[marshmallow]

Rapture, Shmapture.

[yendu bwam]

Frankly, I'm one Catholic who could use some guidance in this area.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Ditto.

Just like the whole evolution/creationism debate, God worries about these things so I don't have to.

[narses]

Ping

[Larry Lucido]

Well, I'm glad that's been cleared up.

[NYer]

A number of “due dates” for Christ’s return –- all put forth by end-times enthusiasts -- have come and gone over the years, “and I know all too well about Our Lord’s attitude toward command performances,” says Thigpen. “He doesn’t show.”

I have found this to also be true amongst the Medjugorje followers. They seem to have organized themselves into an underground society that feeds off of supposed apparitions of the BVM to various adults in Canada and the USA. Like their protestant counterparts, they too await the end times, however, they anticipate being part of the tribulation. Many of their dates have come and gone, and still they believe it is soon.

[Orual]

Rapture, Shmapture.

Exactly.

[Drumbo]

. . .many non-Catholics believe several fallacies about suffering – first, that it can’t be redemptive; second, that Christians have no share in the sins that merit divine chastisement; and third, that the innocent do not suffer for the sake of the guilty. All these notions are mistaken,” says Thigpen.

Is this saying what I think it says? Catholics believe that all will suffer for the actions of a few pediphile preists? Hogwash.

[dagoofyfoot]

I suggest that anyone who seeks the truth about such matters should read the Bible for themselves.

The Apostle Paul refers to the Rapture as a "Mystery", and as for the second coming, Jesus Christ declares, "No man knows the day or year", as so no true Christian would try to predict it.

Believers just need to focus on living a life that is "Chistlike"

[Euro-American Scum]

A renowned author of 25 Catholic and Christian books, and more than 500 published articles, Thigpen holds a Ph.D. in historical theology from Emory University and currently serves as a senior editor for Servant Publications and associate editor of Envoy Magazine.

Emory University, huh? Isn't that the same institution that produced Michael Bellisos, (sp?) author of that fairy tale Arming America, which held that there was no firearm tradition in colonial America based on the purposely fraudulent examination of phony probate records of the time?

A Catholic convert, he is also a former Protestant pastor and college professor who writes and speaks on contemporary apocalyptic movements, among many other topics.

A college professor? Well, gosh, no agenda there.

[mercy]

****“As Catholics, we’re taught that the value of suffering is indeed great,” says Thigpen, “but many non-Catholics believe several fallacies about suffering –- first, that it can’t be redemptive; second, that Christians have no share in the sins that merit divine chastisement; and third, that the innocent do not suffer for the sake of the guilty. All these notions are mistaken,” says Thigpen****

Anyone who simply reads the new testament will find out that suffering is part of the Christian life. Those who teach otherwise are fools.

The majority of Evangelical 'Fundamentalist' Christians do not hold to the idea of a 'rapture'. It is not part of the Christian doctrine. But we do watch the events around us in the world and compare them with the signs of the end that The Messiah tells us to be aware of.

These ARE at least the beginnings of the very End Times. This is terribly clear to all truly faithful Christians. Tell your unsaved friends that they have very little time left to make up their minds.

When you see the construction begin on the last Temple you should begin evangelization in ernest as the time will be then very short.

You scoffers should increase your efforts as well as your actions are one of the chief signs.

[Timesink]

...and that the innocent do not suffer for the sake of the guilty. All these notions are mistaken.

Oh my gosh, OJ really DIDN'T do it! :)