From a pamphlet I found in a public restroom — titled, The Beginning of the End — I learned that these are the first four signs, of eight, that will signal the immanent return of the great prophet and of judgment day: 1) Political unrest, 2) natural disasters, 3) social unrest, and, 4) religious apostasy (non-belief).
My question: When was it ever the case that a person could look around them and not see evidence of the above 4? The remaining 4, by the way, are more of the same. Political unrest? Democrats want more social programs, republicans want less; contentious legislation, controversial Supreme Court nominees and rulings, terrorism and wars somewhere in the world.
Natural disasters? Every year there is a drought here, wildfires there, a bunch of earthquakes and a few hurricanes. Social unrest? Whenever there are groups of people with different customs and values, and perhaps differing degrees of property ownership, living in close proximity, a world in which the wealthy are free to acquire yet more wealth and the poor are free to suck cardboard — guess what, there will be social unrest. Non-believers engaging in non-belief? Even the Inquisition was incapable of eradicating disbelief.
These four elements, in one form or another, are ongoing elements of life on planet Earth. To take them as portents is the equivalent of believing, “When water runs downhill, the time is nigh.”
In all Bible prophecies there is no mention of relativity theory or the coming of DVD players. There may be a veiled reference to speaking in cellular tongues. And there is that fairly straightforward biblical prediction of the future prominence of the World Wrestling Federation. I think.
Right.
Those who search the Bible for prophecy are looking for a miraculous foreknowledge that could provide evidence their god exists. Unfortunately, none of this foreknowledge has been specific enough to mean anything according to even mildly stringent standards.
Really, if their god is omniscient, he should be able to predict the whos, whats, and wheres with precision.
Seems the Bible god has a cataract in his crystal ball.
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[photo: From a church in Cefalù, Sicily. Jesus holding the holy text that, believers say, foretold his arrival. Biblical scholars disagree. The supposedly prophetic verses were taken out of context and/or their interpretation botched. See Bart Ehrman's Jesus, Interrupted, for one.]
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Tags: Bible, religion, Sunday Un-Sermon
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