Review by DuncanJ -- Roadmap to the End of Days
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Review by DuncanJ -- Roadmap to the End of Days
[Following is a volunteer review of "Roadmap to the End of Days" by Daniel Friedmann.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Roadmap to the end of days is a book about navigating the maze to the end of the world according to Judeo-Christian theology. It's a religious book that the author writes in the introduction "looks at history from the supernatural perspective." The author of this book, Daniel Friedmann, is also the author of two previous books, The Genesis One Code, and The Broken Gift.
The premise of Roadmap to the End of Days is outlined in chapter one. His goal is to put history in the context of the Abrahamic Divine Plan, to determine where we are in relation to the End of Days, to outline what the default End of Days scenario will be, to recognize the events that will lead up to the default scenario, and to determine the approximate timeframe for this default scenario.
The general idea of this book is that history has a beginning and an end, that time is linear and that this timeline is laid out in the Torah, or Old Testament, along with other Abrahamic religious texts. In chapter 1 Friedmann writes "Scientists have established that time has a beginning, may have an end and varies for people within different frames of reference. [18]" Friedmann cites a Scientific American article by George Musser called "Could time End?" in citation number 18. You can't access George Musser's article without a subscription to the Scientific American. However, I did manage to find an infographic related to it that showed a few ways the Universe could potentially end. It seems that the current view on the matter is that the universe will end, but scientists don’t agree as to how it will end.
He then goes on to say "Similarly, time in the Bible has a beginning and an end, and it is different for the two separate observers of whom the Bible speaks: God and Humans. Genesis sets out from a point "in the beginning" of time. The Scriptures tell us, as will be elaborated later in the book, that the world will attain a messianic age and will eventually perhaps even cease to have a physical manifestation. [20]" In citation 20 Friedmann isn’t citing scripture, he references a book by Avraham Sutton titled Spiritual Technology to support the idea that the world may cease to have a physical manifestation after the End of Days. This probably means that the idea is beyond the scope of Friedmann's book and I can't fault him for not covering it. However, I am concerned that this idea isn’t clearly based on scripture.
On page 88 Friedmann talks about an event in the end of days called the resurrection of the dead. “As we proceeded from Eden to this world, God instituted death. [259] When a person dies, his body and soul separate. His soul goes to the World of the Souls, [260] and the body is buried in the ground, where it returns to its most elemental form, dust. Later in time, as the last step in the events of the End of Days - the resurrection of the dead - the body is reconstituted. [261]”
Why would a physical resurrection of the dead be necessary if the world will cease to physically manifest? Even if the world didn’t physically continue and went on in another manner that’s still a continuation. It seems the Abrahamic scripture isn't in line with the current science that the universe will likely end. It’s correct that the universe has a beginning, but that’s hardly unique to the Abrahamic religions. There is one religion that is unique because it's cosmology lines up with the current scientific view of the universe having a beginning and having some sort of end. That religion is Hinduism.
"The Hindu dharma is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only dharma in which time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang." - Carl Sagan
I think Friedmann was too dismissive of other non-Abrahamic religions. I'm sure covering them was beyond the scope of his book, again, but Hinduism plainly lines up with the current science far better than the Abrahamic religions with less mental gymnastics. So, I would encourage anyone interested in ideas about the end of the world to study Hinduism as well, and other religions, too. That’s why I read Roadmap to the End of Days because it would expose me to other religious ideas.
Whether this book conflicts with strictly Christian or Muslim views on the Apocalypse I can’t say because I’m neither, so I leave that up to the individual reader to determine for themselves. This book will make you think, and it will also expose you to different religious texts within the Abrahamic religions. I give Roadmap to End of Days 3 out of 4 stars because it is well written, filled with citations, and thought provoking.
******
Roadmap to the End of Days
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3 out of 4 stars
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Roadmap to the end of days is a book about navigating the maze to the end of the world according to Judeo-Christian theology. It's a religious book that the author writes in the introduction "looks at history from the supernatural perspective." The author of this book, Daniel Friedmann, is also the author of two previous books, The Genesis One Code, and The Broken Gift.
The premise of Roadmap to the End of Days is outlined in chapter one. His goal is to put history in the context of the Abrahamic Divine Plan, to determine where we are in relation to the End of Days, to outline what the default End of Days scenario will be, to recognize the events that will lead up to the default scenario, and to determine the approximate timeframe for this default scenario.
The general idea of this book is that history has a beginning and an end, that time is linear and that this timeline is laid out in the Torah, or Old Testament, along with other Abrahamic religious texts. In chapter 1 Friedmann writes "Scientists have established that time has a beginning, may have an end and varies for people within different frames of reference. [18]" Friedmann cites a Scientific American article by George Musser called "Could time End?" in citation number 18. You can't access George Musser's article without a subscription to the Scientific American. However, I did manage to find an infographic related to it that showed a few ways the Universe could potentially end. It seems that the current view on the matter is that the universe will end, but scientists don’t agree as to how it will end.
He then goes on to say "Similarly, time in the Bible has a beginning and an end, and it is different for the two separate observers of whom the Bible speaks: God and Humans. Genesis sets out from a point "in the beginning" of time. The Scriptures tell us, as will be elaborated later in the book, that the world will attain a messianic age and will eventually perhaps even cease to have a physical manifestation. [20]" In citation 20 Friedmann isn’t citing scripture, he references a book by Avraham Sutton titled Spiritual Technology to support the idea that the world may cease to have a physical manifestation after the End of Days. This probably means that the idea is beyond the scope of Friedmann's book and I can't fault him for not covering it. However, I am concerned that this idea isn’t clearly based on scripture.
On page 88 Friedmann talks about an event in the end of days called the resurrection of the dead. “As we proceeded from Eden to this world, God instituted death. [259] When a person dies, his body and soul separate. His soul goes to the World of the Souls, [260] and the body is buried in the ground, where it returns to its most elemental form, dust. Later in time, as the last step in the events of the End of Days - the resurrection of the dead - the body is reconstituted. [261]”
Why would a physical resurrection of the dead be necessary if the world will cease to physically manifest? Even if the world didn’t physically continue and went on in another manner that’s still a continuation. It seems the Abrahamic scripture isn't in line with the current science that the universe will likely end. It’s correct that the universe has a beginning, but that’s hardly unique to the Abrahamic religions. There is one religion that is unique because it's cosmology lines up with the current scientific view of the universe having a beginning and having some sort of end. That religion is Hinduism.
"The Hindu dharma is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only dharma in which time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang." - Carl Sagan
I think Friedmann was too dismissive of other non-Abrahamic religions. I'm sure covering them was beyond the scope of his book, again, but Hinduism plainly lines up with the current science far better than the Abrahamic religions with less mental gymnastics. So, I would encourage anyone interested in ideas about the end of the world to study Hinduism as well, and other religions, too. That’s why I read Roadmap to the End of Days because it would expose me to other religious ideas.
Whether this book conflicts with strictly Christian or Muslim views on the Apocalypse I can’t say because I’m neither, so I leave that up to the individual reader to determine for themselves. This book will make you think, and it will also expose you to different religious texts within the Abrahamic religions. I give Roadmap to End of Days 3 out of 4 stars because it is well written, filled with citations, and thought provoking.
******
Roadmap to the End of Days
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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