Are the End Times near?

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itullian

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I know no one really knows and there are many opinions.Protestants are always talking as if they’re near. Us Catholics not so much. Muslims?

If yes, what points that way. If no, why not?

I know Jesus said no one knows when, but he also said to be aware of the signs.

As an individual, what do you think?
 
People have been saying the end is near for just about forever. But the Bible says But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.
So I firmly expect it will come when its least expected.
 
I would think so. It seems we are in a period of apostasy, where all traditional values are overturned. We have too much faith in humanism and science, to the point where non-physical reality does not matter anymore. If the world doesn’t end yet I still think there will be martyrdom of Christians who “hold back progress”. Currently we are only seeing mockery and humiliation but if people keep teaching that religion is the source of all evil and oppression someone is bound to come and do something about it.
 
I’ve heard it said that the gospel needs to be preached to all nations and peoples first. In addition Paul talks about the Jews being cut off from the vine until the full measure of gentiles is brought in. Paul expected that the Jews would eventually be saved.

Another thing to consider is that if Jesus had returned a 1000 years ago would we even exist? Will new humans be produced after the general resurrection? Thus, it is not for us to determine the dates and times since we are not God and it is His plan that will be executed in His timing.

People assume when things get worse Jesus is coming soon. But history tells another story. Think about the Black Plague in the middle ages. People were dying so much.that bodies were piling up in the streets. You can not get much worse then that. Many thought it was end times then.

“The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.” (2 Pt 2:9-10)
 
fisherman_carl said:
People assume when things get worse Jesus is coming soon. But history tells another story. Think about the Black Plague in the middle ages. People were dying so much.that bodies were piling up in the streets. You can not get much worse then that. Many thought it was end times then.
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WWII was a time period that could’ve very easily be thought of then as the end of times. Communism, fascism, rapes, death marches, holocaust, bomb raids, Pearl Harbor, moltov cocktails, using captives as guinea pigs, etc… The atomic bomb… enough said.
 
I do worry about the possibility that the end-times are near. When I read/watch the secular (as well as Catholic) news media, I get the feeling that animosity between nations is increasing and the UN seems to be unable to do anything about it. I watch the nations that have nuclear warheads posturing and threatening other nations. We all know who they are. Should any one nation decide to loose their warheads against any other nation, world war will break out with the anticipated result of nuclear anihilation/devastation everywhere. I would call this “the end-times.” National unrest within countries and between countries seems to be escalating.

Worse seems to be the unrest and divisiveness I am reading about within Catholicism itself. Bishops threatening to withold the sacraments from an entire parish in Wisconsin. The laity and Priests battling each other. An entire group of nuns being publicly chastized. Secular law suits against Catholic diocese for covering up Priestly abuse. And on and on.

We have had 2 thousand years of Christianity and don’t seem to have learned very much. Christian countries are becoming more secular. Catholics leaving the Church in droves. We continue to place greed and a need for power above all other considerations. We seem to make more and more rules which more and more people are breaking.

All of this saddens me as it seems we are bent on destroying ourselves. And that, for me, means the end times.
 
Only God knows. We should all prepare as if it were goign to happen now, and when it does happen, we will be ready.
 
I voted “have no idea” for several reasons. One is that we are specifically told in Scripture that no man knows the hour. The other reason is that there have been other times in history when things looked bleak, and a number of people believed they were in the end times.
 
I have no idea, but the only thing that does make me feel as if it could happen is that there are enough weapons to destroy the world, in which God could permit to happen if that’s how He intends it. But for me, being a former Baptist hardcore premill kind of guy, I used to anticipate the 2nd coming as more likely to happen than my own death on earth. But now, i think it is much wiser to prepare for my own personal end than the end of the world. I’m not sure if the anticipation by many non-catholics is all bad, since it does tend to get people to think about how temporary this liife on earth is, but on the otherhand all the false prophecies by non-catholics has an equally or worse effect on people.

My thought is that we should let the end of the world motivate us to walk the straight and narrow, but the definate end that is coming is the end of our lives in this world.
 
The Protestant or Evangelical interpretation of the “End Times” is called “dispensationalism.” No, Catholics do not believe in dispensationalism and should not get caught up in the “left behind” type of prophecy. These things have been predicted for centuries and here we still are.

Live every day as if Jesus were going to come today!

🙂

Because he might!
 
We constanly live in the “end times”…each day confronts us with the possibility that this day could very well be our last…so we should live our lives in such a way that we are prepared for our “end time”…we live in the Escatological Last Days.
 
we have always been living in the end times. That is why we are supposed to always be on our guard and be ready for the second coming. Spend less time looking for signs and wonders and more time on living life as Christ asked us.
 
Has anyone heard of a New Age teacher named Raj Patel? There are groups that say he might be the antichrist. I don’t know enough about Catholic End Times Theology to know if the Church believes that it is the End Times now. I googled the End Times on U-Tube and got three vastly different teachings from 2 priests and a layman.

I am a convert of only 2 years. Before that, I was a member of an evangelical Protestant church that talked A LOT about the End Times.

Anyway, does anyone have insight into Raj Patel? Wisdom needed!
 
Jenna_Pope said:
Has anyone heard of a New Age teacher named Raj Patel? There are groups that say he might be the antichrist. I don’t know enough about Catholic End Times Theology to know if the Church believes that it is the End Times now. I googled the End Times on U-Tube and got three vastly different teachings from 2 priests and a layman.

I am a convert of only 2 years. Before that, I was a member of an evangelical Protestant church that talked A LOT about the End Times.

Anyway, does anyone have insight into Raj Patel? Wisdom needed!
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I have heard of these stories, as well. But I vaguely remember any specifics. I don’t think he is an A.C. but hard to say as there were several throughout history.
 
thomc1980 said:
People have been saying the end is near for just about forever. But the Bible says But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.
So I firmly expect it will come when its least expected.
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Doesn’t that mean now, then? Since it is least expected now. Most people are in apostasy - they consider themselves post-Church and think Christianity is a middle-ages leftover and feel a “fork should be stuck in it because it’s done”, so to speak. So now seems about right.

God bless you.

Btw, there is a whole series of threads on this - End Times Speculation - in the Back Fence (there up to 14th thread now):
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=617905&page=57
 
TheRealJuliane said:
The Protestant or Evangelical interpretation of the “End Times” is called “dispensationalism.” No, Catholics do not believe in dispensationalism and should not get caught up in the “left behind” type of prophecy. These things have been predicted for centuries and here we still are.

Live every day as if Jesus were going to come today!

🙂

Because he might!
Click to expand...
“Dispensation” is a perfectly good Biblical word. Paul describes the “dispensation of the grace of God” given to him “for us.” This is the present church-age. Our Lord Jesus Christ recognized the Biblical dispensational principle when He stood to read from the scroll of Isaiah in Luke 4:18-19. He stopped reading in the middle of the sentence and closed the scroll. Why? Two different dispensations. Paul also describes the “last days” in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Take a look and see if you don’t agree that Paul is describing these “last days.”

Grace and Peace,
QC
 
Go to the Vatican website and read the third letter of Fatima… look at the words coming true just like Mary warned us they would
 
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