Mega Quake in Turkey signals the end of time

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1/4 to 1/3 of the European population perished during the Black Death in the 14th century….now there was a ripe time for a end-of-the-world prophecy!

Did the world end then?

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 12 Feb 2023, 9:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

No doubt it was a ripe time. From a purely theological POV I think it's less "hey, the world is going to end tomorrow" and more "your time on earth is short, repent NOW."

Thing is, to the Christian, as long as you're saved it doesn't matter whether Jesus comes back or you die of plague first. Revelation and other apocalyptic Biblical passages let us know what it will look like when it's really, finally over, and also reminds us God is in control and that the majority of us will never have to endure it.

But in the days since Jesus ascended, wars/rumors of wars, plagues, etc. have been predicted to happen and HAVE happened. I don't think it's so much that we should expect an escalation of wars/etc. in our own lifetime because we've lived in relative peace since WW2. I interpret that as a movement towards righteousness which does have the effect of diminishing God's wrath whether we actually believe in God or not (non-believers happen to value the same things believers do). I sometimes think that another way to interpret wars/rumors of wars/etc. is that the world will continue the way it always has, business as usual, and when the end comes, it won't be expected.

I think all of this “end of time” business is tied in to people being pattern seekers.

Bad things happen with no rhyme or reason. It’s just life.

There were worse times than the present to be alive.

Earthquakes happened in the past. They’re happening now. They will happen in the future. It’s just part of being an Earthling.

People on the West Coast of the US know earthquakes all too well.

Very true. Idk about "pattern seeking," it's been the pattern throughout time. So I guess a way of looking at it is that the actual end of the world won't look any different than any other period of time.

I do think that events closer to the actual end will probably be more intense than at any other time.

It's just amusing to me any time disasters are described as apocalyptic or Armageddon. It's certainly easy to see things as happening at Biblical proportions.

People are pattern-seekers. People tend to see faces in wood grain and things like that. It has a strong evolutionary basis because it allowed our ancestors to instantaneously interpret stimuli and react accordingly whether there was true danger or not. Reacting quickly sometimes saved lives. In other words, it was a beneficial trait that got passed on.

Another core issue is that it’s comforting to think that there’s a rhyme and reason for things rather than the chaos that we have. There are reasons for earthquakes, of course, like the shifting of tectonic plates, but there’s no divine pattern outside of that.

It’s easier for people to conclude that it’s divine retribution (as the Puritans would) or the sign of the end as some people still do.

In the first scenario, people can think: If I’m a good, little Puritan and avoid sinning, I’ll be a-okay. In the latter, people think: Yay, God’s Kingdom is nigh! In a way, it makes the suffering worthwhile because it’s a sign of better things to come. Both scenarios imply that things are still under control in some way. The reality is that bad things happen to good people and have done so ever since we became human (and before). It sucks but it’s the reality of our existence.

In other words, I think the tendency to see patterns is evolutionarily rooted and the psychology to want to see patterns is strongly at work, too. It’s less scary than the chaos and lack of meaning that we have.

To take some obvious well known examples of geological apocalyse:

Frisco was flattened by a quake in 1906, Lisbon Portugal was also in the 1700s, Pompeii by a volcano in 79 AD, the whole island of Crete got flattened and flooded by a tsunami generated by a volcano in 1500 BC. The world didnt end in any of those moments. And none of them where the fault of fracking by the oil industry either!

Indeed, except for San Francisco, they were all in the same Mediterranean/Middle Eastern part of the world as this quake.

Not only is this not 'a sign of the end times' its not even a sign of a "broken universe", unless you're postulating that God created the Universe broken in the first place...since Earthquakes have happened since the beginning of time.

St. Paul knew for sure that Christ would return in his lifetime (in the first century AD), and in every century since there have been Christians certain that they would live to see the Endtimes ...for the last 2000 years!

Yeah, I am in the f****d up line, not as much as bad as in the ring of fire, but still f****d up.

Whom does God want in Heaven?

whoever his magical book of words arbitrarily decides is allowed (not gay people)

Is God a bigot?

it cannot be known. however, his followers sure can be

Well, if God had any sense, then he wouldn't allow any of his followers into Heaven.

The gospels say God doesn't want anyone to die but for everyone to have eternal life.

Whether anyone chooses salvation and repentance is another matter. And I would say, regarding followers, that there are many nominal Christians out there. Simply professing to be saved and a follower of Christ doesn't make you one. If you hate Christians, you probably hate what Jesus stands for, you hate how many Christians act in contradiction to Jesus's example, or you're somewhere in between.

I'm not going to defend nor contradict Biblical teaching on homosexuality--anyone can read up on it and there's no point in denying that the OT has some things to say about it. But I will ask this question: Where in the gospels did Jesus say He hates gay people and wants to send them to hell?

I think it's more important for Christians to think about these kinds of things, listen to their conscience, and prayerfully draw our own conclusions. What's most important above all else is that we love ALL people the way Christ loves all people. More important than labeling things as sin is understanding that those guilty of sin are people God loves. As to judging who's going to be in heaven and who's not, that's not for us as Christians to decide or judge: we are ALL sinners.

The question of homosexuality is less theology and more about civil rights and politics. Is homosexuality disruptive to society, does it threaten the rights of individuals? Or is what happens between two consenting adults in their own bedroom nobody's business? And by disrupting society, I mean does it pose a real danger, not simply a matter of whether a majority of people like or approve of it. To put it into perspective, anyone is free to be a racist in thought since mere subjective ideas are not a threat to anyone. The institution of racial slavery, however, IS a threat and disruption to society. Is it possible to make the same argument for homosexuality?

Unfortunately, I have to leave it right there. Site rules and all, because any time you get into discussing that homosexuality MIGHT be a bad thing, even for the sake of discussion and argument, no matter what you do it's going to come across as insensitive. That is not my intention.

1. nowhere. Mr. of Nazareth was in many ways an exemplary guy, if blind and misinformed. Also, there's no way to know if he wrote any of the silly book.

2. Hell is a scare tactic designed to make people follow rules. If you do thing I don't like, you will writhe in agony for eternity. If you do thing I like, congratulations- you won a free pass to paradise forever.

3. That is my exact point! The Bible contradicts itself a LOT. The defense of literal vs not literal doesn't work when it's in response to facts and laws that the Bible states. Here are various examples: The Sabbath Day
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” — Exodus 20:8

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” — Romans 14:5

The Permanence of Earth
“… the earth abideth for ever.” — Ecclesiastes 1:4

“… the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” — 2Peter 3:10

Seeing God
“… I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” — Genesis 32:30

“No man hath seen God at any time…”– John 1:18

Human Sacrifice
“… Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God…” — Leviticus 18:21

[In Judges, though, the tale of Jephthah, who led the Israelites against the Ammonoites, is being told. Being fearful of defeat, this good religious man sought to guarantee victory by getting god firmly on his side. So he prayed to god] “… If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” — Judges 11:30-31

[The terms were acceptable to god — remember, he is supposed to be omniscient and know the future — so he gave victory to Jephthah, and the first whatsoever that greeted him upon his glorious return was his daughter, as god surely knew would happen, if god is god. True to his vow, the general made a human sacrifice of his only child to god!] — Judges 11:29-34

The Power of God
“… with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26

“…The LORD was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.” — Judges 1:19

Personal Injury
“…thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. ” — Exodus 21:23-25

“…ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” — Matthew 5:39


Trusting God
“A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD…” — Proverbs 12:2

Now consider the case of Job. After commissioning Satan to ruin Job financially and to slaughter his shepherds and children to win a petty bet with Satan. God asked Satan: “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” — Job 2:3

The Holy Lifestyle
“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart…” — Ecclesiastes 9:7

“…they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not…” — 1 Corinthians 7:30

Punishing Crime
“The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father…” — Ezekiel 18:20

“I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation…” — Exodus 20:5

Temptation
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” — James 1:13

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham…” — Genesis 22:1