The Not So Secret Rapture

reformed.org ^ | W. Fred Rice

[topcat54]

Evangelical book catalogs promote books such as Planet Earth: The Final Chapter, The Great Escape, and the Left Behind series. Bumper stickers warn us that the vehicle’s occupants may disappear at any moment. It is clear that there is a preoccupation with the idea of a secret rapture. Perhaps this has become more pronounced recently due to the expectation of a new millennium and the fears regarding potential Y2K problems. Perhaps psychologically people are especially receptive to the idea of an imminent, secret rapture at the present time. Additionally, many Christians are not aware that any other position relative to the second coming of Jesus Christ exists. Even in Reformed circles there are numerous people reading these books. Many of these people are unaware that this viewpoint conflicts with Scripture and Reformed Theology.

[Cronos]

bdannnng!!!

NOBODY expects the Spanish INquisition
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again....


And, now ... "Fetch...




THE CUSHIONS!"

[Cronos]

Hell is being deprived of the vision of God. it is the Gehenna, the unquenchable fire.(Mt 13:41-42, Mt 25:41, Mt 5:22-29; ⇒ 10:28; ⇒ 13:42- 50;.)

[Cronos]

Oh, and I was talking about the Jewish Concept of Hell. It is not really the same as the Christian concept of hell but rather is a temporary place of punishment.

JDlevy wrote a very fascinating post on this once

As an interesting (I hope) contrast... Judaism believes that the satan (literally, “one who causes to turn [astray]”) is created by G-d and totally subservient and yet is tasked with a mission to make man stray. He in fact wants man to overcome for in the end he too wants G-d’s will to be fulfilled. An analogy is given that he passes the buck to someone who understands less clearly about G-d and His will. And in turn that (angel, being, etc) passes it to another (4-levels removed...ask your local kabbalist—but not Madonna’s) until the one holding the stick is on such a low level that he doesn’t understand at all that the original task came from G-d...and this emissary really does want to cause man to stray just for the sake of it. Anyway...it’s how we resolve the existence of a satan yet maintain that there is nothing (not even ‘evil’) that isn’t completely of, by, and subservient to G-d.

JD -- copying you in -- what is your opinion on the influence of Zoroastrianism on post-Exile Judaism?

[Cvengr]

I wanted to post this to the Catholic Caucus thread on Holy Water, but respect their caucus (but it's too humorous not to provide to others:,...let's just don't encourage the mixing of these two compounds:

[Cronos]

Actually, all water is holEy :-P



H²O

[caww]

Does give one pause....especially when in that Valley...things change, life changes.

[Cronos]

In fact, the bit about holy water relates to Zoroastrians again :-)

Now, the Zoroastrians worship the god of light, Ahura Mazda.

He is represented in Zoroastrian temples (agiaries or fire-temples as they are called) by a continuously burning fire. This fire in each temple is supposedly the same fire that Zoroaster initially lit in what is now Azerbaijan and transported from place to place. Their rituals also consist of adding ghee and sandalwood to this fire as offering.

Now, the Zoroastrians (Parsis as they are called in India -- derived from Fars or Persia), escaped to India about 800 AD when the ARabs invaded the Sassanid Empire. When the escaped, they first landed in what is now the Indian state of Gujarat (west coast of India), the Gujarati rajah gave them a tola of milk to show that while Gujarat had a lot of rich, cultivatable land, it was already full and so there was no place for the Parsis to settle permanently. To show that the Parsis would enrich the land, without replacing any existing people, the Zoroastrian priest cleverly added sugar to the milk, which dissolved without spilling a drop.

This was the holy water sign!

Also, the Zoroastrians promised not to marry into the neighboring Gujaratis -- a promise they keep to today, with dire consequences, as their population has now dwindled to 50,000 people only (as children of a Parsi woman who marries outside the faith are not given their Navjot entry into Parsi religion), but they have enriched the land -- with the Tatas etc. being Parsi

[Cronos]

The Zoroastrians also had the idea of angels and of guardian angels

[Cronos]

Holy CHEESE!!!

[Cronos]

Holey tops!!!!

[Cronos]

Holey smoke!!!!

[Cronos]

Holey holes!!!!

[metmom]

LOL!!!

[spirited irish]

snip: being a bit contrary — is it fair to call Marx in that lot.

Spirited: Marx’s madness was revealed in his poems wherein he spoke of destroying the world and its’ human population. He forthrightly declared that God the Father is “our enemy.”

Marx was a materialist monist, which means in practical terms that in his “philosophical” system mankind no longer existed as individuals but as aggregates of matter fully dispursed throughout nature. It is only in this light that Marx’s crackpot economics, ie., the forbidding of private property can be understood. For if there are no individuals it follows that there can be no such thing as individual “private” property.

The connections between Marxism and Nazism are many. Among them: Theosophy, Gnosticism, monism (collectivism. oneness, solidarity, etc), seething hatred of God the Father and His created order, evolutionary conceptions, and man as god.

So yes, Marx belongs “in that lot.”

[metmom]

Interesting chart.

Did you design it yourself?

Or did you lift it without attribution from another site?

[Cronos]

Dear Metmom,

Jesus Christ is God. ons should Reject the teachings of those who say that He is not God.

Regards,
Cronos

[metmom]

Metmom's statement is objectionable ....

1 Peter 2:4-8 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:

"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,"

and

"A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense."

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Romans 9:30-33 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

[Cronos]

In fact, it's very interesting that there are folks who can quote a lot of scripture and don't realise that scripture clearly points to Jesus Christ being God.

It's so basic to the idea of scripture -- scripture tells us "if you reject Jesus Christ as God, you are not rejecting scripture because I am clearly saying Jesus Christ IS God"

[Gamecock]

It would appear that the left side of the table was lifted without proper credit, from the OPC website.

[metmom]

Excellent. Thank you for posting that.