THE END OF DAYS: Maybe not...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

One of the stories making the news while I was in Yellowstone was a prediction of the “End of Days” on Saturday, 21^st of May by some old religious crackpot (Harold Camping) with money to burn.

Since Yellowstone is a volcano that spews steam and stuff constantly, this would be a great place to start the end of days but alas, these predictions never come to fruition and there have been many, many predictions and predictors throughout our history.

This one was a little different because there was money behind the prediction so full page ads were taken out in all major papers so everyone was aware of the prediction. Now that the day has passed quietly, Camping says what all those who predict the end, say; I miscalculated.

The problem with Christian Eschatology is that it is somewhat based on the Bible which is very problematic. Jesus predicted the coming of the kingdom of God upon his death. When that did not happen, St. Paul tried to say that it will happen a little later and that is where we get all that “Rapture” nonsense.

I was pleased to read about reactions to this prediction stunt by Christian pastors around the country. I have been talking about a “turn” in Christian thinking where the literal Bible is not being taken literally to the absurd degree.

These new Christian leaders downplay the “second coming, heaven & hell and judgment day” and urge their followers to focus on what Jesus did and what he said. They even go so far as to say that all people have a chance to be saved and not just Christians.

That is a mighty big “turn” in Christian thinking because for all these centuries, Christians said that unless you accept Christ (Christianity) you are automatically doomed no matter how good of a person you are.

The new thinking is that Jesus wanted a heaven on earth and that is what he meant about the Kingdom of God is upon us. Well we will never know what Jesus meant or even said because there were no tape recorders then and no one in Jesus’ party knew how to write either BUT:

 I must admit I like this new “turn” in Christian thinking because it is more beneficial to people, bringing them together in shared humanity instead of pitting people against each other because of their competing religious beliefs.

The Catholics, on the other hand, still maintain that only Catholics will be saved…hmmm…

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• Changing Sides (new.exchristian.net)
• Heaven, Hell, and who goes where (wonderingpreacher.wordpress.com)
• Proactive Compassion and Christ's Kingdom (Part One) (lifebrook.wordpress.com)
• Miss the Rapture? (craigkuehn.wordpress.com)