I am constantly hearing that we are living in the “last days”, that the things the Bible predicts will happen at the end of the world are happening now.
I am getting quite tired of pointing out that almost every generation since Jesus has said this. I know this is true, but I’d like a few examples to prove my point.
Does anyone know any specific examples that back this up? I mean, I know we’ve always had wars,sickness, natural disasters,and suffering.
But, what countries/eras/times is there that people have always claimed that these were signs of the end of the world?
I know this isn’t exactly what you are looking for, but part of the problem is that there are no end times to BE upon us. In Mark 13, when discussing all that was to come, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.” So whatever prophesies leading up to this should have occurred at least before his apostles died.
Also, The Book of Revelation has nothing at all to do with the end of the world (end times). It’s about the fall of the Roman Empire. The “Whore of Babylon” is Rome, the “Beast with seven heads” are the seven hills where Rome is situated, and the crowns are the various Roman emperors beginning with Augustus. The reason all of this is written in metaphorical code is because ministers preaching through the circuit of the Roman provinces spoke ill of Rome and its emperors at the cost of their lives.
Again, I know that this wasn’t exactly what you were looking for, but I’ve found that merely mentioning the above points tends to head off the discussion (in one way or another).
People have been predicting the imminent end of the world since long before Jesus. So far, so good.
As for the Bible, it specifically says the end of the world is unpredictable and that only God the father knows when it is, which is to say not even Jesus knows. Anyone predicting it is therefore, by definition, a false prophet. Tell them they’re going to hell for their blasphemy, they might be less enthusiastic.
See the Millerites. With unshakable faith they predicted the Second Coming in 1843. Jesus was a no-show and the sect morphed into the Seventh-day Adventists.
I like this. This could be another new religion, the False Prophets. By predicting the end, they prevent it. Or is that too much like the Church of the Subgenius?
If you read Mark 13 and compare it to what actually occurred to the Apostles, most of what Jesus spoke of was in relation to the Apostles and NOT the end times. This is a clear tactic that Jesus and the Bible in general uses, to mix various times within prophecy. If you take Mark 13:21 specifically, for example, when Jesus says “And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not”, this is essentially a timeless prophecy. This prophecy has been true many, many times in the past, today and most likely in the future and each time has still been true.
I think it wise to look at end times as being all end times, that is, there is one end times prophesied, but for each individual, we all have our own individual end times.
There are too many prophecy experts and just like the Millerites, most are likely wrong. There are phophesies that concern the Apostles, the fall of Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, Christianity and Christians and it is very easy to glue them all together incorrectly. Some things in the Bible it is best to overlook because the issues are unresolvable due to language and the like.
I try to focus on the two greatest commandments and leave the rest to God.
No, this has its own genius and completely different themes suitable for advertisements. It would have math involved, too. I mean, how far ahead does the end of days have to be foretold in order for it to count? If it’s a year ahead, then you need at least 366 adherents in order to keep the world safe.
Does a prediction need to be advertised 24/7 for a year before the date? Then you’d need three shifts (four to include sick leave and vacations), so you’d need 366 x 4 = 1,434 adherents.
Can you just walk around with a sign for an hour a night? Would buying radio time be more effective, making fund-raising more important than proselytizing? These are weighty questions. The Sub-Genius does not address any of these concerns.
“Every once in a while, a new sect appears, claiming that the world will soon end. By a slight miscalculation, it is usually the sect that soon ends.” - G. K. Chesterton
The end of the world started in July 1981 when a pastor told his flock that the rapture was imminent and all good Christians would be beamed up. We were vacationing on the coast of South Carolina at the time and my sister and I ran to the beach to watch people fly. We didn’t see anyone shooting skywards so we assumed there were no true Christians in South Carolina.
(I later heard the pastor was sued because he convinced his followers to sign over their homes and cars to him.)
[ol][li]Throw a lot of nebulous, poorly-defined fantasies out there, make them sufficiently evil-sounding and uninviting (people love those); pretend you have an unimpeachable, but also unapproachable, all-knowing source and you are its only pipeline to truth.[/li]
[li]Make sure that dates are far in the future, or unspecified, but will occur “any day now” so you will cause immediate worry.[/li]
[li]Anyone who calls your bluff or points out your ideas are unscientific is in on the scheme to hide the truth. They are evildoers and you are righteous.[/li]
[]Profit.[]If that doesn’t work, die. Someone else will pick up where you left off and profit. Hey, it worked for Nostradamus.[/ol]
I don’t think its The End Times but I do think its not quite true to say that things are the same as they have always been, there are quite a few technological threats out there that never existed previously to this period of time.
Nuclear weapons came onto the scene pretty much at the same time as Israel once again became a nation…just throwing that one out there…
A childhood friend of mine, my best friend for a while, ended up finding religion while in the Navy in the 1970s, and the last I heard he had formed some weird End of Times church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. These people are very strange. But what can you do?
As a quick reply, as having lived in Tulsa; there is plenty of EXTREME religion to find there. Interestingly, the ad that comes up on SD is for Liberty University…really? Even as a believer…Liberty? A bit on the extreme right, aren’t we? Not known for their forward thinking. Add Oral Roberts in Tulsa and even I get a bit atheistic and maybe heretical?
