The end of such things as a direct result of the revelation of divine wisdom, a hidden book of the law, found buried in the wall of the Temple..
To ALL: And, here it is, on display: the Charlatan, proud as a peacock.
Gee, hobelim, what divine wisdom, exactly, has been revealed? Gee, hobelim, to what book of law do you refer? Gee, hobelim, to what temple are you referring? Are these things that have happened already? If not, then what signs are you claiming show they are closer to happening? Then what happens? And how do you know?
See, this is what the charlatan does. Of course, any guesses I make at any of these questions will all be wrong, and being wrong will be
my fault for "not understanding" or for "being stupid". And, if I don't guess and merely ask the questions, the questions will be dismissed as stupid, or answered in similarly vague terms that, again, the audience can just soak up however they like or question, starting the cycle over.
Here's the old con happening right here: He is the charlatan, and I am his foil. Refined charlatans would often bring their own "foil", but many just waited for the first guy to question their nonsense. They would use this tactic of vague doublespeak (that comes with the luxury of making any term mean whatever you need it to mean) on the foil ,and attempt to generally berate him while simultaneously trying to make him look like he's the one being rude. The crowd, typically ignorant and prone to emotional reactions, would be mystified by the ease with which the charlatan ripped off "fancy sounding" answers to any question, putting the onus on the skeptic to beg for definitions, ask questions for clarification, etc.
These tactics are older than dirt. This is just a two-stepping, double-speaking charlatan who somehow possesses divine information that we do not... But no! This is not because he is special, but because WE are the ones too stupid, or too narrow, or too "militant", or too _____ to get it. Otherwise, we would ALL understand!
same old shit.