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End Time
Many religions around the world have some notion of an end time, but it most often associated with the Abrahamic religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. For many the end time is a period just before the return of the Messiah, but other than this there is little agreement as to what it all means.
Christianity is probably the religion that focuses the most on the end of days. For certain evangelistic groups it is their main preoccupation and they devote a lot of time to getting themselves and others ready for the end. The ideas about what will happen during the end time is very controversial and Christians disagree among themselves as to what it all will involve.
Some recent American movies and popular novels such as “Left Behind” have increased people’s awareness of one version of how the world will end. This is the idea of rapture where those chosen by Jesus will be taken away from the Earth before the period of tribulation. This scenario is not shared by all evangelicals though and some would see that even the saved-Christians will be around during the tribulation.
Armageddon refers to the final battle between Satin and Jesus. Some people believe that this will occur at the end of the seven years of tribulation; Jesus will be the victor but many souls will be lost. The period of tribulation is described in many different ways, but it is generally viewed as an extremely unpleasant time when there will be much suffering. Some evangelical groups claim that up to a quarter of the world’s population will be killed during the actual tribulation.
The arrival of the end time has been viewed as imminent by people across the centuries. There has probably never been a time in the last couple of thousand of years when some people didn’t believe that Armageddon was just about to happen. This has led to some horrible events with religious groups committing mass suicide in order to escape the wrath. Throughout history there have been stories of people giving away all their belongings because they were convinced that the end times had arrived.
Those who believe that in ideas like the rapture often feel it is necessary to win over non-believers. This is understandable because if you are convinced that only people who follow your belief system can be saved then you will want to get as many people on-board as possible. In fact many evangelicals would see it as their duty to encourage others to become rapture ready so that they are prepared for the end time. Some are even going to the lengths of creating web sites to help those left behind after the rapture so they still have a chance to save their souls.
There will always be people who believe that the end is coming and that they need to prepare to be saved. Just because people in the past were wrong in their predictions it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. This is all about faith and people hold these beliefs sincerely.
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