[blukatzen]

GW..can you please define what you are attempting to establish in this thread?
Are you juxtaposing philsophies? Looking at themes? Looking at Universalities?

What are your perimeters?
What are you looking for?

Or are you just attempting to corral all the Eschatology streams of thought under one thread?

????Where are we going with this?

Blu

[TheDude]

I read once that very early in Christianity's history - after the Nicene council, I think - most of the Church's founders would've been already considered heretical...another fly in the Church's ointment are all the newly discovered documents such as the Dead sea scrolls and the Nag Hammurabi library that are chock full of very old teachings which wholly contradict established doctrine. You've got the makings of a whole passel of new denominations right there - or a revival of lost ones, the Gnostic faiths for instance.

I like the message of Gnosticism - find the truth on your own. Sounds like learning about Peak Oil!

Also fascinated with the idea of future faiths. Perhaps we'll all be worshiping the Divine Bomb someday.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'm')ostly what I can remember is when the Millenial Reign begins all the seas will be dried up to provide 40 Acre's of land for each household.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ead sea scrolls

[TheDude]

Dunno, I'm not really conversant with Church history; mostly I enjoy reading about these odds and ends, heresies and what not. You'll get a good few hits by searching for the two terms though. There's a paper called "Early Essene Eschatology: Judgment and Salvation according to Sapiential Work" for instance.

[greenworm]

Dude, you are the dude! Thanks for the search pattern.

The odd stuff is what I get into as well, the branch davidians episode is probably the best when you look at it from all angles. That whole thing is bizarre times two, crazy stuff.

[Plantagenet]

The "rapture" is a "revenge" myth....its like "revenge of the nerds" for nerdy Christians.

How satisfying that at any moment you could be plucked out of your mundane boring nerdy guilt-ridden life and lifted up bodily into the sky to experience eternal bliss while those remaining behind can only look helplessly on and know that their bad decisions and immoral lifestyles might have been fun while it lasted, but now they have already condemned them to forever be rejected by god so that all they have to look forward to death and then an afterlife of eternal torture.

[TheDude]

Well, that would totally rock...for some...



Oops, inappropriate smiley!

SF writer Iain M Banks calls the Singularity "The Rapture for Nerds," nicely dovetailing with your nerdy Christians. When I think of the Rapture though I see really wild eyed slobbering fanatic types. Either that or they're just insufferably smug, those "Caution: Vehicle will be Without Driver In Case of Rapture." Wonder what they'll do when the pumps are empty? Probably pray, ala the folks in Georgia.

[Eli]

The Dead Sea scrolls are Jewish they come from the period just prior to the destruction of the second temple in Israel they don't have anything to do with Christianity.

Where is Mekrob? I want to hear the Muslim version of the end.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')hey don't have anything to do with Christianity

[threadbear]

God experiences "the rupture" when he lifts his sheep like ones towards heaven, because these people are heavy. I've seen them at Mal-Wart.

I hear a break away sect of Pentacostals was planning to integrate the holy sacrament of the Catholic church into their own, a few years back. Instead of wafers of bread for the body of Christ, they were planning to serve, McJesus burgers. In place of wine, for the blood of Christ, they were going to serve Big Gulps from 7/11.

[TheDude]

So right you are, Eli. Egg on face. Of course Christianity is a synergy of other faiths meshed with Jesus's teachings, and Essene belief might have been incorporated in some fashion. For instance, the Essenes were communal and celibate, possibly influencing the early Christian ascetics.

Interesting pics of the DSS Shrine. Not exactly subtle!
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he shrine is built as a white dome, covering a structure placed two-thirds below the ground, that is reflected in a pool of water that surrounds it. Across from the white dome is a black basalt wall. The colors and shapes of the building are based on the imagery of the Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, whereas the white dome symbolizes the Sons of Light and the black wall symbolizes the Sons of Darkness. The museum also holds other rare ancient manuscripts and displays The Aleppo Codex. Its dome, due to the quirky architecture, has been used as scenery for several science fiction movies.

[fireplaceguy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('greenworm', 'T')he next one I studied was the seven day adventist which have a strange history. I think it still operates today. This faction grew from the writings of a girl who began these writings roughly around the time she got hit in the head with a big rock. Yes, I am not kidding. And like the aforementioned JWs they focused on the end times and were also incorrect in their predictions for an actual date. Anyone have anything to add concerning the seven day adventist?

[greenworm]

The davidians are a strange case indeed. I believe they have changed their prediction and their prophecy has adapted accordingly to the events that took place. They have this concept of a choosen vessel, which is one of the children that made it out alive who is now going to interpret the scriptures. Their end times date is March 10, 2012.

Check it out here:http://www.sevenseals.com/

Thanks for the info fireplaceguy it lead me to this site, which objectively reviews their history in my opinion.

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/waco. ... e.html#I.6

According to this guy, Koresh really didn't brake any laws besides the polygamy.

Here's some videos concerning the Davidians.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kn0hcpyGuac

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gP6Ls9qo86M

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GMIedq-RFCg

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 6377572665

[fireplaceguy]

Greenworm -

Didn't mean to hijack your thread with this fascinating (but very troubling) tangent. As long as you're running with it, though...

First, an FYI - I used to do business with some people in Waco (this was well after the massacre) - that's how I knew some interesting details. I just read that first link of yours and am sickened at the government's overt corruption in this case. The idea that this raid was executed as a publicity stunt to overshadow bad press the ATF had rec'd is grotesque. They were perfectly willing to kill innocent people for the publicity.

Interestingly, a friend from one of my extracurricular activities is a death-penalty appeals lawyer. I just spoke with him this afternoon regarding a possible holiday visit and some plans for an event next year, and he mentioned that yet another innocent man was cleared and taken off death row today.

He's of the studied opinion that somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of his clients are actually innocent. I recall his despondence when a client was executed a few years back after a judge refused to re-open a case where new DNA evidence unequivocally cleared the man.

Seems to me that death row should be cleared to make room for the government pukes. After all, we have far less to fear from the random street goblins housed there now.

I often say that "in terms of our liberty it's later than we think." Seems it's even later than I thought...

[Eli]

I do know that Muslims believe that there will be a great battle that they will be in against the Jews at the end of the world.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')s long as you're running with it, though...

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('greenworm', '
')This seems like common sense to me. Voting doesn't really matter, Halloween rots your teeth, Christmas is really capitalism, and birthdays are embarassing at my age.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '#') Hopi Predict a 25yr period of purification followed by End of Fourth World and beginning of the Fifth.
# Mayans Call it the 'end days' or the end of time as we know it.
# Maoris Say that as the veils dissolve there will be a merging of the physical & spiritual worlds.
# Zulu Believe that the whole world will be turned upside down.
# Hindus Kali Yuga (end time of man). The Coming of Kalki & critical mass of Enlightened Ones.
# Incas Call it the 'Age of Meeting Ourselves Again'.
# Aztec Call this the Time of the Sixth Sun. A time of transformation. Creation of new race.
# Dogon Say that the spaceship of the visitors, the Nommo, will return in the form of a blue star
# Pueblo Acknowledge it'll be the emergence into the Fifth World
# Cherokee Their ancient calendar ends exactly at 2012 as does the Mayan calendar.
# Tibetan Kalachakra teachings are prophesies left by Buddha predicting Coming of the Golden Age.