I have noticed a lot of question about the world ending on here, and they seem mostly to be coming from American Christians. All abrahamic religions, including Jews and Moslems, have the same end-of-days prophecies, but they don't think the world is ending. (And Revelation's is supposed to be about Rome, not the Middle East, and even then very... allegorically). So why do so many people think this? Is it discussed a lot in the Media or in their churches right now?
Is the apocalypse and rapture something Americans WANT or FEAR?
2006-07-19 13:44:26 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think that many of them have been conditioned to believe in an escapism mentality. I am a christian (and an American) but I have changed my view on this entirely because their way of looking at things make God out to be a loser and just give up on humanity and in one last ditch effort grab a handful of "believers" and get the heck out of Dodge. I don't get it. I do agree with some of the other answers that people don't want to face death, or some I know are wanting to see bad people get what is coming to them. Also the rapture theory is relatively a new teaching. Jesus talked more about fixing things and living in the Kingdom of God (which I believe is us) than the way people talk today about doom and gloom. So to answer your question I don't really know.
2006-07-19 13:59:57 · answer #1 · answered by big Q 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
1
2016-12-24 08:12:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that you touched on it - it is yet another time when the signs of Revelations are supposedly coming to pass. Yet every generation that has believed this has been wrong, so far at least. Look at the Late Middle Ages - famine, disease, war, death. Not much different then than now. So it's little surprise that the mindset is similiar. And yes, I believe that it is being reinforced by particular politicians, pundits, and preachers.
What scares me is how many seem to desire the end of the world. I've heard accounts of people - most prominantly Anne Coulter - saying that we are supposed to rape the earth, exhaust its resources, apparently because God gave it to us and He will save us (or at least a small population of those who are allegedly and self-appointedly "chosen") in the end.
My one great concern here is - um, what if that way of thinking is wrong? Might we bring about our own demise?
But then, if we do, it's because of our own free will - nothing more. But that's just my opinion.
2006-07-19 13:51:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A rise up against Israel is predicted for the end times in the Bible. It's not the end of the world but the beginning of the end of the world... we still have to have the rapture, the tribulation and the 1000 year reign of Christ first before the world ends...
Revelations is about Israel and the entire world not just Rome. Read it again...
2006-07-19 13:50:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on who you are talking too. Christians believe widely different things and may are indistinguishable "non-believers", which, I might add causes me to doubt the validity of the label for the vast majority of American Christians.
I for one want the rapture, yet at the same time I am torn because I believe that a large number of my fellow Americans are not saved. So I want it, but I want my fellow Americans to know Jesus as I do.
By the way:
They are not the same prophecies and Revelation is generally accepted by most Biblical scholars as about the Middle East not Rome.
2006-07-19 14:09:26 · answer #5 · answered by davidvario 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Good question.
I dont personally tie in the current conflict with the End.
This is not discussed at all in the non-denominational Christian church that I go to...
Some people are fascinated by the rapture and the End-Times prophecies, and are looking for signs of their proximity.
I think it is a combination of want and fear.
Personally, I am looking forward to the second coming of Christ. I am tired of all of the evil we see around us.
Cordially,
John
2006-07-19 13:51:16 · answer #6 · answered by John 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. you need to study Daniels "70 Weeks" and Revelations. The end time events will revolve around Jerusalem and the Jews. It is a very interesting study. You can find it on line if you are interested. The next "BIG" sign we are waiting for is for Israel to sign a 7 year peace treaty with the Arabs. When that happens, the end is near. This is not a silly fairy tale.
2006-07-19 13:50:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's something that Fundamentalists shout out at every change. The Colonies split from the Crown? REVELATIONS! A Humanist Government? REVELATIONS! No Slaves, Civil War? REVELATIONS! Women voting? REVELATIONS! Nuclear Cold War? REVELATIONS!
I encourage this kind of behavior. It is said that man will not know the day or hour of the Reckoning. So as long as at least one person "knows" that the time is nigh, then it can never be, right? REVELATIONS!!!!
2006-07-19 13:51:12 · answer #8 · answered by Ananke402 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they do not bury their heads in the sand.
The prophecies in Scripture tell what is coming. People see it happening and are acknowledging it. They want to keep abreast of what is happening and how the world is 'progressing' (if this can be called progress).
Do you think because American Christians listen to the news of what is happening in and around other parts of the world means that they WANT the stuff to happen, and watch the news because they FEAR it?
2006-07-19 13:52:03 · answer #9 · answered by Einsteinetta 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The more intense coverage of the same old crap in the middle east, the more it gets christians going. If they would just look at a history book they might see that this same beginning of the end has been going on for thousands of years.
2006-07-19 13:49:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋