Was Nostradamus a Prophet ?

The life of Michel de Nostradame occurred from 1503 until 1566 but this French physician is more commonly known as Nostradamus.  He was Jewish, but converted to the Catholic faith and he is remembered for a vast litany of prophesies which his followers contend have come true with amazing accuracy.

Unfortunately, those were grim times for anyone who challenged the Catholic church.  Disagreement with its teachings in even the slightest way could bring a charge of heresy and the punishment for that could result in the transgressor being publicly burned at the stake.   It was a time when witchcraft was forbidden and many women who dabbled in finding cures in the healing abilities of plants suffered this fate.

Nostradamus lived in tumultuous times.  That was the time the plague swept  Europe and it took his wife and both of his children.  He would also have been aware of the fate of Gallileo, who invented the telescope and discovered that the planets revolved around the sun, not around the Earth as the church taught.   For that alleged heresy he spent his entire life under house arrest in abject poverty.

As a result, Nostradamus was careful to mask his prophecies in rhyme and hint rather than make forceful declarations.  They are open to interpretation to avoid that charge of heresy which the church was swift to apply. Nostradamus suffered from crippling gout but his death was not suspicious. He became more famous after his death because his prophesies are believed to be devastatingly accurate.

If Nostradamus is to be believed, we have a major problem about to descend on humankind.  It is chilling to find that this seer foretells of the coming of a third world war which will destroy two thirds of the population of planet Earth.   That is not predicted to start sometime in the future and many now believe that Nostradamus was telling us that the fateful date will be next year - when we turn the calendars to 2020.

Some religious people find a strange relevance between what Nostradamus predicts and the end described in the bible's book of Revelations.  Both could easily encompass the result of a nuclear war and the major powers have just torn up a few old treaties and seem determined to engage in a new arms race.  We have long feared fire falling from the skies and a vast food shortage, and all that fits in well with a massive nuclear exchange.

Of course, the end of the world has been predicted many times before.  Most people remember the dismay when it was predicted that our computers could not handle the changeover to the twenty-first century and we would face accounting chaos.  Then Islamic State promised us a religious war between the world's great religions, but they are now nearing being a spent force.

In all probability we will celebrate new year's eve at the end of 2020 with our world still intact but then we do live with a multitude of nuclear weapons standing ready to respond to a first strike if someone chooses to put a finger on that button.

Maybe its not a good idea to write Nostradamus off too readily.  His track record has delivered an enviable degree of accuracy so far.