Come on, people! Is there NO ONE on these boards that believes in one of these dates? Man, it’d be more fun if we had a couple of delusionalists…
It seems to me most of the people here don’t believe in the Bible. Those that do seem to be accepting the clear statement that nobody knows. To accept one of those dates you must belief in the Bible, but disregard or be ignorant of part of it. I don’t ever remember anybody I knew supporting a date.
If Jesus said He would return in His father’s glory with his angels before some of them standing there listening to him had died, then it would nullify the rapture,so waiting for a second return is futile. It was to happen in the first century.
Unless one of those people is still alive.
Maybe they are in hiding?
My sister had a boyfriend in high school who had gotten caught up in one of those predictions when he was little. Remember “88 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1988”? (Title may not be exact, but I know it was 88.) His parents believed it so sincerely that, instead of going at it from a Christian response and praying or witnessing or something like that, they went out and wracked up so much debt, just enjoying the end of the world as much as they could before they were raptured away. Of course they were bankrupted and made fools of.
Boy, you think someone gets made fun of for preaching the end is near? Imagine what happened with these people!
I’m a Bible believing Christian, and I believe that we won’t know. Are there things that sometimes seem to be “falling into place”? Are there even sometimes things these crackpots say that “make sense”? Sure, but I figure I lived through 1988 and I lived through May 5, 2000, and several other dates, and I’ll live through 2011 (even December!) unless God decides otherwise. Predicting the end is just dumb. Living my life like the end is near (in terms of repentence, keeping my witness, etc.) is a good idea, but I will not be surprised if it happens in my life time and I will not be surprised if I live a long life.
I like the signs, earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars. When were we ever free of them?
The world may or may not end in the next 25 years. However, if it doesn’t, there is a very good chance I will die. Perhaps that is what I should prepare for. When I am going to die is tough to say too.
If blissed-out Christians start flying into the sky next month, I will totally credit the Ghost Dance.
The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.
Many of you will think I’m trying to make a joke. I’m really trying to make a point.
But knowing the Bible doesn’t help any in understanding the whack-jobs.
I didn’t want to go to “their” website, but googled “May 21” and they claim it’s “hidden” prophecies… turns out it’s not the Bible, it’s figuring out the exact date of Noah’s flood and adding 7000 years. Please don’t ask why… “higher” math makes my head esplode.
Joseph Bates Jr., one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, grew up in my hometown. In 1846 he wrote a treatise explaining that William Miller’s calculations were wrong because Christians had moved the Sabbath to the wrong day, Sunday, when it should be kept on aturday, the seventh day of the week.
Lots of Seventh Day Adventists visit Fairhaven, MA, to visit Bates’ boyhood home, which is now owned by the Adventist Heritage Ministry. They’re very nice people, who also promote healthful living, which is why many of them, including Bates, migrated to Battle Creek, MI, the home of cold breakfast cereal and granola.
i just finished that book. even though it is a social and psychological study, it is a narrative account of the group, so it is an easy read.
the book is about a doomsday/flying saucer cult. similar cognitive dissonance can be exhibited by people who have their sense of being hung on a particular aspect; religion, politics, energy, environment seem to be areas where people frequently show cognitive dissonance.
Good point John. Every group has those that lose sight of the basics and go off the deep end.
I once had a student refuse to do a research paper because she knew the Rapture was coming before the final paper was due. I asked her to humor me and just keep meeting the deadlines to humor me until the Rapture. She refused saying it would imply that she did not believe in the Rapture.
She was completely sincere. She was not trying to get out of doing the paper. She took the Fs. She never told me nor did I push when she didn’t rise to heaven why she didn’t.
Why was she even attending class?
At first she was, but I think it was to recruit other believers. I do remember she did have a number of absenses.
You don’t want to slack off unless it is a sure thing. I let my studies slide during the Cuban Missile Crisis and almost got drafted without a war.
It also says Facebook will hang on until March 2012.
I like the friendly, reassuring tone of the article.
I’ve always said the Rapture has already happened…and the only one that left the building so to speak was Elvis.