/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>576049

The rapture is a modern idea with shaky foundations in orthodox Christian teaching. Watch vid related (and, indeed, the rest of this series) if you really want as much information as possible on Christian end-times teaching. For now, what I'll say is that it looks like there's no consensus because there is no consensus. Almost all of the information we have about the end times is in a book called Revelation, and the entire thing is just a description of a dream/vision. Nobody knows what all the symbolism in it means for sure. It really is a complex topic, and I'm about to go to bed so I'd rather not get into it now.

Yes, Jesus and Jesus alone is Christ, which means exactly the same thing as Messiah. He's God, and there's only one of Him.

Antichrist, on the other hand, is not an exclusive position. Check the wikipedia page on that out for more information, it seems more or less reliable.

Jesus already has His new body. He won't need to be born again or possess anyone. He can just show up.

As far as what Tribulation might look like, just read Revelation and take a little artistic license. Half of the questions you're asking don't have serious answers because they're based on pop-culture rather than the Bible. If you want to have a giant cave that leads to the center of the earth, or a portal that spews out demons, go for it. Whatever's more interesting will work best.

The motivations of the various supernatural agents are also kind of tough to get into, so I'm gonna just not answer that for now.

The remaining humans are an interesting element. Like I said earlier, I don't believe in the rapture, but just thinking about what it would be like does interest me. Maybe the only people left would be totally irredeemable, and the story could explore people's various damning character flaws while everyone slowly killed each other off or got killed by demons. Maybe some people would convert to Christianity and try their best to help others out. You might read up on the Left Behind series of books, since they're about exactly that question.

Anyway, I'll probably come back to answer some of these questions in more detail tomorrow, sorry if this post wasn't too helpful. I was really tired writing this. God bless.

All the stuff with the Messiah battling the antichrist is new to me. The only place in the Bible the word "antichrist" is mentioned is in the letters of St. John. And in those he mostly says that the antichrists are those that reject that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (Atheists, Gnostics, etc.).

I guess the closest figure to the antichrist you are thinking of is the second beast in Revelation 13, who shows signs to deceive the people. This is kind of a mock-messiah figure who shows miracles as Jesus did.

The Messiah is Jesus Christ. I doubt he would need to be born again since he already has a body he ascended into heaven with. I don't know what Shin Megami is. I've been on this board for a few years and haven't heard of it. It sounds kind of heretical though.

>If the Earth was enveloped in a battle between good and evil, what sort of players would we see on that battlefield, as far as angels and demons go? Where would the demons come from? Is there an entrance to Hell ala Dante's Divine Comedy, or would they simply materialize from thin air? What would they look like? How would the angels and demons interact with the remaining humans on Earth (all sinners)?

Revelation states stuff about Michael and his angels battling Satan and his demons in Heaven. I remember in Milton's Paradise Lost, Satan had to pass the gate of hell, but also traverse an extremely long time through a formless, chaotic void before he reached the earth. But after Satan seduced the world, a highway was built between the gates of hell and earth.

>Would God himself actively participate in a battle with demons? If not, why?

In Milton again, God allowed the angels and demons to battle for two days, and then on the third day He sent God the Son to finish everything. Basically, due to the omnipotence of God, as soon as he participates directly, it's probably already over.

>And, more of a political question, but what do you think those remaining sinners would do during the apocalypse? Would they just all be incinerated instantaneously?

Personally I think they'd be dragged down to Hell. Incineration is annihilistic. But at the end of the world, both the damned and the saved are united with their bodies.

Anyway, for this, I recommend the entire book of Revelation and Book VI of Paradise Lost (it's about the war in heaven).

>>576058

>William Lane Craig

https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/monotheletism/

>>576069

Meh. We don't need to throw out the whole of someone's work any time they say something stupid. Besides, he'd likely change his mind if he did more research on the subject, given the way he explains himself. I don't take Craig's opinions as authoritative, and neither does he, so his being wrong here doesn't bother me too much.

Besides, the point of my posting that video was to discredit the rapture theory, so it could be a Mormon talking and it wouldn't make a difference. I almost posted Pastor Anderson, and I certainly have my disagreements with him. Still, thanks for the link, I wasn't aware of Craig's beliefs on that subject.