Official "End times/End of the world" thread

Are the signs upon us? Is God's judgement at hand? Or is it all just wishful thinking?

Here's my take:

The Christian apocalypse has been a staple of the church since its beginnings, and no matter what the era or the circumstances, preachers have always stressed its proximity.

Paul discouraged marriage and children because he thought the end was just around the corner. John wrote that the Antichrist was already there (in fact, he argues that there are thousands or millions of them--not exactly what the church would say today). Jesus repeatedly stated that some of his listeners will live to see the Second Coming and the End Times. "Verily I say unto you," he says in Matthew 24:34, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

Of course, once that generation was gone, people re-interpreted the text--"Oh, he didn't mean their generation, he meant our generation." Each generation of Christians has been raised to believe that they're the last, that the signs are all around them, that the end isn't just coming, it's here. Is our generation so different?

Now if you ask me (and you've probably heard this before), Revelation isn't what it appears to be; it's a coded message to the Romans, a warning of God's wrath. The book repeatedly describes the destruction of an unnamed city likened to Sodom and Egypt, and describes how Jesus will appear to "they that pierced Him." The book's "Whore of Babylon" is found sitting on seven hills, just as Rome was built on seven hills (which likely makes the beast she consorts with a Roman emperor).

Also, somewhat off topic but food for thought; the number 666, when converted to Roman numerals, is DCLXVI, which also happened to be Roman slang for "any big long number," something like our "zillion." This could explain why the verse says,

Let anyone who has intelligence calculate the number of the beast, for it is a human number; his number is six-hundred sixty six.

It seems odd that the book would challenge the reader to calculate the number, then immediately give away the answer; perhaps the text means, "Try and calculate the number; it's really big and long."

Discuss. Interpretations of Revelation, Nostradamus--whatever's on your mind.

 

Supposedly, according to some end-of-the-worlders, the apocalypse and Christ's return to Earth cannot happen until the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem. Of course the spot where the temple would be rebuilt is currently being occupied by the Dome of the Rock, and one could imagine the chaos and literal hell that would ensue if something happened to the mosque. So, perhaps in an odd way those who say the temple has to be rebuilt in order for the apocalypse to occur would be correct, because there would some serious reprecussions if that came to pass.

 

I'm sorry, but I do not believe in any religion.

Yes, their will be an apocolypse, in about 5 billion years when the sun dies. Or some asteroid could impact Earth. Or global warming and the hole in the Ozone will get bad enough to kill everyone.

I do not think humans will even be around in 5 billion years.

 

The Christian apocalypse has been a staple of the church since its beginnings, and no matter what the era or the circumstances, preachers have always stressed its proximity.


Since when? The second coming of Christ is talked about, but no one even tries to set a date to it. I've never heard any religious person say Y2K was going to be the end of the world, they never buy into those fads.

Also, I'm the only one apparently who can easily mix science and religion without violating beliefs of my own Catholic church or science. So I also believe the world will end when the sun dies.

 

Vaderbait: people who mix religion and science strike me as very open-minded.

Y2K was and always was a load of menuare.

 

Well, I suppose this is for another thread, but basically I believe that something had to create the smallest bit of nothing for anything to exist. Maybe God didn't create everything in 7 days (the Catholic Church leaves that open to interpretation), I personally believe he set everythign into motion, which would fit into the Catholic belief that man is given free will. So our actions determine our environments, etc.

Mixing science with religion without opposing any religious or scientific ideals (other than the big bang, but even that could stay) is actually very easy.

 

I agree, people always have thought it's right around the corner...

But then again, ever heard the phrase "Slower than the Second Coming"?

 

Since when?

Check this out. It's an extremely long list of failed doomsday prophecies, over half of them Christian in nature.

To be fair, many churches don't buy into this "apocalypse now" business, but many others do. Try watching TBN sometime. The signs are here, they say. Barcodes (or, more recently, subdermal ID chips) are the Mark of the Beast. Clinton, or possibly Saddam, or possibly the Pope, is the Antichrist. Repent, repent, for the end is nigh. And so on.

 

I think that it is all open to interpretation. The Christian faith stresses on the urgency of repentence because we don't know the day, or the time the end will come. I always interpreted what Jesus said which was mentioned in the above post as being symbolic of something on a spiritual level; you can't take everything in the Bible literally. Not even Jesus claimed to know when the end would come. He said, "Only the Father knows".

 

It was discussed back in July, but now that a need has actually arisen, combined with the fact that this thread started quite balanced, I have made it the official thread.

 

For years when I was young,when I heard things about the world coming to an end,I would get upset and make a big mess about it. The final straw was in my sophmore year of high school,when a cult in Korea said the world would end on (I believe it was) October 28, 1992 and my whole school got all up into it. When nothing happened,I vowed never to get that way again. The turn of the millienium reenforced it even more. I don't hold much trust in such things anymore. Life will always go on and our planet will be around until the sun swells up and consume it four to five billion years from now.

 

Try watching TBN sometime. The signs are here, they say
Those TV evangelists give Christians a bad name, seriously. The only one that was bought by the masses of the Church was the Apocalypse scare of the year 1000. But I find the thousand year scares more believable than some wackjob saying planets are going to align and everything is going to blow up in 3.4 years.

 

"Wackjob"..HeheHehe.

Hasn't every generation had a "The End Is Nigh" prophecy? "Thou Art Doomed", "Drop Your Linnen And Stop Your Grinnin'"?

There are three possibilities for our doom with the next few decades: Impact, Virus, Eathly natural disaster(Like if the Ring Of Fire went off all at once).

I'm not really worried about any of them. And there is not anyone who can actually see the future and tell me how doomed we are.

End of the world stigmata is fun to read and watch movies on, but nothing else beyond that.

"Wackjob"..HeheHehe.

 

Those TV evangelists give Christians a bad name, seriously.

Amen to that Vaderbait.

 

I agree with the above statement.

The world isnt gonna end. Simply because those stories in the bible are just that. Stories. They were to give hope to the early Christians so that they would not fear persecution and death for what they believed in.

Since then the world has become a more tolerant place. So there is no need for such stories. The world will end when the sun dies but we dont have to worry about that, we'll be dead and buried

 

I believe that Christ will come during my lifetime or else my Church is not true, and I don't think any others are either.

 

"I believe that Christ will come during my lifetime..."

If I may ask, what are you basing that on?

 

Its supposedly predicted that the next pope-- second one after John Paul II is going to be the anti-christ. Do I believe it? No.

 

Not only do some people believe that the end times are near, some of those want to make sure it does to follow through with their fantasy.

 

I don't really feel comfortable telling the main reason, but there has been much nonspecific stuff that my Church leaders have talked about. However, when I say within my lifetime I still think it is 50+ years away.

 

Personally, if I were to just roll the dice on a hunch, I think that Christ's coming won't happen for at least 500 yrs...and the end won't happen until at least 1000 yrs after that. I only say this because I think that space travel and technology will play a role in the end times, somehow. Technology is here for a reason; and I don't think it's just here for destruction's sake. Can you imagine Armageddon looking like SW in outer space? Well, this is a wild idea, I know, but I can imagine us traveling in outer space is for a reason--TV and computers is here for a reason--we will discover more things unimaginabel in the future; we will invent, and change the world even further than before. We may not understand fully what God has planned for us. Maybe we must master the elements on both a physical and spiritual level...maybe the end of the world will be a necessary transition, one that we will do ourselves (willingly). Even the Bible predicts that man-kind will be more intelligent by the end times. This is just a hunch I have. A shot in the dark; a theory. I think the end of the world will be a positive one.

 

Could someone post the Bible version of the End of the world?

Maybe we could find out what it really means... (especially what those 2 monsters are)

 

Does anyone else find it weird that we are talking about the end of the world......
and someone with "Omega" in their name posted to this thread?!?!

::Runs for the hills with provisions::

 

VadersLaMent LOL

do you know what really weird is, I like hearing/reading about the end of the world stuff

 

"For years when I was young,when I heard things about the world coming to an end,I would get upset and make a big mess about it."

"Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system."
-- Thomas Paine

This has been my experience as well. Since being exposed to "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey, (a christian who indeed makes predictions about the end coming soon) i've been very frightened by the image of a vengeful god punishing humanity in my own lifetime. Freaky stuff, that.

About a year ago i watched the 700 club and they had some great evidence that the last days were upon us. The bible said there would be war and rumors of war, and lo and behold that's what's happening today. Scary how the prophecies are coming true.