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Posted on 07/30/2012 7:51:54 AM PDT by marcbold
"Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. "
There will be many antichrists before the world bears witness to the lawless one. The Church teaches us that " Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh."
Many suspect the scenario in my opening quote from the Book of Revelation (the mark on the right hand or the forehead that will be a requirement of commerce) will be a feature of the reign of Antichrist.
How about another bible quote?
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
When the day comes in which visible allegiance to that faith, which is against Christ, is a requirement of commerce, most people will go along with it. How do I know this? Because many people are going along with it now.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
I used to use the same argument you are using. Fact is, even with the mid trib scenario you won’t know the exact day or hour. But you will see signs of the season.
It could be argued that with pre-trib you would not see the signs of the season since you would be caught up before any take place.
I accidentally hit post before I was done...
continued...
Also, it is possible that what I said above about seasons is bunk, and after the beginning of the “tribulation portion” we will know exact times, which is why he gives them to us. So we won’t know exactly when it will start, but once it does, we will know what to expect and when. I’m thinking out loud here. I have not studied this in depth for several years.
Continued again...
...choosing to stay focused on the present as opposed to speculation about the finer details in prophesy.
I am reminded that nobody expected Jesus to come on the scene as he did with the exception of John the Baptist. I have a feeling the end of this age will be similar. We will all be wrong.
Very good article. The antichrist and his followers will be the embodiment of the spirit of the age.
I am Catholic and have NEVER been warned about reading ANY part of the Sacred Scriptures. In fact, I have been taught that it is extremely important that I should do so....daily.
PS. Some of those who encouraged me to read the Scriptures were good Jesuits.
Huh? The book was accepted later than the others, but actually, it was the Protestants who had problems with it and regarded it as inauthentic (because it discussed things they’d rather have avoided, such as Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell).
In the late middle ages, there was a huge amount of literature based on the Apocalypsis or Book of Revelations, and it set off a storm of millenarial speculation among Christians as the year 1000 approached. The reason people were discouraged from reading it on their own later was that they, in a pre-literate culture with not many other sources to counteract crazy ideas, tended to focus on certain dramatic concepts and give them a place they did not deserve.
These same people - or at least their 19th century American Protestant heirs - were busy dabbling in numerology and giving away their property and sitting on their rooftops waiting for the rapture every time a “significant” date came around.
So once upon a time, maybe people did need somebody a little more knowledgeable to intepret it for them. But this would have been a great disspointment to the many lawyers who profited off the attempts of these hapless millenialist Protestants to get their property back.
LOL.
That's absolutely hilarious, particularly since it's Protestant folks who first threw out portions of the Old Testament, then dreamed up dispensationalism and several other ways of interpreting the New Testament that claim that portions of the New Testament don't apply to Christians. Non-Catholic folks don't rely on Scripture, they go to great lengths to abandon or ignore Scripture. At best, they rely on a subset of Scriptue and even then there are tens of thousands of interpretations they can choose from to match their personal degree of accomodation to the pagan society.
I understand what a strong delusion the Great Escape is, but those anyone who is trapped in that heresy should at least try to get a fact about Catholic teaching right now and then. I have Catholic books from the early eighteen hundreds, mid eighteen hundreds, late eighteen hundreds, early 20th century, and copies of texts much, much, older than any of those. Every one of them tells Catholics that they should read and study Scripture and not a one mentions any portion that should not be read. If I had ever run across anything like that I'd still be Lutheran, and I was anxious to find that very sort of thing to avoid having to admit I had been wrong for so long.
Catholics believe the entire Bible without reservation. The fact that they do not believe any of the interpretations heretics base their bestselling books on is proof The One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is His Church, not proof that whichever doctrine sells the most books is correct. The One True Church, like Scripture, teaches that there are difficult portions of Scripture which are often misinterpreted, not that there is any portion that should be avoided. His Church, like Scripture, is well aware of how many enemies of Christ twist and torture Scripture to suit themselves. Those who claim to be Christian and live like they're following Jiminy Cricket rather than Christ may have convinced themselves that Jesus Christ is a loser who will have to evacuate His people from His planet, but it's just not true. Anyone who thinks it is should do a lot of very earnest praying to have their eyes opened and their mind freed from the strong delusion they're under.
Given that the Scriptures teach us to rely on our prelates for the correct interpretation of the difficult parts, seeing people mock the command to "obey your prelates" is seeing someone who mocks Scripture whether the person doing the mocking knows it or not. Most of the mockers in this country are actually acting out of ignorance rather than malice, but it's a willful ignorance since the Truth is readily available to anyone who looks past the bestselling doctrine of the year and sincerely prays to be guided to Christ.
Where does the Bible use the term tribulation to refer to God's wrath?
Christians are specifically told that they will know tribulation. And Matthew 24:21 says that believers will experience "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be". This is NOT refering to his wrath, but to persecution by the antichrist. Clearly believers are not going to be taken out, or else Satan and his minion(s) will have no one to persecute.
When Jesus returns in the clouds 24:29ff and fathers believers living and dead (the 1st resurrection), THEN he pours out his wrath on the earth. This is not called tribulation, but rather wrath.
Believers will be beheaded during the tribulation and great tribulation, being identified because they specifically refuse to take the mark of the beast, which is the sole purpose of the mark: to identify believers so Satan can kill them.
The antichrist is none other than the devil himself getting to 'play' his final role as sweet Jesus. Why suppose would 'God with us' get a visit from the devil, tempting Christ by twisting the Scripture? This was NOT done for Christ or The Heavenly Father's sake it was done so those who are able/willing would know what the first tribulation would be. Now apparently the majority of the peoples on this earth are going to 'buy' the role playing of the devil and bend their knees and worship him. That is according to the Scripture and nobody is going to get an early ticket out of town unless their soul returns to the Maker that sent it.
What you say is so true.
Indeed he did say “concept.” And yes, there’s a difference. But toleration—whether as concept OR virtue—is not a Christian invention. Stoicism introduced the concept of toleration and it had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with charity. It was about inuring self to environment. Christ never said or implied that toleration could replace love, charity or kindness.
That should read “gathers the living and the dead”, not “fathers” (a typo)
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