Okay, just wondering about a couple of things related to this whole Rapture thing today.
1) This seems to be a Christian thing. What happened to the whole “Chosen People” deal? Seriously, don’t the Jews have a contract?
2) In the unlikely event that I “ascend” (can’t help but think of Stargate here, sorry), what happens to my dog? Or, on the other side, what about if my dog goes on up to doggie heaven (much more likely than the first scenario)? Can I go too?
I was taught about the rapture as a part of Sunday school at a West Baptist church in California. I spent the night at my best friend’s house on a Saturday and joined them on church on a Sunday. This suited my mother as it meant she had Saturday nights free but I suspect she would have been horrified if she knew what they were teaching us there!
Now what I was taught differs slightly from what this guy is predicting. He seems to have skipped over the first stage.
My recollection is there is the initial rapture when all the True Believers ascend and the rest of us look around in horror. Then the tribulations start: God turns his back on those left behind. We suffer a horrific, terrible life and are forced to get the mark of the beast in order to get food, drink, q-tips, everything. Then those who survive that experience the final judgment at which point all those who belatedly accepted Christ *and* did not accept the mark of the beast get to rise up and be rescued. The rest all die. The End.
This guy is saying we’re already in the tribulation (so I’m not sure why the “good” Christians aren’t gone already) and that today is the final judgment. Except he says that then we get another 6 months before we actually reach the end for no apparently reason. I’ve read books which end like that…
To answer your questions based on what we were told at the West Baptist church:
1) You have to accept Christ as your savior and be born again. Jews may not apply unless they declare Jesus to be the son of God and thank him for saving them.
2) No animals ascend. Dogs do not have souls and do not go to any heaven. This was a major sticking point for me as a child, actually.
05.21.11 at 9:17 am
Q-tips? You know, I always assumed it would all boil down to personal hygiene.
05.23.11 at 10:21 am