And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Woe unto them who call evil, good, and good, evil"
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
2006-12-22 05:29:31 · 29 answers · asked by Maurice H 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Have you ever read a horoscope? Those things are so vague that they can apply to anybody and everybody.
They are considerably less vague than your "prophecies".
2006-12-22 05:34:26 · answer #1 · answered by dtbrantner 4 · 7⤊ 2⤋
"And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet."
When has this not been true? The world is in a near constant state of war and near-war. It's been that way ever since we grouped ourselves into nations.
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places."
No surprise there. Again, all these have been happening for the duration of human existence. Remember the Black Plague? Small Pox? Influenza? A no-brainer "prediction".
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."
Name anyone in the US who has been put to death for being a Christian. Anybody? No? Then shut up.
"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
Another no-brainer. Self-proclaimed "prophets" are a dime a dozen in every generation. This "prediction" was made for the sole purpose of keeping the flock in line.
"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Another no-brainer with no specifics. Easily applied to any period of history: The Dark Ages, for example.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Well, Christianity is being preached in many nations of the world with highyl mixed results. Has been for the last century. Nothing's ended yet.
"Woe unto them who call evil, good, and good, evil"
Since "good" and "evil" tend to be rather subjective concepts, this is meaningless.
"many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Increasing knowledge is a good thing.
"I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;"
And this means...what, exactly?
2006-12-22 05:46:59 · answer #2 · answered by Scott M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is the problem with prophecy. The passage, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places," is a blanket statement that applies to any era in human history, as is every other in this list.
If I predict that tomorrow a great inferno will rise in the east, and travel with all deliberate speed into the west, where its arrival will cover all the land behind it in darkness and cold, am I a prophet?
Or am I describing the sunrise?
2006-12-22 05:45:35 · answer #3 · answered by lcraesharbor 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What I'd like to know is when hasn't that stuff happened? That stuff has Always been and most likely always will be. It was happening during Jesus' own time.
Not sure why people try to make this seem this is a prophecy about our time.... nowhere does give it any indication that it is. I could use these prophecies for the Dark Ages, or the Middles Ages. I could point out that the wars and rumors of wars and nations and nations happened during the Spanish Inquisition.
Quit trying to force prophecies.
And How do you reconcile that with Jesus telling a group of people that "there are some here who will not taste death till the Son of Man come again"...... I don't think any of those people are still alive... do you?
2006-12-22 05:35:10 · answer #4 · answered by Kithy 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
True, maybe. But its like the horoscopes in the papaer, the end times predictions are so vague that they could be anything.
Since when have countries not gone to war?
Since Christianity and Islam, when have peooples of other faiths not hated each other?
When have there not been eathquakes, famines and pestillence?
Actually the Book of Revelations has some flaws considering the Book said that the next coming of Christ would be during the lifetimes of the first believers....
2006-12-22 05:39:23 · answer #5 · answered by adphllps 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Famines, plagues, wars, and earthquakes have happened all throughout time along with whackjobs preaching doomsday prohesies. Y2K ringin' any bells? Yep all the naysayers and doomsdayers were making much hay running around screaming from the rooftops that the sky was falling like so many Chicken Littles. But lo and behold Jan 1, 2000 12:00 AM or 2400 Hours Zulu time, STILL SPINNIN' BABY STILL SPINNIN'!
We have been there, we have done that! We have the shirts to prove it. We've seen hard times before we have overcome them and we always will. Life is great when you learn to think rationally instead of living by superstitious ramblings by bronze age goat herders.
2006-12-22 05:49:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You know. Yes, most of it is common sense, but, 2 points really make me think. Calling good- evil and evil- good. We have fallen a long ways in just the past 100 years. It is a completely different world. Things people do and say, if done a century ago, would get them arrested, killed, etc. Now, kids can get their parents to 'sponsor' parties for them, so they won't *ahem* be seduced by drug abuse and alcohol (gee, why do they want the party), as well as safety. If we were doing these things 2000 years ago, both us and our children, would be stoned to death.
Knowledge increased, the gospel being preached over the whole world- Satellites and supercomputers, have made us a world with instant access to knowledge (not wisdom, remember). In the past 100 years, we have moved forward in leaps and bounds. Is it for the good?
2006-12-22 05:40:05 · answer #7 · answered by TCFKAYM 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are always wars
There is always famine, pestilence and earthquakes
I thought it was Christians doing most of the killing
I don't know... It seems like Christians are the most hateful too. At least they are always telling me I'm going to Hell
Buddhists are atheists and they're not cold
Yeah, it's being preached all over the world because it helps with colonization and oppression
Aargh the brainwashing good/evil dichotomy thing
Sorry, I forgot Christians hate knowledge...
I don't know much about seeds. I'm not good at gardening.
2006-12-22 05:36:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
When has any of this NOT applied to contemporaries? All throughout history you can find times at which most, if not all of these "prophecies" (read: blanket statements) apply.
Show me a causal relationship between these things and the end of the world. There isn't one. This is the same kind of technique used by the likes of Nostradamus and John Edwards. Make a statement that is general enough to apply to just about anyone, or any time... then attach a significance to it that does not necessarily follow. These were written by MEN, not this imaginary god of yours. Men have been known to lie.
2006-12-22 05:36:20 · answer #9 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
1. I'm an atheist.
2. The bible is not to be taken literally, just as Egyptian heiroglyphics are not to be taken literally.
3. This has happened since mankind has learned to utilize religion for war.
4. The end of days will come; nobody can be too sure when or why, but it will happen.
5. 'This is the way the world ends:
Not with a bang, but a whimper."
You, too, will cry about it and your God will not help you.
2006-12-22 05:38:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There have been wars for millenia. There will unfortunately likely always be wars.
Kingdoms have always fought each other, and will unfortunately probably always continue to fight each other.
Christians certainly aren't being persecuted and put to death in the U.S., and though they may be persecuted and put to death in other parts of the world, so are people of many other faiths (remember the Holocaust?).
People are turning away from the faith more today because you can no longer legally burn and lynch witches, pagans and heretics without facing legal repercussions.
I have no idea what love of most will grow cold means, but the rest of the verses haven't happened, period.
Happy Solstice! And please stop using your end of times babble to justify destroying my Goddess, the Earth.
)O(
2006-12-22 05:36:02 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋