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Friday, May 13, 2011

Rapture Ready?--lol--I Don't Think So

 
There are various denominations of Christianity such as Baptists and Pentecostals, which believe in a form "rapture," and this post is an explanation of this belief, and why it is, according to Jesus, moot. It is only the supposed words of Paul that have Christians in a tizzy wondering when/if they will be "caught in the clouds" with their god, which illustrates Paul's authority over that of Jesus.

In any case, according to the predictions made by Christian fundamentalist Harold Camping, in a little more than a week many Christians around the globe are expecting to be "caught up" with their god in the clouds and be on their way to paradise, while those left on earth go through a "tribulation" period for 3.5 - 7 years (or 6 months if you believe Camping). This is the time in which the rest of us are supposed to experience hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain and suffering--which will wipe out more than 75% of all life before the "Second Coming" of Christ takes place. Yes, their god hasn't learned much from his experiences with Noah, (as killing everything did not do anything to alleviate the problems of "sin."--which is why he had to send himself/Jesus to "save" the world--which also has not worked out too well) but at least this time he isn't planning on wiping out ALL life--including newborns, kittens and puppies. This time he is only going to wipe out 75%-80% of the newborns, kittens and puppies! Yes, this time, instead of killing everyone except for a drunken sailor and his family of misfits (i.e. Noah and kin), he is actually going to let 20- 25% of living things "survive" through it all!* It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it. (Please note the sarcasm.)

Below are some of the verses, written by Paul, which Christians cite to explain their belief in the rapture:

"...and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be raptured (or "caught up") together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 1Thess. 4:15-17

and:

"Take notice, I am telling you a secret. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed" I Corinthians 15:51-52


Well, I hate to burst their bubble (I am kidding of course) but according to Paul, and what Jesus supposedly said, there is not going to be a "rapture." In fact, Paul alluded to the return of Jesus within his own generation in the passages above, and in various other passages. (1 Cor 7:29; 10:11; 15:51)

In Matthew 10, Jesus said that he would return within the generation of the disciples. It is in this chapter that Jesus tells his disciples to preach ONLY to the lost sheep of Israel, and NOT to go to Samaria, or anywhere else for that matter, as the kingdom of heaven was already "near":

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “DO NOT go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near." Matt 10:5-7

Jesus made it known to his disciples that they would not finish their task, or "taste death" until he returned:

"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes." Matthew 10:23

"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16:27-28

" I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." Matthew 24:34

So what does this tell us? It tells us that Jesus was only interested in saving the Jews--not everyone else. It was only later on, when he was not getting his "message" across to the Jews that the "never-changing god" changed his mind and told his disciples to "preach to all nations." (Matt 28:19)  Why?  Because by that time, the Jews understood he was a fraud, and his real father was a Roman soldier named Panthera.  If he could not convince the Jews, Jesus and his crew had to seek out others who would buy their schtick, which is why they aimed for the lowliest of the low--as they would more likely welcome the "false hope" that was offered to them. 

The "rapture" is another form of false hope, and will not happen.  A generation is in fact, a generation, and all those people Jesus supposedly spoke to are now dead. This means everything that was supposed to have happened, has already happened according to the bible, and therefore, there will be no "rapture" --according to the words of Jesus. It is those Christians that favor the twisted words of Paul over the words of Jesus that believe in a rapture, as Jesus made it clear he was to return within the "generation" of his disciples.

So enjoy life everyone! The so-called "rapture" is just one of literally hundreds of failed prophecies since the dawn of Christianity.  (If you click on the link, scroll down. The "Botched Doomsday Prophecies" are in red.) 

I am so looking forward to May 22...:)


.*Understanding End Times Prophecy: A Comprehensive Approach
 By Paul N. Benware

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have really put a damper on my hopes for a "rapture" of some sort. Oh well...life will go on!

Anonymous said...

sbj1964 Loved it great post !

Anonymous said...

great post im a christian but im sick and tired of this ppl like this May 21 asshole playing on the faith of many ppl I hope he burns for playing off their religous hopes but also I feel bad for the followers of this nut job for not reading into it themselve "Lambs to the slaughter" hes no better then david koresch

Anonymous said...

Epic, Awesome; I Love It!!

solomon said...

But you all should be ready when that sort of day comes.

Shimon said...

I Like how the link you posted says it is very unlikely that he is Jesus's father.

Also you are twisting scripture to make it say what you want it to say you are just as bad as Harold

Shimon said...

actually I gotta take back the as bad as Harold because at least you approve disagreeing comments Harold wouldn't do so.

A is for Atheist said...

@ Shimon,

I do not twist scripture, I use it as it is written in the bible, and do not give it any meaning that is not in the context--that is what Christians do. I offer better explanations based on consistency and argumentation. Christians use the "Humpty Dumpty" method"--that is, they make words mean whatever they want them to mean.

Pantera could be jesus' father--there is more evidence for that to be true, than there is for Jesus being god, or the son of a god.

A is for Atheist said...

@Shimon

BTW-Good scholars always give both sides of the argument. Doing so does not mean I made a contradiction. Christians are used to only hearing one side of the argument. If you want to learn more about this process, see the post on the "best explanation."

Anonymous said...

Professor of history, Kamal Salibi at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, published years ago books about Christianity including a book entitled The Bible Came from Arabia which he published both in Arabic and English. Kamal Salibi made a comprehensive research and found out that many names of places mentioned in the Old Testament were actually in Saudi Arabia. Among details he also mentioned a tomb discovered in Germany as far as I remember and the name of the person interred in that tomb mentioned Ben Pantera. By the way Ben in Arabic means son.

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