The Rapture (Return of Christ) & Doomsday Predicted

[tonea2003]

but you believe this prediction of a rapture from the bible don't you as a fact.
how can you be so sure its not some made up gobboly guke?

I can't be sure, in my opinion it's true, I'm basing that on my experiences, nothing concrete.

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

 

[Stevinio]

What a mint sounding word rapture is...............

So when's Brian coming back?

 

[HamannCheese]

I can't be sure, in my opinion it's true, I'm basing that on my experiences, nothing concrete.

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Only God himself knows, I've also been told the Pope knows. Rumours though.

 

[tonea2003]

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Only God himself knows, I've also been told the Pope knows. Rumours though.

ho! ho! ho!

wonder when the pope gets told, once he gets in office or has he known from being knee high to a grasshopper and i bet he's reileved when he knows its not going to be on his shift.

 

[philinho]

I can't be sure, in my opinion it's true, I'm basing that on my experiences, nothing concrete.

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Maybe...

According to the bible, no one except the father knows but it does say certain things have to happen first (everyone in the whole word has to hear about Jesus and be given opportunity to be forgiven), and there will be signs that it's going to happen soon (wars all over the place amongst other things)

 

[tonea2003]

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Maybe...

According to the bible, no one except the father knows but it does say certain things have to happen first (everyone in the whole word has to hear about Jesus and be given opportunity to be forgiven), and there will be signs that it's going to happen soon (wars all over the place amongst other things)

this is where we get into credibility issues again, why wait until there are wars all over the place...more death and suffering. there has been constant warring ever since the last time it did one so what's the wait.
when it went last the time it would have been known i assume the future, i would of thought why wait i don't need this hassle.
on and on and on......
unless of course

 

[The Silver Surfer]

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Only God himself knows, I've also been told the Pope knows. Rumours though.

Hey, I don't know shit man !

I like telling Man U to fuck off when they turn up though... ;)

 

[ElanJo]

Yey.
Another science vs religion thread.
In the blue corner we have some stuff some people think might have happened,
In the red corner we have some stuff some people believe did happen,

Count me in with the people who think.

 

[burning blue soul]

this is all bullshit, the rapture happened last week, i came home from work and the mrs told me that my uncle mike has got a 'raptured spleen', nothing bad happened to me or anyone in my family that day (the wife did have another little headache when went to bed though). its all made up nonsense!!

 

[Damocles]

of course there is the nice little cop out of nobody knows apart from the deity itself. so you can keep the promise of the rapture going.
one question? is the date known and not telling or are we at the making ones mind up time?

Maybe...

According to the bible, no one except the father knows but it does say certain things have to happen first (everyone in the whole word has to hear about Jesus and be given opportunity to be forgiven), and there will be signs that it's going to happen soon (wars all over the place amongst other things)

There's a bit of a loophole here.

If the rapture is a certainty and only God knows when it will happen, this means that God has the knowledge of all human future.

Therefore, free will is just an illusion, as the end of all life has already been decided and is unchangeable no matter what we do.

 

[philinho]

Maybe...

According to the bible, no one except the father knows but it does say certain things have to happen first (everyone in the whole word has to hear about Jesus and be given opportunity to be forgiven), and there will be signs that it's going to happen soon (wars all over the place amongst other things)

There's a bit of a loophole here.

If the rapture is a certainty and only God knows when it will happen, this means that God has the knowledge of all human future.

Therefore, free will is just an illusion, as the end of all life has already been decided and is unchangeable no matter what we do.

Maybe, but foreknowledge is different to pre-destination.

God knows what you will do but he doesn't force you to do it, so free will still stands

 

[PSmyth07]

How did they predict it? Was they just walking along the street and said date went into their head?

 

[philinho]

How did they predict it? Was they just walking along the street and said date went into their head?

There are clues in the bible, and people make up all sorts of theories based on them...

I think the point the bible is trying to make is that, you don't know when it's going to happen, so time is of the essence and make sure you're ready. Jesus told a few parables along those lines (the ten virgins is the one that immediately pops into mind)

 

[Damocles]

There's a bit of a loophole here.

If the rapture is a certainty and only God knows when it will happen, this means that God has the knowledge of all human future.

Therefore, free will is just an illusion, as the end of all life has already been decided and is unchangeable no matter what we do.

Maybe, but foreknowledge is different to pre-destination.

God knows what you will do but he doesn't force you to do it, so free will still stands

Ok, if we're arguing semantically, can God create a stone that he cannot lift?

 

[philinho]

Maybe, but foreknowledge is different to pre-destination.

God knows what you will do but he doesn't force you to do it, so free will still stands

Ok, if we're arguing semantically, can God create a stone that he cannot lift?

In a way I suppose the answer is yes, He could create a stone, then he could say that he couldn't lift it, and then he wouldn't be able to lift.

God can't lie, because when he speaks that immediately becomes truth, so if he were to say 'I cannot life this stone' then He wouldn't be able too...

Obviously, I have no basis for that and the more appropriate response might be somewhere along the lines of 'Why on earth would He do that?' but I'm trying to take this discussion seriously :-)

 

[Damocles]

Ok, if we're arguing semantically, can God create a stone that he cannot lift?

In a way I suppose the answer is yes, He could create a stone, then he could say that he couldn't lift it, and then he wouldn't be able to lift.

God can't lie, because when he speaks that immediately becomes truth, so if he were to say 'I cannot life this stone' then He wouldn't be able too...

Obviously, I have no basis for that and the more appropriate response might be somewhere along the lines of 'Why on earth would He do that?' but I'm trying to take this discussion seriously :-)

If God cannot lift the stone, how can he be omnipotent?

 

[philinho]

In a way I suppose the answer is yes, He could create a stone, then he could say that he couldn't lift it, and then he wouldn't be able to lift.

God can't lie, because when he speaks that immediately becomes truth, so if he were to say 'I cannot life this stone' then He wouldn't be able too...

Obviously, I have no basis for that and the more appropriate response might be somewhere along the lines of 'Why on earth would He do that?' but I'm trying to take this discussion seriously :-)

If God cannot lift the stone, how can he be omnipotent?

Because in order for him to be unable to lift the stone, he would have to speak those words, therefore having the power to determine whether or not He can lift the stone.

According to dictionary.com omnipotence means
1 - almighty or infinite in power, as God.
2 - having very great or unlimited authority or power.

His authority, and therefore also his power is unlimited, so if He decides He cannot lift the stone, then He cannot lift it, it's His authority and power that have removed that ability.

I will repeat that I have no biblical basis for that conclusion, just my own limited ideas and understanding of God and how He works.

As I mentioned, God cannot lie, that doesn't mean he has no authority/power in that area, it just means that whatever he speaks immediately becomes truth.<br /><br />-- Fri Dec 03, 2010 11:26 am --<br /><br />

In a way I suppose the answer is yes, He could create a stone, then he could say that he couldn't lift it, and then he wouldn't be able to lift.

God can't lie, because when he speaks that immediately becomes truth, so if he were to say 'I cannot life this stone' then He wouldn't be able too...

Obviously, I have no basis for that and the more appropriate response might be somewhere along the lines of 'Why on earth would He do that?' but I'm trying to take this discussion seriously :-)

If God cannot lift the stone, how can he be omnipotent?

The same argument is true of omniscience... if He doesn't know whats going to happen, how can He be omniscient? The answer is that He does know everything, but He still lets us make our own decisions

 

[HamannCheese]

Quick question, is this gramatically correct?

"My Journey to Omnipotence"

 

[Damocles]

I see the circular logic in that, so perhaps I'll try a different and less classical tack.

These are the questions that I have come up with:

1. Concept of Free Will
It is pretty clear to all that humans possess free will, however, bacteria and most of the animal kingdom do not. They act based upon their biological desires, they have no ability to choose the righteous path and have no real free will. Does this mean that God has endued humans with free will as a species with a special place in the Universe?

If true, would the proven existence of aliens then denounce our special place as God's chosen people?

If false, why are we the only species allowed to have true free will? Why does God hate snails?

2. The literal Bible
If the Bible is literal, then the Pope is the representative of God on Earth and his word is the word of the Lord and the law of papal infallibility is true. The Pope said a few years ago that the Bible should not be taken literally. Surely then, a belief in a literal Bible is illogical, as you either don't believe in papal infallibility or the Pope never said this (which he did). What would happen if the Pope were to say that the Bible is NOT the word of God?

Even if you reject papal infallibility, how do you square your beliefs with the demonstrably false subjects, or with contradictions? If the Bible states that black is white, and you see white as white, who is correct? Does the Bible supersede your own logic and experimentation?

3. Word of God
Who told you that the Bible is the Word of God? Who told them? And them? Unless God himself has literally told you that the bible is the word of God, then it COULD be completely against the word of God, surely? I'm not asking for a definite answer here, just an admittance that it is a possibility.

I actually got to number 7, but I don't want to hit everything into one long post and make it unreasonable.

 

[rushts]

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