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Hayden man sees 'mark of the beast,' cuts off and microwaves hand | Idaho | Idaho Statesman (broken link)
// A man who believed he bore the "mark of the beast" used a circular saw to amputate one of his hands, cooked it in a microwave and summoned authorities, Kootenai County sheriff's deputies say. ...
The New Testament book of Revelation contains a passage ... "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury."
The book of Matthew also contains the passage, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
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The book of Matthew also contains the passage, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
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Clearly he was going one step too far by cooking it. He should have just thrown it away.
First off, this individual in all likelihood is not a Biblical literalist, he is severely mentally ill.
These two qualifiers can certainly be found in the same individual, as in this case. I would say you are underestimating this individual's grasp of a serious warning found in Scripture.
The Bible says "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury."
Unless this man had been part of some devil worship cult and had some sort of tattoo or mark on his hand which he later regretted upon reading the Bible and seeing the error of his ways then it seems to me that he is not so much a Biblical literist as someone with mental health problems as June 7th said.
If he thought someone else had placed the mark of the beast on his hand even being a Biblical literalist wouldn't justify him cutting it off because the text says 'if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark' so if he wasn't a beast worshipper then the perceived mark would be irrelevant.
The Bible says "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury."
Unless this man had been part of some devil worship cult and had some sort of tattoo or mark on his hand which he later regretted upon reading the Bible and seeing the error of his ways then it seems to me that he is not so much a Biblical literist as someone with mental health problems as June 7th said.
If he thought someone else had placed the mark of the beast on his hand even being a Biblical literalist wouldn't justify him cutting it off because the text says 'if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark' so if he wasn't a beast worshipper then the perceived mark would be irrelevant.
Oops.... small oversight. That fine print can be a real doozy!
These two qualifiers can certainly be found in the same individual, as in this case. I would say you are underestimating this individual's grasp of a serious warning found in Scripture.
Just to qualify the two qualifiers:
In my mind there is a big difference between someone who adheres to a religious ideology that espouses a literal translation of, and adaption of, a religious text resulting in a certain type of mindset and behavior. As delusional as some may think that might be, it is not. It has an environmental, along with a cultural context.
Mental illness, (specifically schizophrenia) although also possessing some aspects of cultural underpinnings, is not the same. There is a huge difference between someone who is able to operate on a functional, rational level, and someone who suffers from a thought disorder such that he or she hears command voices telling him/her to sever a limb with a saw. "Religiosity" is one of the many aspects/characteristics that are often times present in a psychotic individual's thought disordered process(es) and delusional states.
If nothing else, if you were a Biblical literalist, and your right hand was somehow causing you to sin, in all likelihood you would have the capacity of rational thought to address and thereby eliminate the sin as opposed to cutting off your hand. --At least that is my sense of what you would do, as I am not a Biblical literalist. Nor am I a DSM-IV literalist; however, that is one of the distinctions in my mind.
Let me put it this way: many prophets were probably insane (or could be regarded as insane since they clearly deviate from 'normal' society), but no insane individual has ever been a true prophet.
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Let me put it this way: many prophets were probably insane (or could be regarded as insane since they clearly deviate from 'normal' society), but no insane individual has ever been a true prophet.
