A belief in the Second Coming obviously is not just a Mormon or modern belief. It is clear in the Old and
New Testaments, as well as in the Book of Mormon - and lots of
non-Christian texts, as well. People all throughout history have
thought their time was so wicked that the world would be destroyed. We
(modern Christians, not just Mormons) have reinterpreted Biblical
warnings about "the last days" to be about our time, but they weren't
seen that way when they were written and spoken back in the day. At
that time, the warnings weren't seen as being about a long-future time; they were
about the immediate or relatively near future.
I don't believe strongly this is
the beginning of the end - but I believe we now have more power to cause
the end than humans ever have possessed. In that regard, I understand
modern millennial prophecies and beliefs well enough not to ridicule and
dismiss them. We have the capability of annihilating ourselves, so end time prophecies make more sense now than they have at any other point in history.
Also, it can
be useful to understand that our individual earthly end is near - but that
reading is based on a recognition that classic end-of-the-world
prophecies have not been accurate for thousands of years. It's a
productive repackaging of the statements, if you will, so I have no
problem whatsoever with it and have used it on occasion, but it still is
a repackaging.
When it comes to "the end times", my own standard is, "No man knoweth the time"
- so I can chalk up everything else as generalized messages about
preparing for the end of the world, whether that be my own life or the
literal end of human existence on this earth.
Charmed
4 days ago
1 comment:
Well, I'm personally looking forward to the "End Times" because, well, we've got it all wrong! (You heard it here first). Armageddon, Schwarmageddon. You see, the scary parts of Revelations, Daniel, etc. were written tongue-in cheek. It's really set to play out like this:
Some spring afternoon, Jesus is going to come back to earth. CNN will cover it all. He'll announce "Look, this whole earth existence has gotten way out of hand. And since we've now run out of spirits to give bodies to, I've decided to come back and set things in order. Satan and his followers have been sent to live on Venus, none of the weapons in the world work any more, and the love that's buried deep in your soul from your pre-mortal time with the Father can finally come out. I'm throwing a big festival in Cache Valley, Utah that you're all invited to, with smaller versions of it at an LDS stake center nearest you."
It's gonna be awesome!!!
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