Luke and Matthew were both dependant on Mark, but “Son of man” as “Messiah” may have already made its way into the lingua franca of gentile Christians by the time the gospels were written. Jesus probably used “ben Adam” in it’s Hebrew/Aramaic sense. Some of the sayings actually make more sense if you change “son of man” to “human being.”
When Jesus is said to be using the term in a titular sense, you’re probably reading the voice of the author, not Jesus.
I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t say anything about tithing, btw. I *know/i] he didn’t say anything about premarital sex.
My present opinion is that the rapture and destruction of Jerusalem has already taken place . Jesus was adamant that these end of the age events were to take place within a generation and guess what, 40 years later Jerusalem and the temple was utterly destroyed.
It could well be that the “144,000” elect, or "those that are his at his coming described in Corinthians have already been reconciled while in this present age we await the reconciliation for the rest of us. Much of Christendom is fixated on a sudden death final with a perpetually fixed immediate conclusion. I don’t see why that has to be so. (based on scripture that is)
See 1Corinthians 20-25
*series of periods are added to communicate a sense of indeterminate time
I think that yes, we are going onto the end times or we are in the beggining of it. There are many prophecies that are spoken of in the bible and many f those are now coming true, freaky actually. Anyway…I think that because so many of those are coming true, adn it says that we will be raptured after those come true, then the time is VERY near or already here:) just in MHO
Luke and Matthew were both dependant on Mark, but “Son of man” as “Messiah” may have already made its way into the lingua franca of gentile Christians by the time the gospels were written.
May have, may not have. Either way it all sounds like clap trap to me.
I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t say anything about tithing, btw.
Your right, I think he wanted all your money.
*I know/i] he didn’t say anything about premarital sex.
Not one tittle of the law should pass away. You might reply that he didn’t say that either, and as usual Jesus later contradicts himself on this too.
One thing I know to be true is the bible, and whereas God wrote the bible (through people), and whereas Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. I beleive it fair to say that yes Jesus did say that.
I once saw a TV preacher announce that the Second Coming is closer now than it ever has been before in the history of the world. Er, well, yes.
Are we living in the end times? Well, maybe the beginning of them. Maybe it will be a while longer. Hard to tell. Personally, I would prefer not to be around for them, so I’m hoping not for at least another 100 years. I am not a Rapture believer, FTR.
I really don’t see why christians get so worked up over the “end times” for. It seems as if they are a Doomsday Cult just waiting around for the world to end and because of that don’t seem to enjoy life to its fullest. I mean God made you to live so live. Enjoy life and be a good person. As long as you do that you don’t have to worry if the “end times” is today, tomorrow, or a 1,000 years from now.
IANAC, but IMHO, reading books like Daniel and Revelation without taking into account their historical and cultural contexts would foolish at best.
I also find it telling that a deep interest in Christian End Times prophecy happened when the world faced the very real threat of nuclear ragnarok between the Cold War super powers of the USSR and the US. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the two occured together. People feared nuclear obliteration and looked to the Bible (since western culture is overwhelming Christian) for some sense of when it might happen. And in looking, they found some clues that supported their fears.
The “end times” could not start until Israel was back in her land (as had been prophesied).
Since Israel is now, and has been for 55 years, it should be on its way.
(the end of time)
Most of the TV preachers spouting the end times are right around the corner will usually have a book or two they would like to sell you.
I have a real hard time with that one. A certain sense of credibilty goes out the window when one predicts the end of the world as they try to make a buck or two at the same time.
My grandmother gave me a book by one of her favorite televangelists, written shortly after the death of Yitzhak Rabin. The book was written around the premis that Rabin’s assasination was the fulfilment of one of the major “signs” that the end was near.
This same preacher predicted Doom and Gloom after the Y2K change, as well as AIDS infections booming into a vast plague. (The virus would become airborn any day now.)
It strikes me that she should have discounted any of his further proclamations as crap, but she still listens to him, and, unfortunately, buys his books. I still have a few of them, actually.
It just boggles my mind that God would destroy the enitre universe for one pissant planet. And why is it that everyone who believes in the Rapture assumes they will be taken, but that other church over there surely won’t.
Anyhow, my answer is:
We’ve been living in the “End Times” since our brains grew large enough to comprehend the possibility of “End Times.” Nearly every religion has some sense of an “End Time.” Nearly every generation that gets older thinks life and society has gotten much worse than when they were young. I think the whole “End Times” thing is a product of human thinking.
I think the “End Times” will end when we start acting like a human species committed to living together harmoniously. There is no need to blow stuff up or for people to disappear.
But people love to believe in magic that will validate them over their neighbors. The whole, “See, God says I’m right and I get to live in Heaven and you have to go to Hell. Neener, neener,” thing really makes me wonder about human’s ability to survive as a species.
Wouldn’t it be great if some really oscure tribal religion turned out to be the true one? What if some tiny island in the Pacific turned out to have the One True Religion? How funny would that be? What would the televangelists say?
I’m reminded of an article I saw while the whole Y2K thing was going on, with all the associated millenium end of the world tripe. Someone went and bothered a bunch of Wiccans for their beliefs about the impending Apocalypse.
The whole end times thing is a mythology that isn’t a part of my faith. I find it sort of cute, actually, now that I think of it. (I’ve found the Rapture folks are often the folks who find my faith quaint, primitive, or just plain demented; I consider it quite kind of them to make it so easy for me to return the favor by publicising their end times tenets.)
