Big quake question: Is nature out of control?

MSNBC ^ | February 27, 2010 | Livescience.com via MSNBC

[americanophile]

Chile is on a hotspot of sorts for earthquake activity. And so the 8.8-magnitude temblor that shook the region overnight was not a surprise, historically speaking. Nor was it outside the realm of normal, scientists say, even though it comes on the heels of other major earthquakes.

One scientist, however, says that relative to the time period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Earth has been more active over the past 15 years or so.

The Chilean earthquake, and the tsunami it spawned, originated on a hot spot known as a subduction zone, where one plate of Earth's crust dives under another. It's part of the active "Ring of Fire," a zone of major crustal plate clashes that surround the Pacific Ocean.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Maybe not like you think. There are Christians who do not believe that this applies outside of the Tribulation period (the last 7 years before Jesus, the Messiah of Israel comes to establish His one-world government over all the nations).

On this other thread someone was making a point that people "get crazy" about this in the Bible, when there is not any evidence that shows it -- and good reason for that -- the Bible doesn't say it's going to happen during the "Church Age"... :-) ...

Freeper thread ...

Chile Earthquake Among Strongest Since 1900

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The following article from the Institute of Creation Research, regarding earthquakes that we have seen and have been recorded, copied and printed in a Christian website, by Lambert Dolphin.

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EARTHQUAKES AND THE END TIMES: A GEOLOGICAL AND BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

Steven A. Austin and Mark L. Strauss*

Institute for Creation Research, PO Box 2667, El Cajon, CA 92021
Voice: (619) 448-0900 FAX: (619) 448-3469

(Unpublished manuscript of January 14, 1999. These authors published a simplified,
less technical version of this paper in 1999 under the title "Are Earthquakes Signs of the End Times?:
A Geological and Biblical Response to an Urban Legend,"
Christian Research Journal, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 30-39.)

(From: http://www.icr.org/research/sa/sa-r06.htm)

Our primary concern is with the first part of the discourse, where Jesus warns against being deceived by false christs or being alarmed at wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes:

And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs." (Matt. 24:4-8)

Among dispensationalists there are two main interpretations of these verses. As we shall see, neither confirms that earthquakes will increase as the present Church age draws to a close.

(1) Some dispensationalists see the whole of the Olivet Discourse as relating to the tribulation period. Verses 4-8 are usually said to concern the disturbances of the first half of the tribulation while verses 9-26 concern the second half - the Great Tribulation.53 Evidence for this is claimed in the similarity between the events described in verses 4-8 and those associated with the seven seals of Revelation 6.54 For advocates of this view, the earthquakes identified in verses 7-8 are not part of the present Church age, but rather the tribulation period. In this case, even if the birth image in verse 8 were to indicate an increase in earthquakes (which is not necessary - see discussion below), this increase occurs during the tribulation, not during the present Church age. Present (Church age) data concerning earthquake frequency has little or no bearing on the text.

(2) Other dispensationalists (as well as many non-dispensationalists) claim that verses 4-8 (or verses 4-14) concern not the tribulation period, but general signs which are characteristic of the present age. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote that the events described in verses 4-8 "are the characteristics of the unforeseen intervening or intercalary age"55 - that is, the Church age. John Walvoord similarly affirms that "verses 4-14 are general prophecies that can find fulfillment throughout the present age, with verses 15-30 fulfilled in the Great Tribulation."56 He adds, however, that these former events "are repeated in the Great Tribulation when what was perhaps partially fulfilled earlier then have a very literal and devastating fulfillment."57 The primary evidence that verses 4-14 are signs characteristic of the present age are their general nature and the fact that Jesus identifies them as events which do not indicate the end ("but that is not yet the end") and so should not provoke apocalyptic fervor ("see that you are not alarmed").

[ an excerpt, see the link for complete article ... ]

Figure 1. Global frequency of the largest earthquakes during the twentieth century. Graph (a) shows the frequency of M 7.0 earthquakes during the entire century (1960 events). Graph (b) shows the frequency of M 6.5 earthquakes after 1930 (4593 events). In both plots a general decrease in earthquake frequency is evident through the twentieth century.

Table 1. Numbers of M 6.0 earthquakes worldwide in the twentieth century. The numbers of earthquakes reported in the National Geophysical Data Center file called "1900.EQ" greatly exceed those reported by Hal Lindsey from his unspecified U.S. Geological Survey source.

[Star Traveler]

See Post #81... :-)

[Star Traveler]

Maybe not... See Post #81... :-)

[Star Traveler]

See Post #81... :-)

[reg45]

Big quake question: Is nature out of control?

Nature has no control; it has random events.

Only human arrogance thinks that we can "control" nature. We can use technology to overcome some of nature's obstacles, but we cannot really control nature.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Yes, 'Our Deliverer' is coming!

He's coming, to be sure... but I wouldn't count on the earthquakes for some indication of it before the Tribulation time... :-)

See Post #81... :-)

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I suspect you can find such going on in every time period since the beginning of time. God's time is not our time and His ways are not our ways.

There are other indications that we are nearing the Tribulation time and it's not earthquakes. Those are things to be seen while "inside" the Tribulation...

Don't discount the closenss of the Messiah of Israel coming to earth to set up His one-world government over all the nations... but it's not the earthquakes that are telling us that right now... it's other things.

See Post #81... :-)

[Star Traveler]

No..., not according to the Bible... See Post #81... :-)

[Howie66]

That was the point of my original post: “And just who is going to control nature?

Buck Ofama?”

[presently no screen name]

I wouldn't count on the earthquakes for some indication of it before the Tribulation time...

I didn't say nor do I look for signs to confirm HIS WORD! His Word is true - just because of Who He is. He's coming!

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

The word has been spread to all four corners of the world. Hang on, going to be a fun ride.

No it hasn't... far from it... that happens, as seen in the book of Revelation, one of the three angels (spoken about there) does that ...

As far as the earthquakes... See Post #81... :-)

[Misterioso]

Re: Is nature out of control? Was nature ever really IN control????? Who writes this drivel?

Red in Blue wrote the headline, it appears. How about it, Red?

[stormer]

Nature is ALWAYS in control.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

I didn't say nor do I look for signs to confirm HIS WORD! His Word is true - just because of Who He is. He's coming!

You were answering a post that said "birth pangs" and I was pointing out that this is not necessarily true, or else we would be in the Tribulation period right now and we're not...

The post you were answering was Post #18 and he was answering the one about "earthquakes" in Post #3

[T Minus Four]

What a stupid headline! It has never been and never will be under our control. God’s got the con.

[T Minus Four]

What a stupid headline! It has never been and never will be under our control. God’s got the con.

[Star Traveler]

Does “posting” ever get “out of control”... LOL ...

[Glenn]

Ha ha ha ha! Hee hee hee hee!

Just too damned funny!

[presently no screen name]

Let’s put it this way - I am very content in my beliefs even though you feel the NEED to correct me.

[Spok]

“Big quake question: Is nature out of control?”

When was it under control? And by whom or what was it being controlled? Has there ever been a more arrogant and revealing question asked? Only on MSNBC...