Quoted:
Has anybody read/mentioned "Left Behind" by Tim LaHaye yet?  The entire series, at least half a dozen books, talks about the Rapture (the final trumpet call when the believers leave Earth) and about the people who are 'left behind' in the midst of the tribulation.

I've only perused the first book in the series, but if you read any book other than the Holy Word itself, to enlighten your mind about Revelations and the 'end of the world', then this should be it.  Obviously, don't take the work of fiction as a sign of what's truly to come, but nonetheless...this is a REAL eye opener.  Good book, I recommend it to anybody out there who is already versed in the New Testament.  If you're not, wipe the dust off that Bible and crack it open; I know it's hard, but it's really some good readin' [;)]

Jewbroni~

Quoted:
The Rapture doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible, it is a contrivance of a modern day preacher. His name escapes me, but was discussed thoroughly on the history channel.

The book of revelations has been misunderstood for everyday of it's 2000+ years. The prophet that wrote it, John, was actually talking about his time and life within an oppresive Roman Empire. Remember that this was the age of crucifictions and being thrown to the lions. Any critism aimed at the Roman soveriegn was met with immediate and harsh punishment.

His prophecies were supposed to occur with in his life time and were meant to offer hope to a people that had nothing more to look forward to in life than being a gladiator's punching bag. How do you keep members in a fledgling religion when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You offer a "light", or a reward for keeping the faith. As a Christian, you will acend to heaven and your enemies will suffer retribution of an all powerful god.

The number of the beast is nothing more than a secret code meant critize the current Roman emperor at the time. Most ancient alphabets had a direct letter to number translation. Such as in Roman, V=5, X=10. Being that the new testament was originally writen in Greek. "His name can be calculated by the number...". 666 in ancient Greek text, also spells out Nero Caeser. He is this evil anti-christ mentioned in the prophecies.

Almost all of the early Christians were former Jews and still practiced many Jewish rituals and customs. Paganism or worshiping a false god to a Jew or early Christian was extremely blasmphemous and was not to be tolerated. But at the same time, when you are a small oppressed minority within the most powerful empire on earth, what can you do but go underground and silently spread your anti-establishment message. And who in his or her right mind is going to join a religon that can only promise a painfull death?