Apocalypse Unsealed: Table of contents
This copy of Apocalypse Unsealed was typed and submitted by Bruce Limber, and posted here with permission of Robert Riggs. Limber writes:
What follows is quoted material. Numbered footnotes are at the
end of each chapter. Riggs' same-page asterisked footnotes
appear to the right of the main text. Riggs' references to
Appendix G appear as numbers in <angle brackets>, e.g.,<2:17 #2>. Certain abbreviated names (such as Biblical books)
have been spelled in full to facilitate consistent searching.
The author has placed this work into the public domain.
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APOCALYPSE UNSEALED
by
ROBERT F. RIGGS
New York: Philosophical Library, 1981.
ISBN 8022-2367-2 LCCN 89-81698
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To
Dorothy
Gift of God
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PREFACE
The interpretation of _The Revelation of St. John the Divine_
presented in this volume is based on the writings and teachings
of the Baha'i Faith, a religion founded by Mirza Husayn 'Ali,
known as Baha'u'llah, the Glory of God.
The Baha'i Faith grew out of the Babi Faith which was founded in
1844 by the Bab, Mirza 'Ali Muhammad of Shiraz, Persia. The Babi
teachings emphasized the forthcoming appearance of "The One Whom
God will Make Manifest," a new Prophet or Manifestation of God.
The Babi Faith stemmed from Shiah Islam which taught the
forthcoming return of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad's Successor, Who
would renew religion and guide the faithful. "This messianic
view was the basis of the teachings of the Shaykhi sect, so
named after Shakyh Ahmad."* The teachings of this sect gave
allegorical interpretations to doctrines such as the resurrection,
the Last Judgement, and the return of the Twelfth Imam.
*Firuz Khazemzadeh, "The Baha'i Faith," _World Order_,
Spring 1974, p. 10.
When the Bab announced in 1844 that He was the channel through
which grace from someone as yet veiled from men was to flow, it
caused considerable excitement among His fellow Persians. Many
people became followers of the Bab, but the Persian government
and clergy were opposed to His new doctrines and eventually the
Bab was executed and with Him a large number of His followers,
the Babis.
Among His followers was a man of wealthy background Who was
incarcerated in Tehran for allegedly attempting to kill the Shah
of Persia. It was while this man was in prison that He learned
from God of His unique station. His name was Baha'u'llah, the
Glory of God, and He was the Messenger God had chosen to carry
His Message for this Era to all mankind. Long years of exile saw
Baha'u'llah banished from Persia and sent
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throughout the Ottoman Empire until, at last, He was sent to the
prison fortress at 'Akka. Notwithstanding the attempts of
governments, clergy, and individuals to halt His teaching,
Baha'u'llah proclaimed to the people of the world God's Message
for this time. By His death, in 1892, the Baha'i Faith had
spread "beyond Persia and the Ottoman Empire to the Caucasus,
Turkestan, India, Burma, Egypt, and
the Sudan."* *Kazemzadeh, p. 11
To preserve the unity of the Baha'i community after His passing,
Baha'u'llah appointed His son 'Abdu'l-Baha as leader of the
community and authorized Interpreter of His writings. This
appointment, and 'Abdu'l-Baha's subsequent appointment of Shoghi
Effendi Rabbani, His grandson, as sole Interpreter of the
teachings of Baha'u'llah and Guardian of the Cause, ensured that
the writings of the Faith and, indeed, the Faith itself would be
free from the dangerous schisms and taints of personality that
had harmed the Faiths of previous Manifestations of God.
Clearly, Baha'u'llah intended to secure for His followers single,
unquestioned interpretation of His words and teachings.
In His writings, Baha'u'llah has unsealed the meanings of the
Books of the Bible which were sealed in the time of Jesus Christ
until man should be of sufficient spiritual maturity to
understand what is in them. In the case of _The Revelation of
St. John the Divine_, a book that has been interpreted by
numerous worthy scholars, Baha'u'llah's interpretation is deeply
symbolic but clear and concise within the teachings of the Baha'i
Faith.
Using the words of Baha'u'llah and the interpretations of His
teachings as a base, the writer has carefully gone through each
verse and revealed the meaning that lies richly within, waiting
to illumine the eyes of mankind and fulfill the promises made to
him by God through His Manifestations.
Melissa Tansik
10 November 1975 AD
8 Qudrat 132 BE
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CONTENTS
Preface VII
Acknowledgements XV
Part One
Introduction
The Sources 3
The Allegorical Method 6
Gematria 11
Number Symbolism 13
Astrological Symbolism 20
Geometric Symbolism 28
Further Literary Devices 30
The Time and Space of the Apocalypse 30
Future Scholarship 31
The Notes 34
Part Two
The Revelation of Saint John the Divine
Chapter One The Greatest Name 43
Two Letters to Ancient Faiths 65
Three Letters to Recent Faiths 79
Four The Invisible Zodiac 87
Five The Book of Seven Seals 99
Six The Book is Opened 107
Seven God's Servants are Sealed 115
Eight The Fate of the Early Church 129
Nine The Fall of Christendom 135
Ten Interlude 143
Eleven The Course of Islam 147
Twelve The Travail of the Word 157
Thirteen The Rise of the Caliphate 165
Fourteen The World-Stage is Set 177
Fifteen His Name Revealed 187
Sixteen The End of the Age 197
Seventeen Mysteries Revealed 207
Eighteen Encomium of Victory 213
Nineteen The Triumph of Baha'u'llah 219
Twenty Satan Bound 225
Twenty-one The Holy City 231
Twenty-two Epilogue
Appendix A The Number of Baha' in the Apocalypse 261
B Correlation of Some Dates in the
Book of Daniel 263
C Origins of Gematriot and
Number Symbolism 267
D The Hebrew and Arabic Gematriot 271
E Glossary of Symbols 273
F Chronological Table 289
G Some Baha'i Apocalyptic Writings 295
References 307
H Late Errata and Changes
(copied from _I, Daniel_) A-1
Indexes
Index of biblical verses cited
Subject index
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ILLUSTRATIONS
The world of the First Century II
The Time and Space of the Apocalypse XII
Figure 1 The T'ai-Chi, or Yang-Yin Sombol of
China
The All-Seeing Eye of Brahma 15
2 The Sacred Tetraktys of Pythagoras 17
3 The Ancient Cosmos 21
4 The Precession of the Equinoxes 25
5 Examples of the Quadratura Circuit 29
6 Hierarchy of Revelations 54
7 The Greatest Name 56
8 The Sicle Formed by the Seven Churches 61
9 The Four Pillare of the Age of Aquarius 91
10 The Invisible Zodiac or HIdden Mandala 94
11 Aries the Ram or Lamb 101
12 Prophecies to the Christians 108
13 The Golden Triangle 123
14 Harmonic Patterns Using the
Golden Triangle 124
15 Pentagon, Dodecahedron, Pentagram 125
16 Future, Present, Past 128
17 Sagittarius-Scorpio 137
18 Prophecies to Islam 148
19 Wonders in Heaven 159
20 War in Heaven 161
21 The Woman in Heaven 162
22 666, The Magic Square of the Sun 173
23 The Horse in Heaven 183
24 A Mystic Triangle 195
25 Geometry of the Holy City, New
Jerusalem 236
26 Geometry of the Baha'i
Mashriqu'l-Adkhar 239
27 Decagon, Decagram 247
28 Neter, Arm, Cubit 248