Official "End times/End of the world" thread

I concur with coolguy...I also believe that the end of the world will happen in my lifetime...which, seeing as how I'm only 22, hopefully I have a long ways to go...even though I do desire the Kingdom (though Matthew says we should not long for that day, because it will be a dark one for all humankind)...

I will see what I can do about gettin some Bible stuff...It's found throughout the New Testament...I'll also see if I can find some notes and stuff from my Revelation class last semester...there's some good stuff there...

 

It was supposed to happen in my grandparent's time, but it didn't. If not my time, maybe my children's time. I hope they see the elimination of the entire human race if i can't.

 

Jesus said that some of his listeners would not taste of death until the Second Coming. Let us all pray for the continued longevity of Mel Brooks' 2000-Year-Old Man.

 

Well Adam lived to be around 800 years old i believe, maybe some of the people Jeus was adressing are still kicking around out there somewhere. If we're taking the bible literally, that is.

 

Well, then they must be very wrinkly by now.

 

My question is why so many religions are activly seeking the end of the world. I mean, isn't armmagedon [sp?] a BAD thing.

 

Zealots will do anything to prove that "their" way is right. It's all really in how you interpret things. "The end" has been claimed to be near for centuries. The Black Death, London fire of 1666, WWI, etc...all were supposedly harbingers of the end of the world. The only difference is that NOW, we actually have the capacity to destroy all human life on earth OURSELVES.

I think the biggest problems we face in this century is NOT some ancient self-fufilling propechies, but our own lack of foresight. Overpopulation, depletion of our natural resources, destruction of the environment, etc. are our biggest enemies. You COULD say these things are all "signs", but, if you read any history, you'll realise that something like the plague killed far more people in the middle ages than AIDS has in the past 20-30 years, so far. The 4 horsemen have always been around doing their business, it is OUR CHOICE to be ignorant and 'feed' them and to help ourselves to be destroyed. So, in the end, I believe humans can live on this earth for centuries to come, but only if we change a lot of our ignorant and wasteful habits. It is OUR decision whether we live or die as a species.

(That's barring an huge asteroid collision or worldwide pandemic, of course!)

 

My question is why so many religions are activly seeking the end of the world. I mean, isn't armmagedon [sp?] a BAD thing.

Well, I dunno about lots of religions, but in the case of Christianity the answer is Yes and No. This is because, in Christianity, all true Christians will be saved and live in the kingdom of the Lord, etc. However, before this, there will be lots of bad things happening.

If any else can elaborate, please do because I am only starting to learn about some of this stuff.

 

Basically the End of the world will be a good thing as the wicked will be destroyed, but the rest will be able to live in 1000 years of peace.

 

coolguy,

"I don't really feel comfortable telling the main reason, but there has been much nonspecific stuff that my Church leaders have talked about."

?

Well, if the world is going to end in our lifetime, what harm is it if you tell us?

And, just suppose it doesn't come within the timeframe you state it will come in. What will you think of your religion then?

Latre!

 

I guess I'm trying to understand this.

If you believe your religion is the "true" religion, and you want others to "accept" it and believe in it, why would you not offer up "proof" and "evidence" as to why you believe that the world will end in 50+ years?

I'm open minded (too some extent. ) and would love to hear what you have to say.

Now, whether I believe it or not, that's another story.

Latre!

 

I understand this whole thing is layed out in detail in the Left Behind book series. Today at the bookstore i even saw a workbook for charting the end time prophecies, by the same author i believe.

Apparently, the last two thousand years have just been the warm up, the real deal is just around the corner. Now the only thing we haven't figured out yet is what new information or evidence we have gained that makes our certainty of the end times more valid than the certainty of an english businessman in 1725 london who was convinced he knew the true identity of the antichrist..

I would assume those answers will become apparent if we just believe really really hard that whatever answers we happen to perceive as answers are in fact the real, true answers.

They don't call it faith for nothin', kids.

 

I'm Roman Catholic, and I believe in the Second Coming and of Final Judgment.

But, there is a "Particular Judgement" which occurs right when you die.

I believe that people who go to hell choose to be there by rejecting God totally and knowing the truth or some other mortal sin for which someone is unrepentant.

Do I believe that we are living in the end times?

Maybe so.

History is ripe with horrific actions of people in the name of religion or who thought the end was near. We don't know when it's going to happen. Even Jesus said only the Father knows the day and hour.

We are supposed to live as if every day could be our last, but we all fall short. We're human of course.

 

Have I all of a sudden gone back in time?

Next thing you know, people are going to start to claim that the sun revolves around the earth, and that the earth is flat!

Latre!

 

Can anyone explain what Gog and Magog are?

Are there any other believers on these boards, because I like to hear their version of armageddon...

 

The anti-christ is Ceasar Nero, in the times of 60 A.D. If you take the numeric equivalent of his name in Hebrew, the number 666 results.

If you take his numeric equivalent in Greek, it is 616. The earliest found texts of Greek were originally thought to be transcribing errors when the 616 and the 666 didn't match.

 

That's possible, Mister_Bunny, although there are many, many other ways to reach the number 666. Pick a name, pick some established way of converting letters to numbers, abbreviate or extend the name as needed, and odds are you'll get there eventually.

This site points out how Prince Charles, Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein, Henry Kissinger and Barney can each be linked to 666 in some way. (Take it with a grain of salt, as the same site also warns us that "The Pentagon uses about 666 rolls of toilet paper a day.")

I do think, however, that Revelation was about the Romans, and so your theory may hold water.

 

Wicked by who's standards? Whoever uses the Bomb (tm)?

but the rest will be able to live in 1000 years of peace.

And then what?

 

Next thing you know, people are going to start to claim that the sun revolves around the earth, and that the earth is flat!

What are you trying to say with this?

 

"And then what?"

And then, according to Revelation, Satan comes back for one more battle, is defeated again, and everyone lives happily ever after.

 

What am I trying to say with that you ask?

Perhaps I should take a page from coolguy's book, and say I don't feel comfortable telling the main reason.

But I won't.

If you cannot infer, I was using those two references as examples for how people used to think. Would any competent person today believe that the sun revolves around the earth or that the earth is flat?

I would have to say no.

As that is, I was making a comparison with all of the "here comes the end of the world" talk going on here with my two prior examples, and expressing how I think they are all unreasonable to believe in.

Although, I do agree with the end scenerio of either the sun burning out, or a big rock hitting us.

But other than that, or an all out nuclear war, which some people would most likely survive, I do not believe in a "spiritual/biblical" end to the world.

I'm just not buying.

Latre!


Edit: Wasn't finished.

 

Even with a nuclear war, the WORLD will not end. The vast majority of HUMAN LIFE on it will, but the world will eventually come back and spring back to life. Extinctions have been common in the past and will be again in the future. Our species is no exceptions. Whether it's through our own ignorance or "natural selection", we WILL eventually die out and something else will take our place at the top of the food chain.

The only real END of the WORLD will come billions of years from now, as our sun expands into a red-giant, consuming the Earth, before eventually fizzling out. But, I'm good with all that! Back from whence we came!

 

Here's a question: If there's life on other planets, do they face a Biblical apocalypse too? More succinctly: What happens to the rest of the universe?

 

That's a good question.

Would there also have been a jesus on their planet as well? And are they awaiting the anti-christ?

Very thought provoking.

Latre!

 

Ok, delay the end of the world until the atoms themselves begin to fall to pieces and the universe grows cold. Nothing is immortal.