We humans have a fascination with disasters, with that which can kill. Even now that we telescopes that can catch natural disasters on other planets within our solar system—the most spectacular of which was probably the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 with Jupiter in 1994, which left craters in Jupiter as large as our own planet, each piece striking with the strength of the impact at Chicxulub that led to extinction of the dinosaurs—we still so often seem to find ourselves in an uncertain place when disaster strikes, particularly when that disaster strikes close to home. In the Caribbean in particular, we tend to transform disasters into portents and signs, to mythologize the rumbles, growls, howls, and flashes of the natural world. It is almost inevitable, in fact, that a few Caribbean people will take almost any natural disaster that occurs anywhere in the world—even one that occurs every year, like tropical storms during hurricane season—and start chanting that the world is going to end. What is truly extraordinary is that the failure of the world to end does not put these people off in the least; they simply wait for the next disaster to occur and, as if the previous had never occurred, start chanting that the world is about to end anew.
I don’t have any problem with people believing the world is going to explode or implode or disintegrate one day (perhaps like certain economies). No, my concern is with how some of those persons seem to never learn from their previous errors, from history, from science. After all, if these people understood better not just how these natural disasters work but for how many thousands of years people have been saying the world will end (unsuccessfully, I might add), they might, if nothing else, keep their apocalyptic thoughts to themselves. “History,” the American author Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Slapstick, “is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised again. Please write that down.” And, as eminent historian of Dominica Lennox Honychurch wrote of an earthquake in 2004, “While there is great concern at the experiences and damage caused by the earthquake on the morning of Sunday 21 November 2004, we should not see this, as so many radio callers seemed to think, as an isolated incident designed as some form of divine retribution on Dominica. It is part of the nature of the place where we live….Earthquakes and volcanoes have been occurring here for millions of years and in fact these are what created our islands. We human beings just happen to be in the way while Nature is going about her business.”
Indeed. We are better people than that. Or we should be, at least.
The Caribbean is an intensely Christian archipelago, though there are prominent concentrations of Hindus and Muslims, among other faiths, and there is a small-but-growing number of skeptics, as well. The apocalypse—the end of the world—is a strong tradition within Christianity. Because of this, it is easy to assume, if one is a strong Christian, that any unusual image in the night sky or shake of the earth might be a sign of that apocalypse. But it is worth noting that one of the most vocal supporters of this belief, Paul, believed himself that the world was going to in fact end while he was still alive. Two thousand years later, this has still not happened (unless, of course, I’ve missed something rather big).
The fear of the world coming to the end often leads to bad behavior. One such instance of bad behavior attended the First Crusade of 1096 – 1099, as Jay Rubenstein demonstrates in his recent study of the crusade, Armies of Heaven, since the Christian crusaders—vast, loosely organized bands of knights, aristocrats, pilgrims, and captured slaves who traveled to Jerusalem with the intention of taking it by force from the Muslims who then occupied it—often massacred people who stood in their way, be they Christian, Jew, or Muslim, out of their belief that they had to show their faith as strongly as possible because the world would soon end. Jumping far ahead, we find the astonishing religious group of around forty persons called Heaven’s Gate, which committed mass suicide in 1997 because they believed that the world was about to be destroyed according to the words of the Book of Revelations and that it was only by killing themselves that they could escape the Earth. It is unquestionable that some people thought the end was coming during Hurricane David in Dominica in 1979. Some probably thought the same of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 in Galveston, Texas, which killed around 8,000 persons and was the worst natural disaster to hit the United States, or—skipping through time again—during the astonishing Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which destroyed the capital of Portugal and made literal waves as far across the Atlantic as Barbados. Many proclaimed the end of all things in the year 2000. In 2011, we saw the prophecies of Harold Camping, who claimed the world would end on May and then October 21st. Camping’s followers were sometimes so fanatical that they sold all of their belongings, believing they would no longer have need of worldly possessions. Naturally, they were in for a shock when nothing happened, and Camping predictably fell silent. It is worth noting how quickly the world seemed to forget about Harold Camping and his prophecies, making way for new or older ones, like the ridiculous Mayan 2012 “prophecy.” It is also worth noting that Mr. Camping had predicted the end of the world a number of times prior to 2011—but why, after all, should doomsday prophets care about the past?
But seriously: we must wake up the fact that natural disasters are two things: natural, and commonplace. If nothing else, it helps no one to go around yelling, online or in person, that the world is ending and that one must convert to this or that or that or this.
Now, with all that said, here is a real scenario to chew on. There is a small chance the world will face a significant threat from outer space in 2036. The possibility is truly tiny, but it exists nonetheless. Asteroids—which this particular threat is—pass by Earth frequently, many of which could cause devastation if they hit. But we can detect many of them, and, as technology improves, we may soon be able to safely deflect large ones. Here is astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the looming threat in his new book, Space Chronicles:
On Friday the 13th, April 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communications satellites. We did not name this asteroid Bambi. Instead, we named it Apophis, after the Egyptian god of darkness and death. If the trajectory of Apophis at close approach passes within a narrow range of altitudes called the “keyhole,” then the influence of gravity on its orbit will guarantee that seven years later, in 2036, on its next trip around, the asteroid will hit Earth directly, likely slamming into the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. The five-story tsunami it creates will wipe out the entire west coast of North America, dunk Hawaiian cities, and devastate all the landmasses of the Pacific Rim. If Apophis misses the keyhole in 2029, we will have nothing to worry about in 2036.
Depressing as that scenario undoubtedly seems, note a few things. That terrible asteroid will only be a danger to us if it passes through a tiny zone of space at which it will be sufficiently influenced by Earth’s gravitational field to come back to hit us later. But the likelihood of that happening is tiny. If it does, we have tools at our disposal (of varying effectiveness) to destroy or push it away. And—most important of all—this is no special asteroid. This is simply another big rock that might slam into our planet, as has happened to us many times in our planet’s violent past. And for clues as to how often collisions happen on other planets and their moons, just look at our own moon’s cratered exterior. As serious and unpleasant as it would be if Apophis did pass through that keyhole, it would also not be anything worth seeing as an omen, since it is nothing new in our planet’s history.
And that is the point: all too often, we turn what is commonplace into something significant and foreboding. We turn seasonal storms and earthquakes into signs that the end is coming—even if the end never actually comes.
It is worth bearing in mind, too, that any threat to our planet is a threat not simply to humans, but to all other organisms as well. What kind, loving god would obliterate not only all of humankind, but most or all animal life, as well? But, then again, if you believe the Noah myth, you must believe that this supposedly loving god did just that. Beyond that, of course, there are the endless extinctions, natural and human-caused, that we must then ask this god to account for, since, after all, 99% of all life that has ever lived on Earth may be extinct today. When, in the nineteenth century, geologists began really piecing together the evidence they had uncovered and were uncovering of the fossils of extinct creatures buried in rock strata, they realized that more life had been lost in the past than they had ever imaged. As Bill Bryson writes in his masterful A Short History of Nearly Everything, these discoveries “confirmed that God had wiped out creatures not occasionally but repeatedly. This made Him seem not so much careless as peculiarly hostile.” Joke though that is, there’s something serious in there. If we envision the end of the world simply as death, rather than a literal destruction of the Earth, it should become clear that the world has indeed ended not simply for individuals many trillions of times in the past, but also for nearly every species that has ever existed.
Take a moment to think about that. When you talk about the world ending because the windows start to rattle from high winds or a tremor sends shivers through the floorboards, think about your own place among all other organisms, plant and animal. We are organisms, like every living thing around us; we, too, will die away, as individuals and as a species, one day. But what is more likely—that we will slowly die off over thousands to billions of years through poor choices, war, or environmental changes, or that we will all suddenly be obliterated? Surely, if god wished to indicate his world-destroying wrath, he would do it more clearly, in ways not so confusingly similar to the ordinary natural disasters we have been living through for millennia. At any rate, unless we shuffle of the stage of the Earth soon and can find new planets to live on, we’ve only got until our sun explodes or fades, which will be in perhaps five billion years. And, then, of course, our neighbor galaxy, is on a slow collision course with our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The end for us all will likely come in billions of years—not this afternoon because of a distant tremor.
Finally, I have to ask: what does it even mean to say the “world” is going to end? Just the Earth? What about the other planets in our solar system? What about the 760 planets we have discovered outside our solar system—and the billions of undiscovered planets that likely exist, some of which may harbor life? What of the billions of other galaxies, each filled with stars, planets, nebulas, and vast stretches of empty space? What of the black holes? Are they all going to be destroyed, too? If so, why? How?
It is fine to hold onto your beliefs. But it is better to examine and question them. And when you do, you will likely find that more questions emerge. And if your belief is that the world is about to end because of a recent quake or storm or nightmarish vision, keep in mind—please—that you are not the first, by thousands of years, and you will likely not be the last, to have such visions and ideas. Why?
Why, because the world has not ended, and likely will not, for a long, long, long time to come. As scary as our planet’s future may look for a variety of reasons, from politics to wars to shortages of resources, it is reassuring that our children and grandchildren will not have to worry about the world blowing apart, at very least. Let us cast doomsday prophecies aside and live, love, and struggle on into the murky future, wherever it may take us.
To Jonathan Bellot:
It is always good for people to read articles from a different perspective. I see you strove hard to take it on a scientific level however, we see a diplomatic attack on theology.
Here’s my message to you from Allah: ‘Those who disbelieve say: “The Hour will not comes to us.” Say: “Yes, by my Lord, the All-Knower of the Unseen, it will come to you; not even the weight of an atom or less than that or greater escapes His Knoweledge of the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.
Also Mr Bellot, one day I’ll like to see an article on the following topics, ‘What is the purpose of life?’ ‘What happens after we die?’ Etc. Thanks.
We humans that’s going to bring our own destruction on our selves. All the Vanity that we worship and envy. All the self fishness and greed we demonstrate. Money and power. Positions and lies. The limited resources that will soon deplete and become weak, then the Earth would have had enough and nature we take it course. It will take time whilst many of our generations will suffer in various parts of the world. That’s what man have realise so who have power is enjoying life while they can and to hell with the poor. These are the signs of times to come.
“I find it ridiculous that mankind thinks the end of “humanity” means the end of the “world”—Paul
Paul I know where you are coming from here. However the most ridiculous part of this is that the greater in faith, people claim to be, the more they demonstrate their lack of ” spiritual understanding” pertaining to the term–“world” and its end or its passing away, as mentioned in so many places of the Holy Bible.
The flaw is that they are all thinking of the “world”, solely as rivers, seas, hills, mountains, landscapes, trees, plants, and all the building structures around them, but is that not the form of the earth? And Jesus said blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
For God so loved the “world” that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not “perish” but have “Eternal Life” John 3: 16
As we look at phrases like “whosoever believe” shall not “perish” but have “Eternal Life” can we not see that term “world” in that scripture refers to us “human beings?”
Does the “world” in the scripture above means that God Almighty in the human form of His Son, came to live among sinful people and to suffer and die to save all those natural forms, which He, Himself, created to exist without His Spirit?
Was it not man whom God created to exist with His Spirit–as He let us man in our Image and our Likeness? And so, man should be the one “Eternal Life” by faith in Jesus Christ is meant for?
Otherwise this man will perish from on earth where he now resides–him and his fellowmen with their natural conducts and attitudes, construction, and or production is the “world” and its form.
The apostle Paul teaches the churches which he had established by the command of Jesus Christ:
“And do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, perfect Will of God Romans 12: 2
In other words God is after the soul of man–not his flesh. Conscience is the home of God’s Holy Spirit, from where He trains and disciplines the mind to become renewed; which will then respond to the wisdom and revelation of God, as He causes the soul to become revived, quickened, or awakened to Light–Life in Spirit and Truth by faith.
The flesh can only respond to a mind in its carnal state producing nothing and for that reason the flesh profits nothing–according to Jesus Christ.
Futility is another term for nothingness, which does not glorify God’s traits or nature of Love, Life in the soul–He wants nothing to do with that production of mankind.
Unless man can come to realize that he must surrender all to God, who is of Spirit, that he might come to learn and practice the ways of Spirit and Truth, he remains a person of the flesh–doing the things of death, which is not of God; so he will eventually be destroyed–or perish.
The number of mankind with that nature of the flesh and doing the things of death is the form of the “world” which is passing away–meaning the end of “humanity” and the human functions or the traits being practiced on God’s earth–but not giving Him the glory.
God’s time is coming for the end of humanity–those who refused to allow God’s connection and control in them through conscience. Jesus calls it the time of the great tribulation. He said about that period of time:
“For then shall be the great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the “world” to this time, no, nor ever shall it be. And except those days should be shortened, there would no flesh in survival, but for the sake of God’s elect those days will be shortened”. Matthew 24:21-22.
Is Jesus talking about mountains, rivers, and seas being destroyed? No, He is talking about the destruction of people, who are not God’s chosen people–that is what He means by “God’s elect”
I also noticed that Jesus said: The great tribulation which will be, has never been “since the beginning of the “world” neither will it ever happen again–I hope the writer will take note, as he uses bad happenings, of times before, to prove his point.
Again, Jesus has said that there has never been a bad time such as the days of the “Great Tribulation” of the future; which must be shortened for the sake of saving God’s chosen people; and that bad time will never again–lest we forget!
But my point is that, since we know that God has no beginning and no end, Jesus must be talking about the “Life” that God created by His spoken words, which said: “Let there be Light” This Light is man’s Life through faith in Jesus Christ–not the existence of trees and plants or rivers, seas, hills, mountains, and valleys.
The Bible also speaks of that same great tribulation, in the Book of Revelation, as apostle John told us he saw:
“The sky rolled up like a scroll, and the mountains and islands moving from their standpoints and location. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who seats on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come and who shall be able to stand it? Revelation 6: 14-17
So who or what is the “world” according to the Word of God? It is people and their constructed, conformed to, attitude and conducts of evil, wickedness, toil, strife, disdain, discord, all of which are the destructive and fruitless products of death.
But in God, Life in Paradise is destined to be infinite. For John said again: I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away—–And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people—-And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things will have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said: “Behold I make all things new” Revelations 21: 1-5
In the first place the elects of God would have been removed, wiped out, or lost from the functions of their human or natural mind, and to be settled, renewed, or found in the functions and practice of their mind of Spirit and Truth–the mind of God who is Love–in Spirit, Truth, and Holiness.
Lost from the traits of humanity and found in the traits of spirituality–that is the desire of a Holy God for mankind; as was His plan from the very beginning. It was loving kindness of “free choice” to Adam and Eve, the reason we are so messed up. But God is Love, full of mercy and compassion. That is why we have a second chance.
I’m sorry, but why are you quoting the bible? The bible is a work of fiction, a story book, like the koran. I don’t believe you can take that book literally. You should be ashamed.
They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives…”2 Peter 3:4-11
@Anonymous
I have been reading and studying the Bible for the past 20 years, and there is no where in it that I have read the words: “world without end”
Perhaps you may know those words from a Roman Catholic prayer. However the Roman Catholic Church applies numberous rules and regulations that is not of the Bible.
However there are many mentions of the “end of the world” in the Holy Bible. That is a good reason to understand that it would not report both terms.
Except that, as the person “Paul” mentioned above, the term “world” according to the Bible is “human beings” and the carnal production of their mind, which in God’s opinion is futility–meaning sinful, corrupt, abomination, wickedness, and evil.
God is Spirit, in Love and Holiness; He wants nothing to do with futility of the carnal man–“For God so love “the world” that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes might not perish, but have Eternal Life”. John 3: 16 Does “the world” in this scripture refer to rivers, seas, hills, mountains, and landscape?
Hence those who will not believe are they–human beings– who remain in the death condition of their flesh and conformed to the things of the world, which is not of God; being separated from Him, who is of Spirit and Truth, they will eventually perish.
Thus the “end of the world”–is the end og the combination of the tainted, carnal minded man along with his production of wickedness, evil, corruption, abomination, and all the things which are sinful before a Holy God.
The rapture is soon and our redemption draws near. All these negative comments against God and Christians only God will judge. Soon the Anti Christ, one world government (New World Order) one world currency (Research the Gulfo, The Amero, the Euro) and see where we are heading.
The word is God is being fulfilled right before our very eyes. Men hearts are being hardened. Nation repent, read your Bible, turn from your wicked ways, give your life to Christ, and wait patiently in joy for his return and sing Halleluia.
1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3. . .”For YOU yourselves know quite well that God’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.
What story book is that from?
Hey Jonathan,
Whilst I have no interest in the subject, it was still an interesting article. Of more interest, of course, are the comments ;)
I find it ridiculous that mankind thinks that the end of humanity means the end of the world. This planet has existed, and will continue to exist, billions of years before and after namkind. We are only the current dominant species on Earth. We were not created by any god, and no god is going to bring our end.
In my opinion, the word Armageddon is used too loosely. Mass Extinction is not Armageddon. Now, a collision with the Andromeda Galaxy in under 5 billions years… That’s what I call Armageddon.
Thanks for this thought provoking piece.
The world will end when dcans stop gossiping
World without end then. lol
amen
The wpirld will end wheb dcans stop gossiping
“It is fine to hold on to your beliefs. But it is better to examine and question them. And when you do, you will likely find that more questions emerge.” This is a great piece of advice.
We need to remember that as inhabitants of this planet, we – human beings – are the newcomers. Other species have survived here for millions of years prior to our arrival and Mother Nature has flexed her muscles for just as long. When we put things into perspective, we will realize that these natural disasters are as much a part of the Earth as this planet’s magnetic field… it’s inescapable.
There is nothing doomsday-ish about a violent storm or a hellish winter. We should, however, learn from these occurrences in order to avoid loss of life and property. Of course the earth will come to an end, but let us not take false clues from Mother Nature’s habitual hiccups.
“We human beings just happen to be in the way while Nature is going about her business.”
also this quote. People need to understand this more. We too often think that we as humans beings are so special that nature should coming to a grinding halt for our sake.
Jonathan,
I saw the article on the home page and figured, this looks interesting. With even greater delight I saw your name as the author and thought to myself, “He’s intelligent so let’s see what he has to say…”
Your opening paragraphs where you gave your analysis of how Caribbean people view disasters as a ‘sign of the end’ did not sit well with me since people all over the world do the same but I continued to read because you are my friend and I was hoping the article would make me proud. I disagreed with a lot of your points, by the way, because while you mentioned some facts, the article was full of opinions and speculation.
Where you lost me was when you started addressing God (which we write with a “Capital G” by the way — unless that was intentional)…I was stunned to see you write the words “supposedly loving God” (I inserted the Capital G because I cannot get myself to use the lower case form) and it seems by your tone you question or mock even God’s goodness, love and plan. Never question God’s love, my dear, or His intentions.
Your article was very scientific and I was willing to be open and accept it as a fair analysis based on how you see things. You failed to include the Mayans who predicted the world will end in 2012 in your article which was surprising since I initially thought your article would have been an analysis of their findings, among other things. I expected to read that you had done an in depth research on their predictions and would have made submissions based on your findings which would highlight flaws in their theory.
I am still proud of you for daring to put your work out there. Best of luck in the future.
He did mention the Mayans and their 2012 prediction.
I would have liked to see which points you disagreed with and why…
If you would like to believe in a god, that is fine. Do not assume that everyone holds your belief, for that is all it is, an unfalsifiable belief.
We could go on to your claim that your god is good and loving, but we all know how ridiculous a claim that is.
Apart from the lack of research and information adressing the issue of the mayan prediction (which is also what I expected), your only reasoning for disagreeing with the article is because of some over-sensitive reaction to some religious issue. You are seriously going to try to be so eloquent and make a big deal about the difference between God and god? I would assume that he used the latter to refer to the entity in a general sense so as not to attribute any specific religious significance to the word, apart from the relation to the context at hand. And by the way if you really wanted to be so sensitive about the name you should try using the correct name (YHWH) and not the anglicized version.
This is the most enlightening and interesting piece I’ve ever read on DNO or on any other Dominica page. The author is brave to challenge the status quo in Dominica and much of the Caribbean. I often ask, “how does so many Dominicans study and become doctors, scientists, lawyers politicians and the like, yet we all seem to shy away from a discussion about how the world was created and the negative impact of religion”. That discussion is one that occurs during the early stages of most 4-year college degrees in the US and I am almost certain, in Europe and much of the developed world. Is it possible that we are still mentally enslaved, fearing the wrath of the almighty for questioning the “word” that has been given to us? Just a question.
Amen to that.Very informative and cleverly written.I will add from (The Glory be to The Father): World without End. Amen. Food for thought.
what a wonderful article, i enjoyed reading that. It’s not to often you get something scientific or gets you thinking in Dominica. Keep writing sir. Do you have a facebook where i can follow your work?
But then again, those megalomaniacs that want to have all kinds of nuclear missiles are on a path to destroy the earth too. Everybody want to have a nuclear bomb. So, the world can end that way too.
They’ll destroy most of us, but not the planet itself
well dear, the world will end contrary to your thinking – but not the physical planet we live on and not at your billions and billions of years time – soon and in God’s time that he has scheduled long long ago.
“God’s time”
translation: we have no idea when so we’ll just keep speculating
It was supposed to end in 1966. lol lol
“As it was in the begining it now and ever shall be WORLD WITHOUT END” .. .. Can I get an Amen??
So the world is not going to end as the bible says in revelations? Why then religious people(Christians no less) are so engrossed with the idea that the world it imminently come to its demise by the furious hands of their god? Well it seems that the bible is contradicting itself, too: On the one hand, it says the world will end and, on the other, it say world without end. When is this god going to make up its mind. Why them religious people are so engross with the ‘ENDING OF THE WORLD PROPHECY’.
ANONYMOUS: As an evangelist who presents Bible Prophecy Conferences in churches and has lectured on prophecy in Bible Colleges I get a buzz every time there is an end of the world prediction. It is interesting to see how affects people. Did you know it is not the Biblically literate Christians who are building bunkers, stocking up on food supplies, and buying wireless radios? Those who study the prophetical scriptures in context have some knowledge of what the future holds. But they know better than to set dates. Many of these people are committed believers in Jesus Christ. They get excited when they see Bible prophecy coming to pass. But they are not afraid. Some years ago I was in a large church in Canada where I met an elderly lady. When she told me how long she had been attending the church I asked her if she remembered May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation. This is an important date for students of Bible prophecy because Israel had not been a nation for over 2,000 years. But the Bible again and again – in both the Old and New Testaments – clearly stated Israel would be reborn and restored to nationhood. The scriptures tell us the land that was once barren would become fruitful and the Jewish people would return and build up their homeland. When I asked this senior if she remembered May 14, 1948 she became quite emotional. She told me the follow Sunday morning the atmosphere of the church was electric with excitement. She said their pastor had preached for years tht it was coming. Anonymous, Bible prophecy is the real deal! The birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ fulfilled over 200 prophecies in the Old Testament written hundreds of years before He came! There are scriptures that show the rise of Russia and China as world super-powers, and many other things involving the nations. The Bible gives us a very clear picture of what the condition of this world will be just before Christ returns. Its not pretty! But Christ said nobody knows the day nor the hour, not even the angels in heaven, so Bible believing Christans do not st a date. Now about this end of the world idea. We are not expecting planet earth to end. Eventually it will be renovated and made new. In this sense we look for a new earth but that is a long way off. In the New Testament the word WORLD can mean (1) planet earth, (2) the people, (3) the age we live in, or (4) this present system of things. We must interpret the verse in the light of the context. Read the verses before and the verses after and you will know which of these four meanings are intended. Yes, this present age will end. No, planet earth will not end! And please, don`t reject Bible prophecy. The world is moving into such dark and desperate times you are going to need the Bible to know what is happening around you. Study the Word of God and you will be he one who has the answers to share with your confused and benighted generation. I invite you to visit my website http://www.livinghopeministries.ca and click onto THE EAGLE COURSE. It can be studied from the screen or printed absolutely free. Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Pentecostal Evangelist.