The Second Coming?

[crystal]

This is a thread for the discussion of the Second Coming of Christ. If you believe in God, how do you believe this event will take place? And if you do not believe in God, what do you think of the prospect of the return of Christ?

I am Christian, and it is my personal belief that a thing called the Rapture will occur. Basically I am of the belief that things will occur in this order: First the Rapture happens, then the Tribulation, and then Christ's 1000 year reign on Earth. When the Rapture occurs, millions around the world will disappear and leave the world in chaos, and a powerful, charismatic ruler will rise up to bring in a new world order--and this man will be the Anti-Christ. The Rapture will occur at a moment when no one is expecting it, and it will happen when there is a shout "Come up here!" and all of those who belong to Christ will vanish in the blink of an eye.

Heh, I know there are probably many people out there who do not believe events will happen as I just described, but just remember I am merely stating my beliefs and you are free to discuss yours as well Just remember to keep it civil.

I also know that there will probably be some who will thing this sounds like something out of a fairy tale, and again if you believe this, you are entitled to that opinion as well

I will say this though: I have read the Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and I think that they are dramatic, well-written stories. But they are only fiction, and somehow I doubt the events in the End Times will play out like they were described in those books. Perhaps they might end up being vaguely like they were in those books, but I think a lot of things cannot be known about the Tribulation until it happens, and events will probably be a lot more terrible than they were portrayed in those books.

So, how about it? What do you think of the prospect of the return of Christ, and how do you think it will effect the world?

[Junk Angel]

To tell the truth, my range of belief comes to a sci fi book about the second coming.

And humanity killed Christ - the second time, and all hell came to visit the face of the Earth.

[Mandalorian]

First off im agnostic, but i do beleive in a higher power adn in the fact that most religions haev similar beleifs at a base level.

As for the second coming I think that it will start as a war Most liekly between the two strongest power atm most likely China dn America (I figure that America would actually eb the corrupted one [we're to easily influenced]).

[marnaveign]

It has been hard for me to put together any coherent thoughts on the Second Coming without typing up another novel like in the Churches topic here.

In my church, the LDS church, aka Mormon, we don't teach about The Rapture like other religions do. We don't teach too much about the Second Coming except to do our best to be physically, mentally, and spiritually ready for it. We do learn very little about it and wish more time would be spent in my church studying about it. Most of what I believe about the Second Coming is from tidbits I've picked up here and there and my own personal study. I would like to hear a bit more about the Rapture though, so I can have a better understanding into the beliefs of other Christian religions about the Second Coming. I'll always be LDS, but I love gaining knowledge about this, from whatever sources I can find.

In my personal studies of the Second Coming, I've come to some concusions that may or may not be right. One thing I know for certain is there will be wars. The government of the USA may collapse with gangs taking over for a time if they can. I live in Utah where tornadoes are very rare, but I've had dreams where there were dozens of them all around the valley. I've had other dreams where there was massive fire coming down from the sky in what may have been either meteorites or lava bombs. I've also had dreams of volcanoes eurupting all around in the mountains and valleys where I live. Perhaps it will happen. Perhaps they were merely indications of my life being very turbulant at the time I had them. Either way, I know that living immediately before the Second Coming will not be the easiest time in the history of the world.

I believe that Jesus will first appear to the Jews near Jerusalem and come to their aid in the battle of Armageddon. Later, He will appear to all the world. Those who are already dead will be raised from the grave and resurrected, the spirits never to be parted from the bodies again. Those who are righteous will be lifted up to the heavens, and all who are left will be left to deal with the chaos that will follow. This may be in the form of the entire world being purified by fire. The world will be transformed into a more holy state and Christ will reign for 1000 years.

After that time, Satan and his followers will be released and there will be one more war between the followers of Christ and the followers of Satan. The people of Christ will win, and once it is over, the final judgement will take place. Everyone will be judged for their actions and learn exactly where they will spend the rest of eternity. One of the three kingdoms of heaven, or outer darkness. Though to get to outer darkness, you would have to have a perfect knowledge that God exists and deny it. Most of us wouldn't get there if we wanted to, because we do not have a perfect knowledge that God does exist. And if we did, I don't think that anyone with a brain would be able to deny it.

Hey! I'm getting better at shorter religious posts on the deep topics! ;D