rix is offline rix Post #31  October 18,2011, 1:48am
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Reverse_Dragon wrote :
I was told by a well educated christian friend of mine that the Bible itself contains no reference to 'The Rapture' as popularly conceived of. Is that not the case?

If the Rapture is described in the Bible, could anyone tell me what chapter and verse? I'd very much like to read that. Thanks.
Dispensational premillennialists derive the doctrine of the rapture primarily from I Thessalonians 4:16-18 ( see previous post #14). However, the passage is referring to the parousia, or the second coming of Christ. Dispensationalists attempt to make the rapture and the second coming of Christ into two separate events. The rapture being prior to a literal seven year period of tribulation, and the second coming of Christ following the tribulation period. However, the text itself does not warrant two separate events, and the dispensational premillennialists have to do a fair amount of scriptural gymnastics in order to come up with their rather bizarre scenario.

I don't know how many people here previously seen the movie Thief In The Night (and following sequels). But basically, Thief In The Night was the low budget Seventies version of the Left Behind movie series. It featured a "liberal minister" who "saw the light" after being "left behind." The minister finds himself after the rapture going through his dispensational charts pinpointing exactly where they were and what was about to come to pass. I don't know exactly how the "end of the world" will come to pass, but I'm sure we will not be able to predictably look at dispensational charts while it happens.
Last edited by rix; October 18,2011 at 1:54am.
 
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Reverse_Dragon is offline Reverse_Dragon Post #32  October 18,2011, 5:03am
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rix wrote :
Dispensational premillennialists derive the doctrine of the rapture primarily from I Thessalonians 4:16-18 ( see previous post #14). However, the passage is referring to the parousia, or the second coming of Christ. Dispensationalists attempt to make the rapture and the second coming of Christ into two separate events. The rapture being prior to a literal seven year period of tribulation, and the second coming of Christ following the tribulation period. Ho wever, the text itself does not warrant two separate events, and the dispensational premillennialists have to do a fair amount of scriptural gymnastics in order to come up with their rather bizarre scenario.

I don't know how many people here previously seen the movie Thief In The Night (and following sequels). But basically, Thief In The Night was the low budget Seventies version of the Left Behind movie series. It featured a "liberal minister" who "saw the light" after being "left behind." The minister finds himself after the rapture going through his dispensational charts pinpointing exactly where they were and what was about to come to pass. I don't know exactly how the "end of the world" will come to pass, but I'm sure we will not be able to predictably look at dispensational charts while it happens.
Thanks Rix! Now to borrow one of my mother's Bibles and give Thessalonians a good read.
 
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mitchell175 is online now mitchell175 Post #33  October 20,2011, 7:24pm
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Reverse_Dragon wrote :
I definitely should have been more specific. I am referring to the end of humanity, be it as a civilization or as a species. Armageddon, the Rapture, global pandemics, nuclear holocaust, killer asteroids, super-volcanoes, climate and ecological collapse... there are a lot of options on the table!
How do you see things shaking out?
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."

"Fire and Ice" - Robert Frost
(Had to memorize that one in High School )

If the entire timeline of the universe was laid out as a 24-hour day, "humanity" would plot out at around 12:59:45. Completely insignificant in the overall scheme of things. There have been many "mass extinctions" throughout the course of history (and, by "history" I include not just the time of "man") - one of the most drastic was the Permian Extinction, which occurred about 250 million years ago. Scientists still do not know why, but suddenly over 90% of species on the planet were wiped out.

There was an interesting series that ran on History Channel a while ago called "Life After People". The premise was the question "What would happen if all of the people on earth suddenly vanished?" The show didn't speculate on how that might happen, only that suddenly, people were no longer here. But, everything that the people had left would still be here. Buildings, pets, cars, electronics... The show would tick off time points: "One hour after people..." At first, the absence of people makes a big impact. Energy systems shut down with no one to maintain them. Nuclear power plants melt down and explode. Your basic technological apocalypse.

Then, the show moves on to time points that are further out: "One year after people.... 50 years after people... 1000 years after people... 50,000 years after people..." After a period of time, there would be little evidence that people had ever inhabited the planet, except for a mysterious layer of metal from all of our "stuff".

So, it doesn't really matter how the "world ends", if you are talking about when humans are no longer here. Life goes on, with or without us.
 
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Reverse_Dragon is offline Reverse_Dragon Post #34  November 21,2011, 3:11pm
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I loved that show! The book is excellent as well.

While it might not matter to the universe, or to life in general, or when viewed with a detached philosophical eye... it most certainly matters to me! We humans have the potential to spread and grow and colonize a practically infinite universe, and could conceivably survive into what physicists call 'deep time'. We are survival machines, constructed by DNA and at every step winnowed by natural forces into the most survival-oriented form possible.

I want my genes to last forever, and to spread to every corner of existence... I have to want that... because I'm a human. =]
 
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Lynn1977 is offline Lynn1977 Post #35  January 9,2012, 8:44pm
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Life after People was such an cool TV series, I loved it, things you don't really think about

My belief is that something is changing on our planet to the point that a good majority of the human population is sensing it. Whether it be an environmental breakdown or human energy shifts, there's a lot of changes going on all around us that will most certainly change 'the world as we know it' - I think all living things evolve if not destroyed.

I think instant communication has made it very difficult for our leaders and governments across the globe to withhold certain information from the public entirely and humans are starting to notice and ask 'why?'... and many are slowly standing up and demanding the truth. This has all happened at an alarming rate - in a period of maybe 20-30 years, which is not very long in the scheme of human existence or even an era...

I don't know if we'll be invaded by aliens or hit by an asteroid or destroyed by our own technology or if the planet itself will collapse from our abuse but something is changing and it is becoming undeniable for many to ignore...
 
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Reverse_Dragon is offline Reverse_Dragon Post #36  January 14,2012, 5:47am
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Lynn makes an excellent point.

The free availability of information, which has grown at geometric rate for the last couple of generations, has made many truths obvious to the public for the first time in human history. Threats that have always been present, such as ecological collapse, natural disaster, global famine, and pandemic are no more likely than they always have been (ok ecological collapse is probably more likely) but in the past only scholars were aware that these things could happen.

Other possibilities have arisin precisely because of our technological growth: nuclear holocaust, climate change, chemical and biological war, fossil fuel depletion, etc...
 
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