[ironknee]

i'm keeping it geeral however you think the end of the world/time is\\again within your lifetime

let's keep this civil

[Millennium]

For purposes of this question, do you accept only physical destruction, or philosophical ends as well, such as radical societal change on a global scale?

[dcmacdaddy]

I voted "I hope so".

Let's have humanity do something REALLY stupid to eliminate human life from the planet and let Mother Nature start over.
I mean, there is nothing any of us can do to mkae the whole world end as that won't happen for another 4-5 billion years.

[REB3L]

I think it's safe to say that my world will end within my lifetime. Same goes for all of you.

[Big Mac]

What happened to your keyboard while you were typing the poll question, ironknee? Anyway, eschatology is always an interesting topic. I will be the first one to vote in the absolute affirmative. I plan to live a good long while, and the circumstances in the present day indicate to me that we are approaching the end of the current state of the earth, to culminate in divine revelation. If anyone is interested in knowing more about the theology to which I am alluding, take a look at Jewish end-times beliefs.

[Zimphire]

Don't have any clue.

No one does.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

Don't have any clue.

No one does.

But surely you have an opinion.

[budster101]

He stated his opinion.

[Zimphire]

Indeed.

[chabig]

On April 29th, the world will be destroyed. See it in a theater near you!

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by Millennium

For purposes of this question, do you accept only physical destruction, or philosophical ends as well, such as radical societal change on a global scale?

hmmm good quesion..well i guess either will do

and oh sorry for my typing

[SVass]

In the last twenty years, I have read scientific predictions from high ranking government people for the following: All oil will be used; Everyone will die from AIDS; Social Security will go bankrupt; Global Warming will kill us; Our annual debt interest payments will exceed our national income; and Our average life span will exceed 100. In January, obesity killed 400,000 people per year. Today it was discovered that obesity only kills 26,000. Who or what killed the other 374,000 americans last year? Is the end of the world creeping up behind us? sam

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by REB3L

I think it's safe to say that my world will end within my lifetime. Same goes for all of you.

yes agreed...when i die, the world will die (for me), i think ayn rand said something like that once...

but in general, that war, germs, jesus returning, the sky falling, a black pope, you know...

what i don't mean is eventually the sun will die and so will our planet (millions of years from now)

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by ironknee

i'm keeping it geeral however you think the end of the world/time is\\again within your lifetime

let's keep this civil

OK, I'm thinking: "Why would anyone care?". Let me explain.

I'm assuming that everything will cease to be at the end of the world, of course. Everyone will die and the planet (or the Universe itself) will cease to be.

So why care? If it happens - well you die. If it doesn't happen, you'll die anyway (old age, whatever) so why concern yourself?

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

OK, I'm thinking: "Why would anyone care?". Let me explain.

I'm assuming that everything will cease to be at the end of the world, of course. Everyone will die and the planet (or the Universe itself) will cease to be.

So why care? If it happens - well you die. If it doesn't happen, you'll die anyway (old age, whatever) so why concern yourself?

i hear ya...again i don't mean millions of years from now when the sun explodes

there are people who think the "end time" will happen...not in millions of years but within their lifetime (unfortunatly, every generation since jesus' time thought so too) ...back in he year 1000, people would give away their properties to the church to get ready for...jesus...some people even sold tickets for the best place to see the end time...

crazy dark age dummies? or is this the ultimate desire for christians even if they don't admit it to outsider...

end time as in revalations, the"rapture" second coming etc... for me i have my money on millions of years from now

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

Don't have any clue.

No one does.

But some people sure think they do.

[Kilbey]

I voted : "I hope so"

I only hope the prophecies of the Bible take place before I die simply for the fact that, I don't really want to go through death.

[ironknee]

"I don't mind death, i just don't want to be there when it happens."

woody allen

[RonnieoftheRose]

Originally Posted by SVass

In the last twenty years, I have read scientific predictions from high ranking government people for the following: All oil will be used; Everyone will die from AIDS; Social Security will go bankrupt; Global Warming will kill us; Our annual debt interest payments will exceed our national income; and Our average life span will exceed 100. In January, obesity killed 400,000 people per year. Today it was discovered that obesity only kills 26,000.

Only in America. The best of you lot will abandon ship long before.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Kilbey

I voted : "I hope so"

I only hope the prophecies of the Bible take place before I die simply for the fact that, I don't really want to go through death.

If you are not joking, would you explain that a bit better?

[Secret__Police]

The World will end when the Sun at the last stages of life expands into a Red Giant and consumes
Mercury, Venus, Earth and perhaps Mars.

After a few billion years the center of a star runs out of protons (nuclei of hydrogen atoms). What is left is a core or central region made of alphas (nuclei of helium atoms). The outer layers of the star still contain hydrogen, but they are not hot enough to fuse.
Because it has run out of fuel, the star begins to cool, and contract. The outer layers of the star fall inwards under gravity, and as they fall they heat up. A shell surrounding the central core becomes hot enough to fuse protons into alphas. So the star gains a new source of energy. The core of the star is now hotter than it was during its normal life and this heat causes the outer parts of the star to swell. The star becomes a giant. The radiation from the fusing shell has grown weak by the time it reaches the surface of the star. Weak radiation is red, so the star becomes a red giant.

Meanwhile inside the shell, the core of the star shrinks and heats up enough to fuse the helium nuclei together into even heavier ones. Among the commonest nuclei are carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Heavier and heavier nuclei are created inside a red giant, the heaviest nearest the middle. At its center are iron nuclei.

These fusions release only a little more energy, so they keep the red giant burning for a little longer. But they do not produce as much energy as the fusion of protons. Iron nuclei cannot be used as fuel because they need to be given energy to make them fuse. So iron nuclei collect in the heart of a red giant star.

[budster101]

The earth is going to end far sooner than anyone can guess. A very large asteroid is going to slam into us long before the Sun burns out, or any other nonsense. Human civilization would sooner blow itself up as well...

[SVass]

Originally Posted by budster101

The earth is going to end far sooner than anyone can guess. A very large asteroid is going to slam into us long before the Sun burns out, or any other nonsense. Human civilization would sooner blow itself up as well...

This will not happen because some have proposed that we initiate a solar system wide search for dangerous objects and nuke them before they reach us. (That was before the same people thought up the need for stealthy aircraft carriers as a place to spend our money.) sam

[Secret__Police]

Originally Posted by SVass

This will not happen because some have proposed that we initiate a solar system wide search for dangerous objects and nuke them before they reach us.......... sam

Funniest thing I have read today.

[nredman]

Originally Posted by SVass

This will not happen because some have proposed that we initiate a solar system wide search for dangerous objects and nuke them before they reach us. (That was before the same people thought up the need for stealthy aircraft carriers as a place to spend our money.) sam

as long as we have bruce willis we will be fine

[Millennium]

Do I believe that the world will physically end? No. That said, I do believe that at some point in the next 100 years, there is a radical change in global society coming, and not for the better. I believe that in my lifetime this will either actually happen, or it will become both imminent and obvious to most but too late to stop.

[Fonzie]

I just read that the Andromeda galaxy is heading our way with million of kilometers per hour. I guess we wont be safe for much longer. I voted that it will happen in my lifetime because i'm a pessimist.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Millennium

Do I believe that the world will physically end? No. That said, I do believe that at some point in the next 100 years, there is a radical change in global society coming, and not for the better. I believe that in my lifetime this will either actually happen, or it will become both imminent and obvious to most but too late to stop.

It's going to happen in 2061, the year we make First Contact.

Seriously, I do share your pessimism. I forefee something cataclysmic happening among disparate global communities that portends great upheaval and chaos on a global scale. Sorta how Western European culture went through a couple centuries of darkness before emerging into the light of the Renaissance. I see 21st-century earth heading towards a similar dark period that will probably take a few centuries to get through. Assuming, of course, we don't obliterate humanity in the process.

And quite honestly, I am not sure such a reat global conflagration would not be the best thing for humanity. Maybe it is something we need to move through as a collective culture to get beyond the petty and pedestrian concerns that consume us now. And then there might be two thousand years of relative stability before humanity implodes on itself again. I have no doubt this process is cyclical, I am just surprised, and a little saddened, that I might see it in my lifetime.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

It's going to happen in 2061, the year we make First Contact.

Seriously, I do share your pessimism. I forefee something cataclysmic happening among disparate global communities that portends great upheaval and chaos on a global scale. Sorta how Western European culture went through a couple centuries of darkness before emerging into the light of the Renaissance. I see 21st-century earth heading towards a similar dark period that will probably take a few centuries to get through. Assuming, of course, we don't obliterate humanity in the process.

Exactly. As you've said, I believe this sort of thing is cyclical, and that we're living in a downswing. Whether or not we're in the end-stage of that downswing or simply very close to it is debatable, but the signs definitely point to us being on the back end of it.

[zizban]

Uh....no

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by Millennium

Exactly. As you've said, I believe this sort of thing is cyclical, and that we're living in a downswing. Whether or not we're in the end-stage of that downswing or simply very close to it is debatable, but the signs definitely point to us being on the back end of it.

funny how the reds and bush are in charge right now...i blame constantine for "going native" and we had the first dark age and the fundies for the next dark age

[Kilbey]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

If you are not joking, would you explain that a bit better?

According to the bible, all living believers alive during the rapture will be taken directly to Heaven, and all non-believers will suffer through an Anti-Christ's reign.

[Kilbey]

Originally Posted by SVass

This will not happen because some have proposed that we initiate a solar system wide search for dangerous objects and nuke them before they reach us. (That was before the same people thought up the need for stealthy aircraft carriers as a place to spend our money.) sam

Are you really such a fruitcake to believe this? Your ignorance of astronomy is astounding.

[Millennium]

Originally Posted by ironknee

funny how the reds and bush are in charge right now...i blame constantine for "going native" and we had the first dark age and the fundies for the next dark age

I believe that this downswing began long before anyone named Bush ever held the office of President. Governments have surprisingly little power when it comes to things like this; for all their laws, they have no real power when a whole society falls into decline. Frankly, I think Bush recognizes the warning signs and is trying to stop it, but it doesn't matter: he will fail, because he doesn't understand that law is not what is needed here.

[SimpleLife]

OMG!!!

It's the 'NN of the World!

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kilbey

According to the bible, all living believers alive during the rapture will be taken directly to Heaven, and all non-believers will suffer through an Anti-Christ's reign.

So, you think the end of the world is defined in terms of the biblical end-times? Fair enough.
I for one think it will be a globally catastrophic military exchange (think nuclear war or a massive biological terrorism campaign).
Either way, we both end up dead.

[Kilbey]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

So, you think the end of the world is defined in terms of the biblical end-times? Fair enough.
I for one think it will be a globally catastrophic military exchange (think nuclear war or a massive biological terrorism campaign).
Either way, we both end up dead.

In your beliefs, yes.

In my beliefs, no. I won't die if the rapture takes place in my lifetime.

Luckily we have the freedom in America to believe what we want.

[Zimphire]

Originally Posted by Luca Rescigno

But some people sure think they do.

Not really going to go into detail reading that. But if they are just showing signs, that isn't the same as setting a date.

[Taliesin]

No one knows when the last day will arrive, it could be today or in billions of years, only God knows it.

Taliesin

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kilbey

In your beliefs, yes.

In my beliefs, no. I won't die if the rapture takes place in my lifetime.

Luckily we have the freedom in America to believe what we want.

Umm, you won't die if you go straight to heaven? You mean your body goes with you, heart still beating, and not just your spirit? That's pretty cool.
What happens to those who are already dead? Does their body get re-animated or are they just in spirit form when they go up to heaven during the Rapture?

[Kilbey]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Umm, you won't die if you go straight to heaven? You mean your body goes with you, heart still beating, and not just your spirit? That's pretty cool.
What happens to those who are already dead? Does their body get re-animated or are they just in spirit form when they go up to heaven during the Rapture?

Straight to Heaven. No death. I am not sure about the body/spirit part.

Here's a verse that covers it a little.

Matthew 20:30-32

Matthew 22:30-32 New International Version (NIV)
30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about the resurrection of the dead�have you not read what God said to you, 32�I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob�? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.�

[Zimphire]

Elijah never died either.

He just got snatched up.

II Kings 2:11-12 "As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel! And Elisha saw him no more."

Enoch was also taken from this life so that he would not experience death.

Hebrews 11:5 "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because god had taken him away. for before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

From what I have read about the rapture, no Christian bodies will be left behind. Not even the dead ones.

"Like a thief in the night"

http://contenderministries.org/prophecy/rapturetrib.php

The word rapture (in Greek harpazo, in Latin rapere) means to be caught up or taken away suddenly

The rapture refers to the sudden removal of all of God's people on the earth. In the twinkling of an eye, born again Christians will suddenly be transformedout of our human bodies and will rise up into the air to join Jesus Christ.

"Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth."

When the rapture does occur, billions of people will be left behind full of surprise and shock at the disappearances of their loved ones, friends, and acquaintances.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

I Thessalonians 5:4,9-10 "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him."

Isaiah 26:19-21 "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust awake and shout for joy. For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Come, my people, enter into your rooms, And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while, Until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed, and will no longer cover her slain.

BTW, This is also why I tell the people who claim the God of the NT is different than the God of the OT to read Revelations before they say that.

[ironknee]

so...one day all the god people will be gone (to heaven) leavng the rest of us on earth...sounds like a par-teh!

edit: btw, i understand everyone will be 35 years old in heaven

[Zimphire]

Originally Posted by ironknee

so...one day all the god people will be gone (to heaven) leavng the rest of us on earth...sounds like a par-teh!

Ah, but those left will also have their chance at the kingdom.

There is still free will at this point. As long as you don't take the mark of the beast.

Once the mark is taken, free will is gone, and so is your soul.

But you can't say you weren't given any chance I guess.

There is always the choice out there. You and you alone are responsible for it.

There will be no trial lawyers to get you out of it.

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

Ah, but those left will also have their chance at the kingdom.

There is still free will at this point. As long as you don't take the mark of the beast.

Once the mark is taken, free will is gone, and so is your soul.

the mark? 666?

[Zimphire]

Originally Posted by ironknee

the mark? 666?

Well the number of the beast is 666, and that is what they say the mark is. But what that represents is beyond me.

It could very well be 666.

I can very well see people doing such a thing as a "poke" at religion at the time this is supposed to be happening.

The Bible says it will be obvious to those who care what is going on even before the rapture.

There will always be those stubborn ones in denial. Egos can make ones common sense go away.

[RIRedinPA]

I'm looking forward to the rapture... because then the rest of us can divvy up the devout's stuff.

[Zimphire]

You can have it.

Why will I need the iPod I have, when I get to heaven, I will get one of those ultra cool golden iPods made by God.

[RIRedinPA]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

You can have it.

Why will I need the iPod I have, when I get to heaven, I will get one of those ultra cool golden iPods made by God.

Where's heaven?

[ebuddy]

I believe one piece of evidence or "timetable" if you will is the 'Digital Angel' or chip implant. This is in Revelations 13:16-18; 16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

When we leave the current monetary system, going completely cashless and contingent entirely upon a chip implant, People familiar with this passage of Scripture will have a clear choice to make. This will be the replacement of dependance on God; 7, by dependance wholly upon man; 6. There are many references throughout the Bible regarding God's number and the number of man. Man is less than God. God is 7, man is 6. This is the meaning. It also seems some calculating will be required to arrive at this figure, but in my humbled opinion, I think a chip in the right hand or forehead will suffice as evidence and affirmation of Scripture as it will be needed for any commerce. I will not be in line to get one nor will anyone in my family if I have any influence at all. This, no doubt will put adhering Christians in a particular place of "hindering progress" and they will have to find alternate ways of surviving.