What do you think...?

Question

...Christians who believed in Armageddon and Judgment Day thought during World War I? Or World War II? Or the Great Depression? Or Korea? Or Vietnam? Or the FIRST time we went to Iraq? Hmmm?

What about all the times in the past when we've had war, famine, and disease? Do you think people thought the world was ending then?

Are they any different than those who think it's ending now?

Go ahead, Southpaw. :D

Answer 1

Since the 1st century, religious folk (and some secular individuals) have predicted several momentous END OF THE WORLD events that they believed were related:

-The second coming of Jesus Christ, when he returns to earth after almost two millennia.
- The war of Armageddon -- a massive battle in Israel.
- The arrival on earth of the Antichrist, an evil political, military leader.
- The Tribulation, a seven year interval of great suffering and death.
- The Rapture, when Christians who have been born again -- both living and dead -- will rise into the sky towards Jesus.
- Some horrendous natural disaster. etc.



It is worth noting that all of the following predictions have failed.

FAILED PROPHECIES:

-About 30 CE: The Christian Scriptures (New Testament), when interpreted literally, appear to record many predictions by Jeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) that God's Kingdom would arrive within a very short period, or was actually in the process of arriving. For example, Jesus is recorded as saying in Matthew 16:28: "...there shall be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." In Matthew 24:34, Yeshua is recorded as saying: "...This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Since the life expectancy in those days was little over 30 years, Jesus appears to have predicted his second coming would be sometime during the 1st century CE. It didn't happen.

- About 60 CE: Interpreting the Epistles of Paul of Tarsus literally, his writings seem to imply that Jesus would return and usher in a rapture during the lifetime of persons who were living in the middle of the 1st century.

- About 90 CE: Saint Clement 1 predicted that the world end would occur at any moment.

- 2nd Century CE: Prophets and Prophetesses of the Montanist movement predicted that Jesus would return sometime during their lifetime and establish the New Jerusalem in the city of Pepuza in Asia Minor.

- 365 CE: A man by the name of Hilary of Poitiers, announced that the end would happen that year. It didn't.

- 375 to 400 CE: Saint Martin of Tours, a student of Hilary, was convinced that the end would happen sometime before 400 CE.

- 500 CE: This was the first year-with-a-nice-round-number-... The antipope Hippolytus and an earlier Christian academic Sextus Julius Africanus had predicted Armageddon at about this year.

- 968 CE: An eclipse was interpreted as a prelude to the end of the world by the army of the German emperor Otto III.

- 992: Good Friday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation; this had long been believed to be the event that would bring forth the Antichrist, and thus the end-times events foretold in the book of Revelation. Records from Germany report that a new sun rose in the north and that as many as 3 suns and 3 moons were fighting.

- 1000-JAN-1: Many Christians in Europe had predicted the end of the world on this date. As the date approached, Christian armies waged war against some of the Pagan countries in Northern Europe. The motivation was to convert them all to Christianity, by force if necessary, before Christ returned in the year 1000. Meanwhile, some Christians had given their possessions to the Church in anticipation of the end. Fortunately, the level of education was so low that many citizens were unaware of the year. They did not know enough to be afraid. Otherwise, the panic might have been far worse than it was. Unfortunately, when Jesus did not appear, the church did not return the gifts. Serious criticism of the Church followed. The Church reacted by exterminating some heretics.
bullet 1000-MAY: The body of Charlemagne was disinterred on Pentecost. A legend had arisen that an emperor would rise from his sleep to fight the Antichrist.

- 1005-1006: A terrible famine throughout Europe was seen as a sign of the closeness of the end.

- 1033: Some believed this to be the 1000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus. His second coming was anticipated. Jesus' actual date of execution is unknown, but is believed to be in the range of 27 to 33 CE.

- 1147: Gerard of Poehlde decided that the millennium had actually started in 306 CE during Constantine's reign. Thus, the world end would happen in 1306 CE.

- 1179: John of Toledo predicted the end of the world during 1186. This estimate was based on the alignment of many planets.

- 1205: Joachim of Fiore predicted in 1190 that the Antichrist was already in the world, and that King Richard of England would defeat him. The Millennium would then begin, sometime before 1205.

- 1284: Pope Innocent III computed this date by adding 666 years onto the date the Islam was founded.

- 1346 and later: The black plague spread across Europe, killing one third of the population. This was seen as the prelude to an immediate end of the world. Unfortunately, the Christians had previously killed a many of the cats, fearing that they might be familiars of Witches. The fewer the cats, the more the rats. It was the rat fleas that spread the black plague.

- 1496: This was approximately 1500 years after the birth of Jesus. Some mystics in the 15th century predicted that the millennium would begin during this year.

- 1524: Many astrologers predicted the imminent end of the world due to a world wide flood. They obviously had not read the Genesis story of the rainbow.

- 1533: Melchior Hoffman predicted that Jesus' return would happen in 1533 and that the New Jerusalem would be established in Strasbourg, Germany. He was arrested and died in a Strasbourg jail.

- 1669: The Old Believers in Russia believed that the end of the world would occur in this year. 20 thousand burned themselves to death from 1669 to 1690 to protect themselves from the Antichrist.

-1689: Benjamin Keach, a 17th century Baptist, predicted the end of the world for this year.

- 1736: British theologian and mathematician William Whitson predicted a great flood similar to Noah's for OCT-13 of this year.

- 1792: This was the date of the end of the world calculated by some believers in the Shaker movement.

- 1794: Charles Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, thought Doomsday would be in this year.

- 1830: Margaret McDonald, a Christian prophetess, predicted that Robert Owen would be the Antichrist. Owen helped found New Harmony, IN.

- 1843: Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Mormon movement, heard a voice while praying. He wrote:

"I was once praying very ernestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:

'Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou are eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.'

I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time."

Smith would have reached the age of 85 during 1890. Unfortunately, by that year, Smith had been dead for almost a half century.

- 1843-MAR-21: William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, predicted that Jesus would come on this date.
bullet 1844-OCT-22: When Jesus did not return, Miller predicted this new date. In an event which is now called "The Great Disappointment," many Christians sold their property and possessions, quit their jobs and prepared themselves for the second coming. Nothing happened; the day came and went without incident.

- 1850: Ellen White, founder of the Seven Day Adventists movement, made many predictions of the timing of the end of the world. All failed. She made one on 1850-JUN-27 that only a few months remained before the end. She wrote: "My accompanying angel said, 'Time is almost finished. Get ready, get ready, get ready.' ...now time is almost finished...and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months."

- 1856 or later: At Ellen White's last prediction, she said that she was shown in a vision the fate of believers who attended the 1856 SDA conference. She wrote "I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: 'Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." That is, some of the attendees would die of normal diseases; some would die from plagues at the last days, others would still be alive when Jesus came. "By the early 1900s all those who attended the conference had passed away, leaving the Church with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to explain away such a prominent prophetic failure."

-1891 or before: On 1835-FEB-14, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, attended a meeting of church leaders. He said that the meeting had been called because God had commanded it. He announced that Jesus would return within 56 years -- i.e. before 1891-FEB-15. (History of the Church 2:182)

- 1914 was one of the more important estimates of the start of the war of Armageddon by the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). They computed 1914 from prophecy in the book of Daniel, Chapter 4. The writings referred to "seven times". The WTS interpreted each "time" as equal to 360 days, giving a total of 2520 days. This was further interpreted as representing 2520 years, measured from the starting date of 607 BCE. This gave 1914 as the target date. When 1914 passed, they changed their prediction; 1914 became the year that Jesus invisibly began his rule.

-1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994, etc. were other dates that the Watchtower Society (WTS) or its members predicted.

-Since late in the 19th century, they had taught that the "battle of the Great Day of God Almighty" (Armageddon) would happen in 1914 CE. It didn't.

-The next major estimate was 1925. Watchtower magazine predicted: "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do during that year."

-The Watchtower Society selected 1975 as its next main prediction. This was based on the estimate "according to reliable Bible chronology Adam was created in the year 4026 BCE, likely in the autumn of the year, at the end of the sixth day of creation." They believed that the year 1975 a promising date for the end of the world, as it was the 6,000th anniversary of Adam's creation. Exactly 1,000 years was to pass for each day of the creation week. This prophecy also failed.

-The current estimate is that the end of the world as we know it will happen precisely 6000 years after the creation of Eve. There is no way of knowing when this happened.

-1919: Meteorologist Albert Porta predicted that the conjunction of 6 planets would generate a magnetic current that would cause the sun to explode and engulf the earth on DEC-17.

-1936: Herbert W Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted that the Day of the Lord would happen sometime in 1936. When the prediction failed, he made a new estimate: 1975.

- 1940 or 1941: A Bible teacher from Australia, Leonard Sale-Harrison, held a series of prophesy conferences across North America in the 1930's. He predicted that the end of the world would happen in 1940 or 1941.

- 1948: During this year, the state of Israel was founded. Some Christians believed that this event was the final prerequisite for the second coming of Jesus. Various end of the world predictions were made in the range 1888 to 2048.
bullet 1953-AUG: David Davidson wrote a book titled "The Great Pyramid, Its Divine Message". In it, he predicted that the world would end in 1953-AUG.

- 1957-APR: The Watchtower magazine quoted a pastor from California, Mihran Ask, as saying in 1957-JAN that "Sometime between April 16 and 23, 1957, Armageddon will sweep the world! Millions of persons will perish in its flames and the land will be scorched.'

- 1959: The Branch Davidians of Waco TX believed that they would be killed, resurrected and transferred to heaven by APR-22.
- 1960: Piazzi Smyth, a past astronomer royal of Scotland, wrote a book circa 1860 titled "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid." It was responsible for spreading the belief in pyramidology throughout the world. This is the belief that secrets are hidden in the dimensions of the great pyramids. He concluded from his research that the millennium would start before the end of 1960 CE.

- 1967: During the six day war, the Israeli army captured all of Jerusalem. Many conservative Christians believed that the rapture would occur quickly. However, the final Biblical prerequisite for the second coming is that the Jews resume ritual animal sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem. That never happened.

- 1970's: The late Moses David (formerly David Berg) was the founder of the Christian religious group, The Children of God. He predicted that a comet would hit the earth, probably in the mid 1970's and destroy all life in the United States. One source indicated that he believed it would happen in 1973.

- 1972: According to an article in the Atlantic magazine, "Herbert W. Armstrong's empire suffered a serious blow when the end failed to begin in January of 1972, as Armstrong had predicted, thus bringing hardship to many people who had given most of their assets to the church in the expectation of going to Petra, where such worldly possessions would be useless." According to an article in Wikipedia:

"The failure of this prophetic scenario to take place according to this Co-Worker letter scenario, which was often repeated over the years in print by Armstrong, may have been one of the initial reasons why the church organization began to decline as unfulfilled expectations led to great disappointment. As events unfolded, it became obvious 1972 did not have the biblical significance that the church had anticipated for nearly two decades."

- 1974: Charles Meade, a pastor in Daleville, IN, predicted that the end of the world will happen during his lifetime. He was born circa 1927, so the end will probably come early in the 21st century.

- 1975: A major Jehovah's Witness prediction date.

- 1978: Chuck Smith, Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Cost Mesa, CA, predicted the rapture in 1981.

- 1980: Leland Jensen leader of a Baha'i World Faith group, predicted that a nuclear disaster would happen in 1980. This would be followed by two decades of conflict, ending in the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth.

- 1981: Arnold Murray of the Shepherd's Chapel taught an anti-Trinitarian belief about God, and Christian Identity. Back in the 1970's, he predicted that the Antichrist would appear before 1981.
- Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church predicted that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established in this year.

- 1982: Pat Robertson predicted a few years in advance that the world would end in the fall of 1982.

- 1982: Astronomers John Gribben & Setphen Plagemann predicted the "Jupiter Effect" in 1974. They wrote that when various planets were aligned on the same side of the sun, tidal forces would create solar flares, radio interruptions, rainfall and temperature disturbances and massive earthquakes. The planets did align as seen from earth, as they do regularly. Nothing unusual happened.

- 1984 to 1999: In 1983, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later called Osho, teacher of what has been called the Rajneesh movement, is said to have predicted massive destruction on earth, including natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Floods larger than any since Noah, extreme earthquakes, very destructive volcano eruptions, nuclear wars etc. will be experienced. Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bombay will all disappear. Actually, the predictions were read by his secretary; their legitimacy is doubtful.
- 1985: Arnold Murray of the Shepherd's Chapel predicted that the war of Aramageddon will start on 1985-JUN 8-9 in "a valley of the Alaskan peninsula."
- 1986: Moses David of The Children of God faith group predicted that the Battle of Armageddon would take place in 1986. Russia would defeat Israel and the United States. A worldwide Communist dictatorship would be established. In 1993, Christ would return to earth.

- 1987 to 2000: Lester Sumrall, in his 1987 book "I Predict 2000 AD" predicted that Jerusalem would be the richest city on Earth, that the Common Market would rule Europe, and that there would be a nuclear war involving Russia and perhaps the U.S. Also, he prophesized that the greatest Christian revival in the history of the church would happen: all during the last 13 years of the 20th century. All of the predictions failed.

- 1988: Hal Lindsey had predicted in his book "The Late, Great Planet Earth" that the Rapture was coming in 1988 - one generation or 40 years after the creation of the state of Israel. This failed prophecy did not appear to damage his reputation. He continues to write books of prophecy which sell very well indeed.

- Alfred Schmielewsky, a psychic whose stage name was "super-psychic A.S. Narayana," predicted in 1986 that the world's greatest natural disaster would hit Montreal in 1988. Sadly, his psychic abilities failed him on 1999-APR-11 when he answered the door of his home only to be shot dead by a gunman.

- 1988-MAY: A 1981 movie titled "The man who saw tomorrow" described some of Nostradamus predictions. Massive earthquakes were predicted for San Francisco and Los Angeles.
- 1988-OCT-11: Edgar Whisenaut, >> a NASA scientist, << very disappointing had published the book "88 Reasons why the Rapture will Occur in 1988." It sold over 4 million copies.
bullet

About 1990: Peter Ruckman concluded from his analysis of the Bible that the rapture would come within a few years of 1990.

Answer 2

Christians in St. Paul's day thought this way, and he talked to them about it in Thessalonians in the New Testament. Yes, it seems each generation has this sort of thinking. Each generation has plenty of reason to think this way! The difference now, I think, is that modern men have weapons so much worse, weapons that are capable of setting the world aflame. I do not believe this has ever happened before, at least in recorded history. It does seem as if we are heading into something cataclysmic. The Bible predicts such a time. We need to have our hearts ready with the Lord Jesus of the Bible. He will take care of His own.

Answer 3

Some are probably the same people, at least the recent stuff, like the Iraq war. Just a few months ago when Israel invaded Lebanon they were babbling about the end time start.

NONE of them are big enough to admit they were wrong either.

Answer 4

I'm sure the world is coming to an end in the next four weeks, and if it doesn't, it will absolutely end in 2012. Or the next prediction after that. Or maybe four or five predictions later.
Since the stone age, we must be on the ten thousandth prediction of the end of the world. The next one has always been - - for sure.

Answer 5

It's very similar to Cargo Cults.

My dad's brother thought that man landing on the moon was impossible because sin couldn't leave this world and corrupt the rest of the universe.

What worries me is that there are people who, if a nuclear bomb went off, would be genuinely happy because it is a sign of the second coming. What worries me more is that these people work in the Whitehouse.

Answer 6

To be perfectly honest with you, I really don' t give a damn. If it comes then so be it. I know I live a good life and do what I think is the right thing to do all of the time. Hell, is what you make it and if you don't recognize hell when it comes you will never know it it there.

Answer 7

Christians have thought the world was ending in their lifetime since Jesus was crucified. It is a certain kind of ego-centrism that is interesting. And also sad. My dear Uncle was confused when he finally became so ill that death was near. He sincerely thought he would be taken up into Heaven without having to go through death. Very heart wrenching to me.

Answer 8

The last days began at Christ's resurrection.

"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." (II Peter 3:3-4)

Why it has lasted so long is this: "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (II Peter 3:8-9)

God is giving all who will come to Him a chance before the Judgment.

Answer 9

Yes because the ones who thought the world was ending then failed to realize that the happenings were not in synch with Revelations. No one knows when the end is coming but some signs will be out there and a few have already begun. But still this doesnt mean the end is coming tomorrow or this year or decade or whatever. But one day it will come and there will have been signs.

Answer 10

I believe in the bible and the end of times prophecy (just so you know where I stand). However if anyone claims to be able to predict the end of times, that person obviously has not read or believed the bible. Scripture clearly states that we will not know. We are not meant to.

Answer 11

The rapture has been predicted so many times that it no longer has meaning to me at all. Those religious fanatics that keep saying the end is near have been wrong many times over. If they were right then we would be in line waiting to appear before god. (If he exists)