Author
|
Topic: The End is coming, sinners!
|
majorvictory
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2878
|
posted 27 February 2004 08:48 PM
The end of the world quote: By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor When David got home from school, the third grader looked everywhere for his mom and sisters. They couldn't be found in the house or the yard. Suddenly the youngster panicked. What he'd been taught in church must have happened - they'd disappeared in the "rapture," and he'd been "left behind." For children raised in a fundamentalist Protestant background, "that wasn't an uncommon experience," says David Currie of his frantic moments years ago. They were taught Jesus could come at any moment to whisk believers to heaven and leave others to face seven years of "the great tribulation." Only after that period of suffering, violence, and disasters on Earth would Christ return in the Second Coming. Today, as belief in this end-times prophecy sees a resurgence among Americans - partly because of the phenomenal success of the "Left Behind" series of novels (58 million sold) and the disturbing "signs" of terrorism and war - Mr. Currie and others are seeking to refute the apocalyptic theology. Fundamentalists represent a minority of Christians - an estimated 25 million - but the interest in end-times prophecy has spread beyond their circles, and is not only shaping people's lives, but, say supporters and critics, even influencing US foreign policy. A 2002 survey showed that 59 percent of Americans believe that the events in the Bible book of Revelation will occur in the future. The theology behind end-time prophecy - premillennial dispensationalism (from the idea that God has divided history into ages, or dispensations) - emerged in 19th-century England. It was brought to America by missionary John Nelson Darby and spread at evangelistic conferences. While believers say it spurs righteous living and helps discern God's plan for the world, others see it as fostering a skewed sense of history and of what Christianity is about. Rather than the single Second Coming of Christ expected by other Christians, it presents a two-stage return of Jesus, with the plagues and catastrophes depicted in Revelation literally to take place on Earth in between. The current "church age" will end with the rapture, when Jesus will take true Christians to heaven, and the rest of humanity will face the outpouring of God's wrath, designed to turn them to Him. Many insist it will occur within a generation. "I know people who have sold their houses and lived with relatives because they thought the world would soon come to an end," Currie says. "I know others who've cut their education short because they thought it more important to witness to people than to get their degree." After becoming a missionary and preaching the rapturist prophecy, Currie eventually came to a very different conclusion - that this teaching was not true, and is not in the Bible.
From: Toronto | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1275
|
posted 02 March 2004 11:23 AM
quote: Well, they're a little late.The world already ended during the 1340's.
And again during the great Y2K meltdown. No sign of Jesus then, either.
From: ... | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469
|
posted 02 March 2004 11:32 AM
This sort of thing seems to happen to cults occasionally too.1. Cult leader announces the world will end/aliens will come/whatever on a certain date at a certain time 2. True believers mark their calendar and dispense with all worldly goods at two cents on the dollar 3. 3:10 a.m., and the true believers are huddled in a cornfield, waiting for the end of days 4. 3:15 a.m., and they're showing signs of doubt 5. 3:30 a.m., and the charismatic leader wisely announces that "the calculations were off", and, if he's smart, blames "the world of men" 6. Next day, whole world has a right jolly laugh at them quote: Can we have an atheist forum on Babble where we can say whatever we want about God, Jesus, religions of all sorts without the risk of offending or being disciplined in the babblian sense?
Oh, pleasepleaseplease! And can it be set up like the feminism forum, wherein all discussions have to take place "from an atheist point of view"? That way we don't have to keep going 'round the same mulberry bushes of explaining that nobody's proven there is a God, and that therefore not believing in him does not constitute a faith of its own, etc. Pleeeeeeeease? [ 02 March 2004: Message edited by: Mr. Magoo ]
From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|