Canada and the World

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19 November 2010

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End Timers

 

Some Christians believe that the end

of the world is foretold in the Bible and that

when it comes only a select few will survive

 

Evangelical Christians believe the Bible to be the literal word of God.

 

The Book of Revelation and other sections of the Bible tell of how the world will end. First will come the Rapture. This will be when millions of born-again Christians, and only born-again Christians, will vanish from Earth. The belief is that they will be taken up to Heaven by God.

 

Following the Rapture will come the seven-year period of the Tribulation. The interpretation is that famines, floods, disease, and war will wipe out 80 percent of the world’s population.

 

The Book of Revelation says it will be a time awash with blood. The Antichrist will rise to rule the world and then engage in a massive battle with the armies of Jesus.

 

This battle will take place in the Middle East at a place called Armageddon. Then, Christ will return, all evil will end, and peace will reign forever.

 

Tony Robinson examines the beliefs and influence of the so-called End Timers in his 2006 documentary The Doomsday Code. He says that the End Timers had the ear of the White House under Presidents Ronald Reagan (1981-1999) and George W. Bush (2001-2009), who may even have been End Timers themselves.

 

That, says Mr. Robinson, is troubling because End Timers want the biblical prophecies to come true.

 

They see war between Israel and its Islamic neighbours, global warming, and increasing natural disasters as good things. This is because such catastrophes hasten the second coming of Christ.

 

That thought is echoed by writer and TV journalist Bill Moyers. In a speech at Harvard University in 2005 he said that fundamentalists “believe that environmental destruction is not only to be disregarded, but actually welcomed—even hastened—as a sign of the coming apocalypse.”

 

© Canada and the World, March 2009

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According to a 2002 poll, 59 percent of Americans believe that the prophecies in the Book of Revelation are destined to happen.