Apocalyptic Nonsense

If you are reading this, then you have survived another predicted Apocalyptic demise. Incredibly, there is a growing movement that takes seriously the Biblical Book of Revelation, and many Christians are so sure the end is nigh they say they won’t bother to vote in November.

For those unfamiliar with the Christian Bible, Revelation is its final book. It describes a vision of someone named John, who in about the year 95 A.D. wrote up his vision and circulated it as assurance to other persecuted Christians that Jesus was about to save them. If you are curious, here is a narrative attempt to make sense of the Book of Revelation. There is a lot going on, but in the climactic scene Jesus returns on a horse and defeats the enemies of Christianity in the Battle of Armageddon. Revelation quotes Jesus as saying, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” (Rev 22:12)

Let us be absolutely clear about this. John was born after Jesus died. He knew nothing about Him beyond hearsay. Certainly he never read a finished Gospel. And please read what John quotes Jesus as saying! The words that he ascribes to Jesus could not have been spoken by the Jesus of the Gospels, which all by itself refutes the possibility that John was reporting a vision from God. Then too, think about the timing! Sixty-five years earlier the genuine Jesus was teaching us how to love and forgive so we could bring the Kingdom of God on earth, and then almost at once he decided to chuck it all and take us to final judgment? The words ascribed to Jesus in Revelation contradict the words that we can confirm that Jesus actually spoke. In the face of all this, how did John’s ravings come to occupy such a central place in Christian theology?

The Christian Bible was assembled by fourth-century clerics. They believed themselves to be inspired by God, but the Bible they produced is full of contradictions. The Christian Bible as it stands could not possibly be the inspired word of a loving and internally consistent God, or even of a sane and rational God. And even among all the Bible’s contradictions, John’s ravings stand out as utterly averse to the Gospels being written at about the same time. Worse, John’s quoting of his guy on a horse has distorted or replaced for many Christians the genuine words of the living Jesus!

In case you find this hard to believe, here are some prominent Christian pastors who make preaching about John’s end-times ideas an important part of their spiritual message.

All of this is nonsense! It is evident from the words of Jesus that He never will bring about the end of the world, yet this fake theology has so polluted Christianity that it has made the religion that was named for Jesus the biggest obstacle that we now face in carrying out the Master’s work on earth. Jesus tells us in the Gospels that neither He nor God ever judges us. He tells us that we enter earth-lives in order to learn to better love and forgive so we can grow spiritually. It is a tragedy of cosmic proportions that the ravings of a persecuted madman are now believed by so many Christians to be more important than the Lord’s Gospel message.

Christians can stop waiting for Jesus to return. His teachings have been with us for two thousand years; you might say He never really left. Instead of battling evil with force and negating the value of His own teachings, Jesus and His minions are working now to raise the spiritual awareness of this planet. The dead agree with Jesus that once enough of us embrace His Gospel teachings, the Kingdom of God will overspread the earth. So instead of waiting in their churches to be Raptured before an Apocalypse that never will come, Christians who love Jesus should be out there now, helping the Lord to share the greatest news in all of history. We have His eternal promise that our future will not be an end-times war. Instead, our future will be the spiritual awakening that He came two thousand years ago to share. He says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (JN 8:31-32)

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