tag for later

One thing is for sure, the Devil is alive and well. You can feel his fear in this very thread. Do not listen to him as he whispers lies into your ears. His time is growing short and he knows it.

There is Truth in this thread, and the Devil hates the Truth, he wants you to join him in Hell and suffer right along with him. We as Humans were given Free Will and we alone choose our Fate.

I'm going to tag this to see what else the OP has to say. If you don't like it, you don't have to post in here or read what is posted.

OP, Probably should have posted in "religion" if you want serious discussion.

OP, I don't believe in the Rapture, but I do respect your faith and believe you did a good job of presenting it to the GD.

So anyone who disagrees with a post-18th century rethink is a tool of the devil?



It's fine to assume that evil atheists are devil-spawn, but there is quite a spectrum of thought within the Christian community about this very topic.  



If you want a pat on the back and prefer a thread that really cups the balls, go to the religion forum.  The reality is that the diversity of thought, from early Christian writers to Luther to looney-Camper, permeates this issue.  It is a fascinating topic, as are a variety of religious beliefs and their origins.



 

The devil told me to post in this thread. He says hi.



 

Who to believe.....Hmmm....

Failed prophecies:
About 30 CE: The Christian Scriptures (New Testament), when interpreted literally, appear to record many predictions by Yeshua 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 sometime during the 1st century CE. It didn't happen. More details.
 
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. More details.
 
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-panic.   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. There does not appear to be independent verification of this remarkable event.
 
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. Agitation settled down quickly, as it later did in the year 2000.
 
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 nearness 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 was expected 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 a millennium and a half after the nominal date of his execution, in 1533. The New Jerusalem was expected to 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 between 1669 and 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.
 
1832?: Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was the founder of the Church of Christ, which became the Restorationist movement after many schisms. It now includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints –– a.k.a. the Mormons, and about a hundred other denominations and sects. He heard a voice while praying. He wrote, in Doctrines and Covenants section 130:

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

15: "Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art 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."

16: "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."

17: "I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time." 14
The year in which this event occurred is not recorded. However, one commentator suggested 1832 or earlier. 16 Smith is later recorded as having said:
"I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written––the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old." 17

Smith would have reached the age of 85 during 1890. Unfortunately, by that year, Smith had been dead for almost a half century, having been assassinated by a mob. Note that his prophecy is ambiguous. It can be interpreted that:

Jesus would return during 1890 (which did not materialize) or that
1890 would pass without Jesus' return (which did come to pass).  

Some anti-Mormon sources quote only verses 14 and 15, and draw the former conclusion –– that Smith's prophecy failed.

I guess you really got me there, huh? Last I read we can talk about anything in General Discussion. There are plenty of threads in GD that I don't like, so I don't read nor post in them.

I know, why pass up an opportunity to bash a person for their beliefs, right? The Darkness hates the Light, for it exposes sin. There's no sense hanging out in the Religion Forum, there is no Darkness there.

So you can discern special knowledge in the Bible which others cannot?



There's a word for that - it's called Gnosticism.



 

You implied that some posters here are literally messengers of the devil.  That goes above and beyond "bashing" a belief.  I may suggest you're wrong.  In some threads, I'd go so far as to suggest certain beliefs are outright ridiculous and insulting to any post-Enlightenment sensibility.  I would not suggest, however, that you, or anyone else, is part of some vast mission, supernatural or otherwise, that seeks to harm or destroy.



Likewise, for someone who fancies the thought of Light exposing anything, one would assume you'd be open to a discussion about scriptural origins of the ideas.  The only one encouraging Darkness here is you.



Now, I hope someone starts quoting scripture and explaining it, because Wikipedia is killin' me tonight.



 

That's almost funny. We all have choices to make, if those that don't believe are wrong, well, I'm sure you know the rest. I have Faith and I believe, no one can take that away or make me change.

The choices you make on Earth can be an Eternity of misery or happiness. I've suffered enough, and look forward to an Eternity of Joy and Happiness.

Let me see if I got this right. You don't believe, but since I do I'm a fool and deserve to be ridiculed?

I worded that particularly to avoid suggesting that.  But, by God, you knew I thought it, though.



Are you a warlock?



 

I believe Rapture will come...when we screw ourselves over by using WMD's on each other, I believe thats a sign to god to start ,till that day comes I dont belive it will happen

I think one of those interesting aspects of the belief spectrum is how much man-made destruction is mixed in with nature or supernatural-born destruction.



The former allows for way too much meddling to let me sleep well at night.  Much like an Iranian leader might wish to usher in the apocalypse, so might some folks in the West in the event they believed the time was nigh.  Highly unlikely, but an interesting thought experiment.
 

There is a reason why Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and PREACH THE GOSPEL rather than "Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the rapture to every creature."

Saved souls will be ready while those dead in their sins.....  well rapture or no rapture, they still end up in hell.

Simple truth:

No one is "good"  - all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Sinners need a Saviour, and that Saviour is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ died for our sins because the wages of sin is death.

But because Jesus IS LIFE and IS HOLY he rose from the dead.

He forgives sin and grants everlasting life to those who turn to him and trust his finished work on the cross.

What you choose to do with Jesus Christ matters for all eternity.

It will be a horrible way to spend eternity wishing you had never been born, and knowing forever that God had his arm outstretched toward you, but you wanted no part in Him.

Reading now OP
http://www.christinyou.net/pages/rapture.html






     



     



     



     



     



     



     



     

Classic Pre-trib bait and switch. Do yourself a favor. Go back, read all those quotations in context. Read a couple chapters before and after. You will find NOTHING about the described events taking place seven years ahead of time.

......OOOOORRRRR  it's an ancient religion from the Middle East and totally mythological...

OP, I will read what you write in the rest of your reserved posts but you seem to be falling into the trap of believing your personal interpretation of the Bible is correct and infallible, that you have more insight into the meaning of the word of God than anyone who interprets the Bible differently.

Well played.

love it!

There will be only ONE second coming of Chirst, no "secret" rapture and nobody knows the date or time. The rest is all Satan's propaganda courtesy of arrogant, prideful heritics.

The rapture taught about in the NT is not the second coming.

In the teaching of the rapture, Christ never touches down on earth.  He comes in the clouds

The two events are different from each other





 

Mah mama said... mah Mama said physics is the devil.

Tagged for later.

No wonder nobody seems to be worried about the deficit, social security, or medicare.  Raptures a comin!  Change you can believe in

Shit, I'm gonna stop payments on my bass boat

I was going to say mental illness?

Eta not a general religion or Christian insult, only directed at those who hear special messages from God that others cannot –– we call that a psychotic feature.

It's the same reason people believe conspiracy theories. It makes them feel like they have special, unique knowledge about an important event/person/etc. and therefore makes them feel important.

How do you think American Fundamentalism got started?



 

tag for interests

This thread is not dead!..

Sorry it has taken so long to update but I am not finished yet..I hope to finish in the next couple of days!