Book Of Relevations

Book of Revelations

When will the end come? It is human nature for humans to ask questions. Many of these questions are without answers and there is no possible way to come up with one. A common question that plagues the human race is "When will the world end?" For thousands of years, astrologers and psychics have been trying to come up with clues to when it all will end. There is a source, the Bible, which aids humans, specifically Christians, in trying to come up with some answers. Many places in the Bible such as Revelations, Ezekiel, Matthew, Daniel, and I Corinthians all give some clues to how and when the end of the world will come. Two articles that give some insight on this subject are "Visions or Heaven, Dreams of the End" by Barbara E. Bowe and "Are We Living at the End Time?" by Alfred McBride and O. Praem. These articles help to aid us with the answers to such questions as: How will the end time happen? Does the Bible tell more of a symbolic happening or are all of those horrible things going to happen? They also give details and hints that happen all over the Bible, such as the number seven. In the article " Are We Living at the End Time," authors McBride and Praem look at the end time from a millenarian's perspective and backs up their claims with the Bible. Instead of using the Church's four end time happenings: death, judgement, heaven and hell, the millenarian uses it's own four criteria: Rapture, tribulation, millennium, and the Second Coming. Looking at these questions in a theological way, by asking questions, the authors make these four criteria easier to understand (McBride & Pream, 58). The first question asked is "When will we experience Rapture?" The millenarian looks specifically at Paul's letters to the Thessalonians and to the Corinthians. In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, he uses imagery to describe to them what Rapture will be like when Christ returns. He tells the Thessalonians in 1Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we'll be with the Lord forever." (New International Version) This is what millenarians call the Rapture and think this is exactly what will happen. They also except the concept of the three heavens. The concept is that God has put the sun, moon, and stars into a huge dome, and above the dome is where the Trinity, angels, and saints "live". The Catholic Church, even though they do not speak of the Rapture (McBride & Praem, 65) believes that we will be with God someday. They are not sure though how this will happen (McBride & Praem, 58). The second question a millenarian would ask is "What about the years of tribulation?" A millenarian says that there will be seven years of tribulation. They base this claim on the happenings in the book of Revelations. In the Book of Revelations the number seven is used several times like, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and so on. Nevertheless, millenarians are not sure when all of this will happen. The Catholic Church believes though that the tribulations will come along with the Second Coming. The third question is "What, exactly, is meant by millennium?" In the American Heritage Dictionary, millennium is defined as " In the NT, a thousand-year period in which Jesus is to reign on Earth." (American Heritage Dictionary, 529). This same definition is found in The Book of Revelations 20:1-6 (McBride & Praem, 61). Millenarians believe that after the seven years of tribulations and the Battle of Armageddon, comes the millennium as described in Revelations, will come. The final question is " When can we expect the Second Coming?" Millenarians believe that the Second Coming is the last criteria for the end of the world. Not only do millenarians believe that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. They also believe that God will send the unrepentant sinners to hell and the just to heaven. However, they are constantly trying to pin down an exact date. Contrasting that, the Catholic Church believes that it is not important when this will happen, but to be ready when it does (McBride & Praem, 65-66). The whole gist of this article is that "because we have faith, in immediate union with Jesus through the power of the human spirit, we can get on with our lives," (McBride & Praem, 66) and basically its everyday activities. The religious happening do not have to be taken literal but maybe in some sort of symbolic meaning. What I learned from this article was that sometimes certain groups may take what the Bible says very literal. I think that often the Bible may use symbolism to make a point. In the letter written to the Thessalonians from Paul, he uses imagery to show them how the Rapture will happen. Back then the people very much believed in the three heavens,