Christianity and the End Times

Although as I read scripture I see that a great multitude will be saved even through the Tribulation, it's also clear that many ARE going to take the position that the world is a better place without the Christians. (A lot of that will likely come from people who think they are Christians now but aren't, who think we fundamentalists have it all wrong, so they are going to have to believe the bad guys exited while they the good guys are now free to run the world.)Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Where is what in scripture? You're the one who's adding to the text.

Yeh, well, no matter, it ain't happening and you'll be just as convinced about your beliefs when it doesn't. Probably more so, that's the way it always works with failed prophecy.

OK I reread it and you are right, God ssys clearly He intends to save only Noah and his family and punish the rest of humanity. I'm not sure that means they weren't offered the warning, though, and surely they saw the building of the ark for over a hundred years.

Well, I'll still be convinced that a Rapture of the Church is going to happen because scripture says so, I'll just have to wonder why I was having such a strong sense of its imminence now.

It seems pretty clear that that would be counter-productive. The whole point of the flood was a fresh start, so it wouldn't make sense to bring the problem with them.

It's because you want it. And you want it in your lifetime. The end of days is never anything but nigh. Yet never happens.

In the event of a Rapture, I would assume that only one out of ten or less would make it. It would likely be attributed to an evidence-backed event such as a mass UFO abduction or something. It would cause global optimism, unity, and resolve for those left behind. And the die-hard believers whom would be left behind would be stuck with a bunch of religious nuts who also didn't make it out on the first boat.I think jar may even be right in that a few folks from other religions or who were unreligious may even make it out...based on their love for Jesus by doing for the least of these unconsciously...And I would be stuck in a world that will likely happen anyway...rapture or no rapture.So I may as well quit worrying about whether a Rapture will happen or not and just keep doing what I'm doing. I will die someday anyway.

I think it would make a believer out of me.
Just like I think I would believe in Santa if all the children suddenly happened to get presents from a man in red on Christmas.Of course, thinking about what I might do may not be what I actually do.
People aren't always able to predict themselves given catastrophic situations, I doubt I'm immune to such a human characteristic.But this is what I would assume I would do:-see that Christians disappear in the rapture
-I would feel bad that I missed it
-I would identify that if the rapture is true, then likely God is real and more parts of the Bible are true than I gave credence for originally
-Then I would remember why other things in the Bible are not true - things like Genesis and the Flood and other prophecies that are simply contradicted by reality
-Then I would question all the evidence that shows those parts of the Bible aren't true and attempt to verify that evidence
-Assuming that this evidence hasn't changed - I would become really confused in identifying that those other parts of the Bible really are contradicted by reality, but this one rapture part was not
-I would then start to question the rapture and want to re-examine that evidence
-Assuming that Christians did disappear, and the rapture did happen - my confusion would grow
-I would begin to theorize:-Am I the problem? Perhaps.
Perhaps the way I think - the way I reason things is simply wrong. Leading me to false ideas of reality about some things.
If so - what part is wrong? Is it even possible to change?
There's certainly nothing I can identify now - so I am forced to keep this idea where it's always been - in the back of my mind questioning everything until further information can be identified.
Therefore, the only thing I can do is continue and hope for the best:-God(s) are probably true in the sense of something existing greater than humans Maybe actual God(s)? Maybe aliens? Maybe time-travel? Maybe something unknown and unidentified?I would then be left with, basically, the same questions as now:
-which parts of the Bible (or any religious text) can be identified as true vs. not-true? And the answer would remain relatively the same - use of any reality-testing method like the scientific method
-were Christians raptured for the reasons depicted in the Bible? Or for other reasons that were recorded wrongly or unknown? - unable to currently answer
-should I be happy for them being raptured? Or were they deceived and I should be attempting some sort of rescue, if at all possible? - unable to currently answer-I would also re-affirm myself that I can only make decisions with the information available to me. And, if I was wrong about not believing in the Bible when I should have - there's nothing I really could have done about it. I wasn't dishonest, I wasn't "against God," there just didn't seem to be any reason to believe in any of it - and I was simply wrong about that.
-And if I end up being condemned for being wrong about something I had no way of identifying as correct - well, that sucks
-I would also wonder about the "justice" or "fairness" of such a situation. But, many people die under unfair and unjust circumstances - perhaps I'm just another one of them.
-Or, maybe I wasn't smart enough to "see" the truth and therefore I'm condemned for being stupid - which has also happened to many in the past and perhaps I'm just another one of them.I've failed to solve enough puzzles in my time to know when I could have gotten one - and just didn't see it; vs. I didn't get it because the information wasn't available, or the available information was misleading. If "the Bible" was the source of identifying preparation for the rapture - it would definitely be an "unavailable or misleading" information situation. Regardless of any God or God-like-being(s) with the ability to punish those who didn't "figure it out."And if I was killed with no further information, I would likely die very confused and scared.
Just as I would likely die very confused and scared if Thanos snapped my life out of existence (actually, I might not have time to feel confused or scared if that happened....)But, although they can make for interesting thought exercises - I'm not really worried about such things actually happening.
Neither will happen because neither are based on anything that resembles reality.Just as you are worried about those-who-don't-turn-to-God being left behind in the rapture... I'm worried about you.
I'm worried about you undertaking such fears and worries and anxiousness for no real reason.
I'm mad at the ones who invented, passed along, and continue to promote such wasteful, harmful scare-tactics.Edited by Stile, : Adding more of postEdited by Stile, : Adding remainder of post.

The real question is how we would interpret the event. "In other news, a bunch of people vanished off the face of the earth today. There is no sign of foul play. Police are investigating."Presumably, most of the people who believe in a rapture would be gone. Those of us who are left behind would be unlikely to interpret it as a rapture. A few believers would wonder why they were left behind. A few unbelievers would become believers. A few nuts would call it a UFO abduction. A few nuts would attribute it to spontaneous human combustion.Most would just say, "Huh?" and wait for more information.

Thanks for giving that a real shot, and well done.One thing people won't be able to imagine though is that there will probably be a lot of converted Jews spread out in the world preaching the gospel, setting up Bible studies and discussion groups and so on. And some of the Christians that didn't make it will at least know enough Bible to be part of that effort. Before the Tribulation gets heated up anyway. And some very interesting things are going to be happening in Israel, which you'll get to watch on the TV.

Thanks to you too.Yes, UFO theories will probably be prominent as explanations. And maybe there will even be demons masquerading as extraterrestrials running around. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

I see you8 also mention the UFO theory. I think you guys are right, that's going to be a big one.Phat, the only people who could possibly go in the Rapture are the same people who will be saved: those who believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for their sins.

Would anyone even notice?

With the fundies all gone, there won't be anybody left for them to scare, so they'll be retired.