Who Lives at the BOTTOM of a Very DEEP WELL,
Is often DONE by the ‘Hasteners’ of Ahmadinejad!
‘Hasteners’ Leave a Place open for Him during Meals,
Just in case the hidden Imam sudden returns as Mahdi,
THIS is what Christian and Jewish Theologians now Face!
3 Religions are headed for a final showdown at Armageddon
The one returning who wins the final battle is the true Messiah
October 19, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
John 1:10-17 – He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. [11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not. [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. [14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Fa
ther,) full of grace and truth. [15] John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. [16] And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:24-26 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 1:7 – Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
[27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Acts 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 10:27-31 – My sheep hear my VOICE, and I know them, and they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. [30] I and my Father are one.
[31] Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
HIS VOICE IS HIS LIVING WORD AS THE ONLY SON OF
THE LIVING GOD!
John 5:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my WORD, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
I John 2:22,23 – Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ
? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. [23] Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Begin Excerpt from BBC News
By Edward Stourton
Analysis, BBC Radio 4
October 19, 2009
It is not often you find an email from a Grand Ayatollah in your inbox – especially not when the Ayatollah in question is a pivotal figure in one of the great dramas currently unfolding on the world stage.
Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri is one of Shia Islam’s most respected theologians – he was a moving spirit behind the revolution which gave birth to an Islamic state in Iran 30 years ago, and at one stage he was designated to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini in the role of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
The month after this summer’s disputed presidential election he issued a fatwa condemning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.
The Grand Ayatollah lives in Qom and does not often give interviews, but we thought we would take a punt by submitting some questions via his website.
“The current decisions, which are being taken by the minority faction that is in power, are mainly against the interests of the country, and are not in keeping with Islamic principles and values ” – Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.
The answers that came fizzing back make very strong copy indeed.
Montazeri tells Iran’s clerics that they “can and must” act to bring about reform. They should, he declares, “be in step with the people” and tell them about their rights. He warns of dire consequences for Iran’s religious authorities if they fail; the clerics’ popular standing will, he says “become weaker and shakier”.
It is to all intents and purposes an exhortation to take on the government.
Crackdown
The Grand Ayatollah’s comments reflect a hugely significant shift in the dynamic driving events in post-election Iran. Mr Ahmadinejad does seem to have succeeded in suppressing the demonstrations which filled the streets of Tehran in the immediate aftermath of the vote.
But the popular anger that fired them has not gone away, and some of the most serious opposition to the regime now comes from the most unexpected source; many of the country’s mainstream clergy and theologians want him to go.
Because state and religion are presented as one and the same in the Islamic Republic, the sins of the state are tarnishing religion’s reputation.
The problem has been growing for a while now; oppositi on journalists say all sorts of social ills, from drug addicti
on and prostitution to unemployment, are blamed on religion.
But with the election it has acquired a new dimension.
Professor Ali Ansari of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrew’s University says that people were especially badly shaken by the fact that the violent post-election crackdown was carried out “in the name of Islam”.
He cites the case of a minister’s daughter who stopped praying because she was so shocked by what she had seen.
To many clergy it looks as if the actions taken by the president of the Islamic Republic are undermining support for the very religion the Republic was meant to serve.
Eccentric behaviour
And the clergy have another, more personal reason to fear the President; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad belongs to a minority sect of Shia Islam with a pronounced strain of anti-clericalism.
One of the mainstream teachings of Shia Islam is that the Prophet Mohammed’s authority was inherited by a line of spiritual leaders known as Imams, and that in the 10th century the last of them, the 12th Imam, went into what’s known as occultation – that is to say he didn’t die, but he has been hidden from humanity ever since.
One day, the teaching goes, he will return, ushering in an age of justice and peace and, shortly thereafter, the end of times.
It is very like the Christian doctrine of the Second Coming, and most Shia Muslims understand it in a similar way – as something that will happen in God’s good time.
But Mr Ahmadinejad belongs to a minority sect called the Hasteners; they believe that it is the duty of the faithful to prepare the way for the return of the Hidden Imam – or Mahdi – and perhaps even to create propitious conditions.
Professor Ansari says this has led to some eccentric behaviour by the president’s entourage.
They have meals where they leave a place at the table in case the Imam appears, they have spent large amounts of money refurbishing a well at a shrine where it is thought the Imam may appear, and, Professor Ansari says, “they’ve even had fanciful notions of, when they write their cabinet proposals, taking a note and dropped it down the well so the imam can be aware of it”.
Many Iranians find this kind of behaviour eccentric, and most orthodox clerics regard it as something akin to heresy.
But beyond that it is accompanied by some inflammatory anti-clerical language.
Mehdi Khalaji, a Shia theologian now teaching in the United States, quotes a warning from one of the president’s close aides; when the Hidden Imam returns, he said, “the first thing he does is to behead the clerics because… they’ve been corrupted by money and politics”.
Whether clerical discontent with Mr Ahmadinejad will harden into real and effective political opposition is still very much an open question, but it does seem very likely that religion will play a central role in what now happens in Iran – just as it did during the country’s last great political upheaval thirty years ago.
Analysis: Ayatollogy is on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 19 October at 2030 BST, and Sunday 25 October at 2130 BST. You can also hear it later on the download the Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8314126.stm
Published: 2009/10/19 12:59:13 GMT
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.