From the RESEARCH NOTES column: In recent weeks, a French seer has become a very common name in
American households. This is primarily a result of an earthquake that he
supposedly predicted to occur in California during the month of May. But
what is the story behind the man who is sending Californians running for
cover? Michel Nostradamus was a sixteenth century French astrologer and
physician. His Centuries (an assortment of brief rhymed prophecies call
quatrains), have been interpreted as predictions of the French Revolution,
the Second World War, and many other events ranging over half a
millennium. Nostradamus is perhaps the most respected occult prophet of
all time. In Italy, Nostradamus reportedly predicted that Felix Paretti, a young
swine herder who had become a monk, would one day be Pope. Two years after
Nostradamus's death Paretti became Pope Sixtus V. Many other accurate
predictions of events in his own era are attributed to
Nostradamus. Nostradamus's more astonishing prophecies, however, are those that seem to foretell major European events that occurred 200-400 years after his death. It must be admitted that some of his predictions do seem to fit certain events well, such as the flight of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette from Paris, their capture in Varennes, and their ultimate execution. However, most of his predictions are vague and open-ended. As it is observed in _Man, Myth and Magic - An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Superna- tural:_ "Generation after generation of Nostradamus enthusiasts have supposed that the quatrains, no mater how obscure their contents, must be regarded as genuine prophetic messages. It is conceivable, however, that Nostradamus composed them with tongue in cheek, and that he was well aware that there is an enduring market for prophecies and particularly for veiled ones." (Vol.15, p.2017). The prediction of a giant earthquake to occur in California actually
gets its base from a film about Nostradamus. In the Orson Welles narrated
film "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow," the details about the prediction are
made. Nostradamus bases his predictions on the alignment of planets and
constellations particularly Saturn, Capricorn, Jupiter, Mercury in Taurus,
Venus, Cancer, and Virgo. Unfortunately for his prognostitions, the
planets are not lined up according to how they were predicted to
be. The possibility of an earthquake occurring in California around the
time of Nostradamus's prediction is likely. The primary reason though is
that California is earthquake country. Particularly over the past several
months, earthquakes have been happening on a regular basis. Nostradamus was a Roman Catholic of Jewish descent, but it is clear
that he did not foretell events through the biblical gift of prophecy (I
Cor. 12:10). He relied heavily upon horoscopes and other occult methods of
divination and so we must say if any supernatural power was responsible
for his accuracy, that power was not of God (Deut. 18:9-14). The Bible does not teach that Satan has a full knowledge of the future.
However, it is conceivable that through his superior intelligence he could
accurately predict certain events, or, for that matter, exert his power
over man to cause previously predicted events to come to pass. This could
serve Satan's purposes by leading some people to embrace occultism because
it _appears_ to really "work." End of document, CRN0002A.TXT (original CRI file name), "Nostradamus" release A, March 9, 1993 R. Poll, CRI |