4 out of 4 stars
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This non-fiction book: Roadmap to the End of Days by Daniel Friedmann details the author's theology and eschatology; his interpretation of future events, from the perspective of his Jewish orientation. According to the author as quoted in part seven of his thirty six parts: "The premise of this book is that there is information in scripture and history to place history in context with the divine plan."
The author offers the solution to the young earth and the long evolution periods controversy by claiming that each day of creation is equivalent to 2.54 billion years which adds up to 13.74 billion years which is in line with scientific knowledge. The six days of creation is then followed by the six days of human history measured in thousand year periods. The corrupting of human activity in human history is then corrected in the one thousand year millennium with the guiding hand of the divine presence. The millennium is followed by the resurrection of the righteous dead into eternal life.
The author's conception of the rhythm of history involves four preparatory periods followed by four critical periods in human history up to our time in which the divine plan allows human free will and gives an opportunity to get in line with God's purpose, but limits are imposed by the divine will. Each critical period and failure is then followed by a new preparatory period and a new opportunity. This rhythm of preparatory and critical periods can then be extrapolated to our own period of history. The author even sets future dates for when the end of times will begin based on his interpretation of the rhythm. But the dates are only applicable if human beings are not able to get themselves in accord with the divine purpose of their own free will. The dates represent the default line at which time God intervenes in human history irrespective of human activity. Of course a disclaimer should be made on the practice of setting dates which the author does in his book. This is always advisable in dealing with eschatological concerns since there have been so many such ideas that turned out to be false in the past thousands of years.
The Christian conception of evil and the devil is regarded in the context of this book as being embodied in Amalek who was descended from Esau who was a descendant of Abraham and the brother of Jacob. It was a mistake of the leaders in the good line from Abraham not to have killed all of the tribal members descended from Esau and the tribe would continue to interfere with the possibility of an early coming of the Messianic age until the coming of the end of days when the wicked tribe would be annihilated and the divine purpose fulfilled.
This book by Daniel Friedmann, Roadmap to the End of Days, is the third in a trilogy in which he attempts to create a synthesis between the science of our time and biblical knowledge and understanding. The Genesis One Code as well as The Broken Gift-which deals with human origins in Genesis and in scientific knowledge are the first two books in the trilogy.
I found this well written book to be interesting and I admit that I learned more about Jewish theology than I had known before. My close reading of this book was a good vocabulary building exercise for me. I am sure that those who have animus against religion of any kind especially the Abrahamic religions would find these ideas foolishness and Christians might take exception to the demotion of the ten commandments to saying or reduced to seven rules of living or laws. But I am sure that the idea of annihilation of the wicked rather than perpetual suffering would be in line with modern Christian ideas. I like the idea of human free will, but only within the limits of the divine purpose.
I give the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars because of the author's heroic effort to express profound meaning in regard to humankind's most important questions.
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Roadmap to the End of Days
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