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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: How much should we care about the end of the world?
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Beautiful Dreamer
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# 10880
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Posted
I don't know why I'm even thinking about this because it's not like I don't have other things to do, but something's really been bugging me.
How much should we really care about the end of the world or "end times"? I know Jesus mentioned signs (wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution) but how far should we go in looking for/interpreting those signs?
My father-in-law, bless his heart, seems to have swallowed the Dispensationalist "doctrine" in the Left Behind series hook, line and sinker. It reminds me of how I used to be around a lot more people who would either make predictions about the end of the world or try to match up modern politics to the prophecies and vote accordingly. "America Must Stand With Israel!" I remember hearing this more in the Bush administration, but that was probably only because some people here still call Obama the Antichrist. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Other things I've heard-
Stuff like AIDS and Ebola (to a lesser extent) are the "plague" that wipes out a third of the world's population...the tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquakes in Christchurch(?) fit in with the "End Times prophesies"...
I see some Christians being excited about these things because they mean that Jesus is coming soon...maybe my faith isn't enough or something but, as much as I'm glad Jesus will come, I just can't get past the idea of so many people suffering like that. I just *can't*.
Personally I don't think much of it at all, but I guess my question is, should I? How much should we really care about whatever the "End Times" means or how they will come? Is any "rapture" and "tribulation" theory (pre-trib rapture, post-trib, etc) view any more Biblical than the rest, or are any of them Biblical at all?
Is it okay to be satisfied with, "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again"?
The level of debate here is a lot higher than on some other boards. What say you?
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
I don't feel it's my business to know when he is to come again. My business is to love God with all my heart and soul and to love my neighbor as myself. Period. (Like I'm actually going to achieve that, anyway. Kyrie eleison. ) All this can and should be worked at whether he comes tomorrow morning or long after my natural life is through. Being told to vote in any way to try to force God's timetable makes me want to spit. Really: Lord have mercy.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
One should never worry about things one can't do anything about. Live the best you can today, and when the world ends, it'll end, will you or nill you.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Palimpsest
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# 16772
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Posted
The earth has had a number of major global extinctions before. Rocks drop on it, it turns into a giant snowball, the atmosphere changes composition ( which we as oxygen breathers have benefited from). It's possible that global warming may cause another. Yellowstone is about due for another volcano eruption that would wipe out my neighborhood.
So it's possible the world could be drastically changed any millennia now. With the exception of global warming, there's not much you can do about this. Go about your business, nothing to see here.
The end days of the Rapture seem unlikely dreams. It would be nice if crazed sorts didn't keep showing up in Jerusalem with the hopes of provoking this. The Israeli Police have a special department to deal with "Jerusalem Syndrome" crazies.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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lilBuddha
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# 14333
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Posted
Isn't knowing when the world will end directly contradictory to Jesus words?
But the end of the world, your last chance to get it right, is your own death. You might be hit by a bus tomorrow. That is the end of the world for you.
So, in that sense, should you not live as if you will not wake tomorrow?
But even this, might be wrong. If you live your life differently because you feel it might be your last chance, isn't that the wrong motive?
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful Dreamer:
Is any "rapture" and "tribulation" theory (pre-trib rapture, post-trib, etc) view any more Biblical than the rest, or are any of them Biblical at all?
Pre-millenial dispensationalism (which introduces the notion of the rapture) was first formulated in the eighteenth century by a South American Jesuit before being taken up in the nineteenth by Edward Irving, Charles Darby and being massively popularized by the Schofield Bible.
As doctrines go, that doesn't make it very historic.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful Dreamer:
Other things I've heard-
Stuff like AIDS and Ebola (to a lesser extent) are the "plague" that wipes out a third of the world's population...the tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquakes in Christchurch(?) fit in with the "End Times prophesies"...
This is nonsense. These things have always been around. We actually need earthquakes for the rock cycle to continue, without which life on Earth wouldn't exist. This stuff is learned by 13 year old kids at school - do they simply forget it when they read about the mythical 'end times'?
Disease has always been with us, and always will. Bacteria have been around billions of years before us and are essential to all life.
Why don't these people just give a second's thought to these things instead of scare mongering. Far better if they put their energies into helping those affected.
The only thing which has changed is communication. We hear and respond to global problems like never before, which seems to magnify them. I make a point of watching/listening to the news once a day only or it simply gets too much. That way I am informed but not obsessed by the whole world's ills.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Touchstone
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# 3560
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Posted
The Earth will "end" in a few billion years' time when the Sun expands to become a red giant and engulfs it. Until then it will continue to exist. We, however, will be lucky to last another couple of centuries the way we're going.
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Jez we did hand the next election to the Tories on a plate!
Posts: 163 | From: Somewhere west of Bristol | Registered: Nov 2002
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Touchstone:
The Earth will "end" in a few billion years' time when the Sun expands to become a red giant and engulfs it. Until then it will continue to exist. We, however, will be lucky to last another couple of centuries the way we're going.
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Touchstone
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# 3560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I agree - from the point of view of the planet, we are just a passing nuisance.
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Jez we did hand the next election to the Tories on a plate!
Posts: 163 | From: Somewhere west of Bristol | Registered: Nov 2002
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Horseman Bree
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# 5290
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Touchstone:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I agree - from the point of view of the planet, we are just a passing nuisance.
Actually, given our rate of unchecked expanding population and consumption, we are a cancer on the surface of the Earth.
But back to the OP: I remember reading a collection of thoughts and diary recollections by a man who had travelled a great deal in the late 1800's.
He recalled coming back to Jerusalem in the 1880's, when the walls were still intact (Thank you, Kaiser Wilhelm), and noticing a strange form of chimney sticking up above the wall. On enquiry, he found that a rich American family had decided that World was about to end, and that they should be privileged to be at the center of the action, i. e. Jerusalem.
So they built a new house with all mod. cons. of the time, including indoor plumbing. The chimney was the vent stack.
Apparently, their wish to see The End was not fulfilled. But the idea seems to be permanent, even if The World isn't!
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It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
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Belle Ringer
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# 13379
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Posted
The world ends for a number of people any day - individual death.
I use to be fascinated with end of time stuff, but I was young and foolish, now I'm old and whatever. Jesus said even he didn't know when, so obviously we aren't suppose to get hung up on figuring out when.
I now think of the "warnings" as assurances - when you see these things, it's not that God has turned his back, they have meaning and purpose just like birth pangs have meaning and purpose even though awfully painful to go through, so don't give up and give in to despair, stay God-aware, it will all end well.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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cliffdweller
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# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
One should never worry about things one can't do anything about. Live the best you can today, and when the world ends, it'll end, will you or nill you.
This.
Eugene Peterson, in his excellent commentary on Revelation, says it like this:
"People who are preoccupied with the future never seem to be interested in preparing for the future, which is something that people do by feeding the poor, working for justice, loving their neighbors, developing a virtuous and compassionate life in he name of Jesus."
If Jesus comes back tomorrow my expectation is that he will look for his followers by going to the soup kitchens and the prisons and the homeless shelters. (sadly, I'll probably miss him as I'll be at my favorite coffeehouse with my nose in a book) I don't think he'll be particularly impressed if we emerge from our bomb shelter triumphantly holding up a calendar with the correct date circled in red.
[ 17. January 2015, 15:09: Message edited by: cliffdweller ]
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Raptor Eye
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# 16649
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Posted
Belle Ringer and Cliffdweller's posts say it.
It's not only OK to settle for 'Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again', it's required. We're not to worry, we're to trust in God. The end of the world is God's call, as was the beginning.
If we're afraid to stand face to face with God, then perhaps we should be afraid of the end, whether our personal end or the end of the world, whichever comes first.
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Be still, and know that I am God! Psalm 46.10
Posts: 4359 | From: The United Kingdom | Registered: Sep 2011
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Martin60
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# 368
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Posted
Seconded.
For thirty years I was away with those fairies. No more, thank God.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Stetson
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# 9597
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Posted
quote:
Pre-millenial dispensationalism (which introduces the notion of the rapture) was first formulated in the eighteenth century by a South American Jesuit before being taken up in the nineteenth by Edward Irving, Charles Darby and being massively popularized by the Schofield Bible.
A Jesuit came up with pre-mil? Boy, THERE'S something Jack Chick never mentions!!
(^ironic outrage)
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I'm pulling for penguins. The post-human civilization will be penguins, who anyone can see were created in God's image, and that the earth was created for them.
Their religion will focus the same way as ours, except orcas (killer whales) and leopard seals will feature as metaphors for their theology, particularly poignant in the Parable of the First Penguin to Hop Off the Ice Flow, not knowing if there is predator below, but being prepared to sacrifice him/her self for the Good of All Penguins while leading the Demon Predators away from the Penguin People of God.
[ 17. January 2015, 17:32: Message edited by: no prophet's flag is set so... ]
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
A Jesuit came up with pre-mil? Boy, THERE'S something Jack Chick never mentions!!
Manuel Lacunza, 1731-1801, La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad.
Source
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I'm pulling for penguins. The post-human civilization will be penguins, who anyone can see were created in God's image, and that the earth was created for them.
Their religion will focus the same way as ours, except orcas (killer whales) and leopard seals will feature as metaphors for their theology, particularly poignant in the Parable of the First Penguin to Hop Off the Ice Flow, not knowing if there is predator below, but being prepared to sacrifice him/her self for the Good of All Penguins while leading the Demon Predators away from the Penguin People of God.
And their flightless wings would incorporate themselves nicely into some sort of mythology of the Fall.
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
A Jesuit came up with pre-mil? Boy, THERE'S something Jack Chick never mentions!!
Manuel Lacunza, 1731-1801, La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad.
Source
Thanks!
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Beautiful Dreamer
Shipmate
# 10880
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
The end days of the Rapture seem unlikely dreams. It would be nice if crazed sorts didn't keep showing up in Jerusalem with the hopes of provoking this. The Israeli Police have a special department to deal with "Jerusalem Syndrome" crazies.
Exactly. I respect that they treasure the land Jesus lived and worked in-I want to go to Israel at least once before I die for that reason. I can't help but wonder, though, if some people do the things they do or vote for the things they vote for with the hope of somehow "bringing on" the End Times. I'm not talking about crazed sorts, I'm talking about your average conservative Evangelical who supported Bush more because of his comments about God telling him to invade Iraq after 9/11. Would they feel the same way if he hadn't said that? Is their love for Jews (and sometimes downright hate of Muslims) part of it?
And before someone blasts me for mentioning conservative Evangelicals, I said that because that's who I've heard stuff like this from. Maybe others say it too, but I'm not aware of it. I just think it's weird.
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
Beautiful Dreamer wrote:
quote:
I'm not talking about crazed sorts, I'm talking about your average conservative Evangelical who supported Bush more because of his comments about God telling him to invade Iraq after 9/11. Would they feel the same way if he hadn't said that?
From what I've seen of ConEvos, most of them probably wouldn't need an explicit reference to God in order to be convinced to support a war. And I've met at least one who openly laughed at things like Late Great Planet Earth And Left Behind, but nevertheless was a pretty stalwart supporter of Israel and those aspects of US foreign policy that lean toward Israel's interest.
My guess would be that for a lot of those people, the eschatolgy just sort of floats around in their head with a bunch of other rationales, as sort of a half-baked, vaguely remembered mishmash.
"Well, Israel's the only democracy...Iraq is where Babylone was...Bush seems like a real sincere guy...Jews are sorta like Christians but Muslims are weird...Some guy at work said Saddam's the antichrist...."
[ 17. January 2015, 19:57: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Beautiful Dreamer wrote:
quote:
I'm not talking about crazed sorts, I'm talking about your average conservative Evangelical who supported Bush more because of his comments about God telling him to invade Iraq after 9/11. Would they feel the same way if he hadn't said that?
From what I've seen of ConEvos, most of them probably wouldn't need an explicit reference to God in order to be convinced to support a war. And I've met at least one who openly laughed at things like Late Great Planet Earth And Left Behind, but nevertheless was a pretty stalwart supporter of Israel.
But-- as I'm sure you intended to say-- not all of us conservative evangelicals.
The dispensationalist Tea-party con evos are the crazy uncles at our Thanksgiving dinners-- the ones we have to invite cuz they're family, even though they spend the whole dinner spouting crazy semi-racist ignorant dribble while we roll our eyes and wish to die of shame.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
But-- as I'm sure you intended to say-- not all of us conservative evangelicals.
Yes, absolutely. I didn't wanna say "Dispensationalists" or "pre-millenialists", as that would have overstated their commitment to a scheamtic eschatology. But ConEvo was a pretty sloppy shorthand as well.
I guess maybe I should have thrown in "right-wing" or something, but anyway, you obviously know the kind of people I mean.
And the Lindsey-hating Israel-lover was a pretty nice guy on a personal level, for the record. I did quickly decide to avoid talking politics with him, though.
[ 17. January 2015, 20:05: Message edited by: Stetson ]
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
Perhaps mainstream Western Christians have no business worrying about the end of the world. There are other denominations for people who want that sort of thing....
For example, if yours is a denomination that emphasises evangelism it could be useful if you have a theory of end times to work with. But the mainstream churches benefit from their age and wealth in maintaining their presence and influence. By contrast, the Jehovah's Witnesses I saw handing out magazines on the high street today arguably have no reason for existing as a group if they don't promote a particular eschatology.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Beautiful Dreamer
Shipmate
# 10880
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Beautiful Dreamer wrote:
quote:
I'm not talking about crazed sorts, I'm talking about your average conservative Evangelical who supported Bush more because of his comments about God telling him to invade Iraq after 9/11. Would they feel the same way if he hadn't said that?
From what I've seen of ConEvos, most of them probably wouldn't need an explicit reference to God in order to be convinced to support a war. And I've met at least one who openly laughed at things like Late Great Planet Earth And Left Behind, but nevertheless was a pretty stalwart supporter of Israel.
But-- as I'm sure you intended to say-- not all of us conservative evangelicals.
The dispensationalist Tea-party con evos are the crazy uncles at our Thanksgiving dinners-- the ones we have to invite cuz they're family, even though they spend the whole dinner spouting crazy semi-racist ignorant dribble while we roll our eyes and wish to die of shame.
Of course not everyone...the "crazy uncle" reminds me of how my mother-in-law would react when my f-i-l started in on his weird rants. She'd step back and look at us like, "I'm sorry, please ignore him" the way you'd do when your child acted up in the grocery store. They've been married for nearly 50 years, so I guess they've established a good give-and-take. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Arethosemyfeet
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# 17047
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
By contrast, the Jehovah's Witnesses I saw handing out magazines on the high street today arguably have no reason for existing as a group if they don't promote a particular eschatology.
Really, of course, they ought to have disappeared in a puff of eschatologically induced existential doubt in 1879 when their first prediction of the end of the world failed.
Posts: 2933 | From: Hebrides | Registered: Apr 2012
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
To be fair, lots of churches decide they were wrong about something in the past and then change their teachings, or at least their emphasis.
It could be argued that changing your assessment of the exact date of the end of the world is a less foundational change than altering your view of the virgin birth, or of the existence of hell, or of the validity of paying indulgences, etc....
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
There's (for some people) an attraction to "safe fear." A Halloween haunted house with gruesomely made up people jumping out unexpectedly, a roller coaster designed to make the car you are in look like it's headed straight off the cliff instead of turning, horror movies about vampires or disasters, Christian stories about visiting Hell or about the coming terrible destruction of non-believers on earth that we (having been raptured) will get to watch from a safe distance while munching on popcorn.
"Safe fear" is fun (for those who like it) because they know they are safe from the bad things happening to others. Slapstick is the same, it's suppose to be funny to see someone slip on a banana peel and fall on his butt, but if *you* slip and fall and hurt it's not fun!
To be "fun" the fear has to be accompanied by certainty the experience isn't real (the haunted house) or certainty the pain and destruction only affects others, not you. You get the fun of adrenaline without any actual threat to your safety.
Adrenaline addiction is physically destructive to the body. Not a healthy kind of entertainment to pursue! But adrenaline does make you feel "alive" so maybe people who like it are usually bored with daily life? I don't know.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Jamat
Shipmate
# 11621
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful Dreamer:
I don't know why I'm even thinking about this because it's not like I don't have other things to do, but something's really been bugging me.
How far should we go in looking for/interpreting those signs of the end of the world?
How much should we really care about whatever the "End Times" means or how they will come? Is any "rapture" and "tribulation" theory (pre-trib rapture, post-trib, etc) view any more Biblical.
Is it okay to be satisfied with, "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again"?
Really, you can be quite cynical about the theology of end times and justify this view by pointing out that contrary to all the apostles' expectations, this age continues. We have an unbroken historical record of the last 2 millennia. Further, every prediction that the return of Christ was imminent has been shown to be wrong. Dates have come and gone and the world continues as it was.
However in Peter's letter in the NT there is a warning not to lose conscious sight of the teaching of Jesus that he would return. Peter says that 1000 years are as one day in the Lord's sight. He also says that in he last times people would scoff saying 'Where is the promise of his coming for all things continue as they were since the Fathers fell asleep' (my paraphrase).
Given this scriptural warning that The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, I think we need to live like he will return today. If time is a physical property and God is outside it having created all things physical, then as a Christian, I need to live within my time constraints in the light of the fact that they will one day no longer exist.
Eutychus: just a thought on the idea that Lacunza, Irving and Schofield systematised a futurist view and that within the recent past. Do you not think we can, as they did search the scriptures and make discoveries or do you think that the fact they broke with Augustinian tradition disqualifies them?
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Jamat ..in utmost longditude, where Heaven
with Earth and ocean meets, the setting sun slowly descended, and with right aspect
Against the eastern gate of Paradise. (Milton Paradise Lost Bk iv)
Posts: 3228 | From: New Zealand | Registered: Jul 2006
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Gramps49
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# 16378
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Posted
According to Revelations the world will not end. Rather it will be renewed and a New Jerusalem will be established on earth.
However I take my cue from Luther. He was asked once if he knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would he do. His reply was that he would plant a tree.
I think this comes from Jeremiah as well. When he knew that Babylon was about to destroy the world as he knew it, he went out and bought property.
Really not a bad idea considering property values at the time were literally 0.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I'm pulling for penguins. The post-human civilization will be penguins, who anyone can see were created in God's image, and that the earth was created for them.
Their religion will focus the same way as ours, except orcas (killer whales) and leopard seals will feature as metaphors for their theology, particularly poignant in the Parable of the First Penguin to Hop Off the Ice Flow, not knowing if there is predator below, but being prepared to sacrifice him/her self for the Good of All Penguins while leading the Demon Predators away from the Penguin People of God.
Have you read the book Penguin Island by Anatole France?
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Kaplan Corday
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# 16119
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Posted
F.F. Bruce wrote somewhere that thousands or tens of thousands of years hence, scholars will categorise the last two thousand years as the very earliest period of church history.
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Gamaliel
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# 812
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Posted
Yes, he said a lot of sensible things, did F F Bruce.
Unlike Messrs Schofield and Darby, Irving and so on ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
And why on earth should you put him in the same category?
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
NOTHING survives 10,000 years in human culture.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Martin60:
NOTHING survives 10,000 years in human culture.
Paintings and flutes do. So do certain towns like Jericho They often take long naps.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
No language, no religion does. Art and music and banging rocks together aren't in the same category.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
It would be fascinating to see how a post-human Earth will develop.
I'm pulling for penguins. The post-human civilization will be penguins, who anyone can see were created in God's image, and that the earth was created for them.
Their religion will focus the same way as ours, except orcas (killer whales) and leopard seals will feature as metaphors for their theology, particularly poignant in the Parable of the First Penguin to Hop Off the Ice Flow, not knowing if there is predator below, but being prepared to sacrifice him/her self for the Good of All Penguins while leading the Demon Predators away from the Penguin People of God.
Personally I think elephants are a far better bet. There's already some reasonable evidence they have a taste for the arts and a consciousness of death.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
I'm a panmillennialist so pretty much what Mousethief said.
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Mere Nick--
What's a pan-millenialist? Does that mean that Christ can come back at any time? Or is always coming back? That we're always in some kind of mixed state of ending and beginning?
Thx.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
The pastor of a church I was in long ago said that it meant one believed, amidst conflicting and confusing theories, that "it would all pan out in the end".
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gramps49:
However I take my cue from Luther. He was asked once if he knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would he do. His reply was that he would plant a tree.
I think this comes from Jeremiah as well. When he knew that Babylon was about to destroy the world as he knew it, he went out and bought property.
Really not a bad idea considering property values at the time were literally 0.
I've seen "plant a tree" attributed to Rabbi Hillel. But maybe it's like the stray quotes that get attributed to Einstein, or Mae West, or Lincoln--no one's quite sure of the source, so they give the quotes the best home they can figure out.
Anyway, me, too, re the tree. Oh, and LOL re property values.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Eutychus--
LOL. Or that there will be a fanfare of pan flutes? For an entire millenium?
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Beautiful Dreamer
Shipmate
# 10880
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
The pastor of a church I was in long ago said that it meant one believed, amidst conflicting and confusing theories, that "it would all pan out in the end".
(brief tangent)
This describes the basic trust I have in God...it might not be all "rainbows and butterflies" the way some people think, but He'll work it all out in the end.
I think it's interesting how the people I know who have had the worst time of things are the ones with the most joy and faith in God. Kinda turns that "Prosperity Gospel" stuff on its head.
(/tangent)
[ 25. January 2015, 03:34: Message edited by: Beautiful Dreamer ]
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
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Posted
Worry ≠ preparation. As cliffdweller pointed out, there's plenty of shit we could try to fix now; why worry about something that we cannot prepare for because we have no idea what form it will take?
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"You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean." -- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
Mere Nick--
What's a pan-millenialist? Does that mean that Christ can come back at any time? Or is always coming back? That we're always in some kind of mixed state of ending and beginning?
Thx.
Being a panmillenialist means you figure if you're in Christ it will all pan out in the end.
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
The pastor of a church I was in long ago said that it meant one believed, amidst conflicting and confusing theories, that "it would all pan out in the end".
Yup.
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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