The End Times

TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It):

Countless individuals and organizations have tried to predict the precise date of the return of Jesus to earth, as predicted in the Bible. Many Christians expected it to happen in 1844, the year of the "great disappointment." Later, some Christian leaders settled on 1914. It didn't happen then either. But since that time, few competing groups have been able to agree on a common date. One denomination that has been burned many times because of their estimates is the Jehovah's Witnesses. Each of their past predictions have seen the world continue without a ripple. According to Robert Johnson, a spokesperson for the denomination, they no longer make estimates. "We learned our lesson...The Bible has a list of about two dozen things to watch out for. They've all [already] happened." As J. Gordon Melton, head of the Institute for the Study of American Religion has commented: "Everyone who predicted the end of the world had one thing in common. They were wrong." We suspect that this record will continue unblemished for the foreseeable future.

For many centuries, people have been predicting the year, month and sometimes day when:

	A violent and sudden end would terminate all life on earth;
	Major social and political upheavals would occur around the world;
	The war of Armageddon would take place in the Middle East;
	God would pour horrendous wrath on most of humanity; and/or
	*Christ would return in the second coming.*

The prophesiers have almost always predicted that these horrendous events would happen in their own immediate future. All of these predictions share one factor: none have ever came true.

The year 2000 came and passed -- a year that some considered very special, simply because it contained three zeros. A lot of people predicted that major events of cosmic proportion would happen. ₃But no massive events actually came to pass. There were the usual number of major earthquakes, civil disturbances, tornados, people of different religions trying to exterminate each other -- but nothing of a cosmic or even world-wide nature.

Still more end events are predicted for precise dates our future.

	Some people in North America devoutly believe that at least some of these events will happen in their lifetime.
	Others expect that they will happen at some time in the future. However they have not happened in the 19 or so centuries since the Bible was completed, and so they don't expect them in the 21^st century.
	Many of the public disagree, and does not expect any more that the usual complement of natural disasters in the future.

The Rapture

The End Times according to:

Protestants

Catholics

According to a poll taken by Rapture Ready at http://www.raptureready.com, the most popular Christian prophecy web sites are, in order of decreasing popularity:

	Jack Van Impe Ministries at http://www.jvim.com/
	Millennium Weekend. We have found many hyperlinks to this web site, but not the site itself.
	Prophecy Central at: http://www.bible-prophecy.com/
	Lamb and Lion Ministries at: http://www.lamblion.com/
	Kiononia House at: http://www.khouse.org/articles/prophetic/
	Prophezine at: http://www.prophezine.com/index.shtml

Natural Ways the World Could End

http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl8.htm

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