments or interest through 2012,” go for it.
At least that’s what you conclude watching the History Channel.
For many years, the network was nicknamed the “Hitler Channel” because of all the shows it ran on World War II and the Nazis. Today, a better nickname would be the “Nostradamus Channel.” Hardly a day goes by without at least one show touting some doomsday scenario and how it was foretold.
At the center of this programming strategy lies Nostradamus, the 16th-century French apothecary whose devotees claim foresaw everything from the rise of Napoleon to 9/11. Everyone who has ever written a book on Nostradamus gets extended face time on the History Channel, where their claims are treated with the utmost seriousness.
It isn’t only Nostradamus. Name a doomsday prediction made by some long-dead person or group and chances are the Nostradamus Channel has given it a respectful airing, no matter how unhinged the claims might be.
The latest and greatest example is the new series The Nostradamus Effect. That’s the name the producers have given to the “convergence” of “doomsday prophecy” and “current events.”
We are told that for “5,000 years, prophets around the world”—including, of course, Nostradamus—“have predicted the end of days.” Operating “independently,” they have concluded that 2012 will be a “time of extraordinary shift.”
One so-called expert told viewers that “we’re on the verge of the biggest riot of all time.” Another said that “we are reaching a confluence of tipping points.” These tipping points include climate change, financial upheaval, political unrest, crop failures, terrorism, and nuclear war, to name but a few.
That sounds ominous. Of course, nobody can cite anything that sounds like an actual prediction, such as, “In 2012, the world blows up.” It’s speaking nonsense, rank speculation.
It’s not much to go on, but then again, this isn’t about facts or reason—it’s about fear. It’s about understandable anxiety made worse because in rejecting Christianity, the West has rejected the basis of its hope. A world in which God’s purposes are being fulfilled for our good has been replaced by one that leaves man in charge, mostly for ill.
The world has become literally senseless to us. We live in, as theologian Robert Jensen once put, a meaningless world wishing we could believe in something. The more events seem to spin out of control, the more we succumb to superstition and irrationality. And of course there’s always a media conglomerate ready to sell the credulous what they crave.
There’s no better example than the subject of tomorrow’s commentary, which will give you the date of December 21, 2012. Please tune in. And in the meantime, please pay your bills on time.
RCG’s improperly self-titled “Apostle”, David Pack, is scheduled to be on The Nostradamus Effect on November 11, 2009 according to his website. I trust that despite the many issues I have about him, he will not echo the chorus of the many “talking heads” that suggest that a tremendous amount of end time prophecies really are supposed to converge in 2012.
The reality is that many are going raise false expectations about 2012 and this will turn people away from believing in any prophecy. While the truth is that disasters are coming, from a biblical perspective there is no way that the world can end in a flood (or any other way) by the end of 2012. That is just a bit too soon.
Some items of related interest may include:
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? Are there Mayan calendar predictions for change in 2012? Changes were centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans. Do Mayan/Hindu/Hopi/Buddhist/New Age/Nostradamus prophecies have any value here? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012? How might Barack Obama be involved in 2012?
2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect This is a link related to a book by Bob Thiel (COGwriter). The book explains what will, may, and will not happen in 2012–but more importantly it explains the order of many prophetic sequences that will affect everyone. The book is now available now from Amazon.com in English, Spanish, and German. This link also has YouTube videos related to 2012.
