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Title: Moderate Christians fight rapture with Sunday school
Source:
Reuters
URL Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/dome ... /idUSN0721559020070313?src=cms
Published: Mar 17, 2007
Author: Andrea Hopkins
Post Date: 2007-03-17 15:36:39 by Arete
Keywords: None
Views: 384
Comments: 16
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Real estate agent Dave Eschenbach is an active member of his church, but he feels uncomfortable around a sizable portion of U.S. Christians -- those who believe they could be transported to heaven at any moment. Several years ago, Eschenbach had a boss who scheduled meetings around the rapture, the term for an event that around 20 percent of U.S. Christians believe is imminent. "One day he announced to the employees that they probably wouldn't be there next week because of the rapture," Eschenbach said of his former boss. "His church had decided that the rapture would happen that week." The belief has been fueled by the bestselling "Left Behind" novels, which tell how Christian believers will soon be whisked to heaven -- leaving clothes, dental fillings and eye-glasses behind -- while others are left behind to fight the anti-Christ in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. Eschenbach is a member of Cincinnati's Episcopal Christ Church Cathedral, a mainstream Protestant church. When it hosted a Webcast of a New York conference on rapture theology, he and about 50 others signed up to participate. Speakers at the conference, organized by the Episcopal Church's Trinity Institute, minced no words in their attempt to turn a tide that has swept much of middle America. "The rapture is a racket," said Barbara Rossing, whose 2004 book, "The Rapture Exposed," criticizes rapture theology as unbiblical. Rossing, a Lutheran minister and teacher at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, said fiction that focuses on Armageddon -- the ultimate battle between good and evil that follows rapture -- is popular in the United States because it plays into American fear. "The (Iraq) war isn't going well, there is great anxiety about oil, the economy, the sense that jobs are going overseas," Rossing said in an interview. "The specter of more events like Hurricane Katrina ... is terrifying." "LIBERAL BRAINWASHING" In Cincinnati, Rev. Canon Joanna Leiserson said members of her Episcopal congregation started asking about the rapture when "Left Behind" books, movies and games flooded onto the market. Before the books, Leiserson said, mainstream Christians paid little attention to the Book of Revelation, the part of the Bible that mentions Armageddon. "The mainstream churches haven't avoided (Revelation) as much as we just didn't think it was that big of a thing, until the fundamentalist churches started making a big production out of it," she said. For Leiserson, Revelation is a story about Jesus confronting the evils of the Roman Empire. To help counter the rapture tide, she is developing a Sunday school curriculum to teach kids that Jesus loves everyone and would not leave anyone behind. "We were asleep at the switch for too long, and fundamentalists rushed in to speak to this vacuum. Now we've got to reclaim it," said Rossing, the Lutheran minister. Rossing called on fellow moderates to write their own novels about God's love -- though she admits that story might not sell as well as the violent plot of the "Left Behind" books, which have sold more than 43 million copies. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the "Left Behind" series, said Americans like his books not because of the violence, but because they believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. "Surprisingly enough with all the liberal brainwashing they've got in public education, most people that claim to be Christians have a tendency to believe the Bible," LaHaye said in an interview. Moderate Christians will never come up with a story that can compare, he said. "They are just liberal, socialists, really, and they don't believe the Bible," LaHaye said. "What they probably will come up with is a plausible explanation from their liberal standpoint to satisfy their adherents that are reading our series and liked it. But it will be inferior because the story will be inferior." The success of the graphic novels is just one indication of the strength of belief in rapture, Armageddon, and the subsequent second coming of Jesus Christ. A 2006 survey for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 79 percent of American Christians believe in the second coming, with 20 percent believing it will happen in their lifetime. Skeptical Christians at the Cincinnati conference said they don't always know how to respond when confronted by those who swear the rapture is imminent. "Because one of our goals is to be very tolerant, it is sometimes hard to go to the public. There is limited means to get the message out," said Shirley Wang. Christian moderates also tend to view their fundamentalist cousins with an indulgent wink, more comfortable joking about the rapture than trying to change their minds. Rossing said her students once left piles of clothes on their chairs to make her think they'd been raptured. A popular bumper sticker reads "In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned." Skeptics counter with an irreverent "Come the Rapture, can I have your car?"
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#1. To: Arete (#0)
Including the part that only 144,000 will be raptured, Tim? How's God going to do that, Tim, by state? By age? At random? This guy would look good dragging behind a car doing 110.
I wonder if any of the rapture monkeys have ever discussed if when guys are hauled into heaven, if they'll be circumised up there, or not. I don't believe this was ever discussed in the Bible, or any of those "Left Behind" novels, either.
"We become what we behold. We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." -- Marshall McLuhan, after Alexander Pope and William Blake.
God is going to be auctioning off rapture tickets on eBay? Richard W.
I'm a big believer in the bible. But I admit that translations are a problem. That's why I recommend the older versions. As I understand Geneva bible is oldest english translation and King James is second oldest. The new versions made in last 10 years have obviously been made in such a way as to purposely take meaning out. But I believe there will be a great separation of the people. I just don't agree it will happen as the 'rapture' enthusiasts say. The bible is written in such a way that it is easy for people to build up their own ideologies and interpretations that are not really spelled out in the bible. What irritates me most about the rapture enthusiasts is that they don't really seem to care if the politicians they support do evil in this world. When you point that out to them they say 'so what we'll be raptured anyway'. when I went to church the guy running it was a rapture enthusiast and it seemed to me that his own personal problems & depression caused him to long strongly for a rapture and he would look for it regularly.
Galatians 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Was Bush Sworn In On Skull And Bones Time? I've got to stop watching these Beatles videos...
If you look carefully at my lips, you'll realize that I'm actually saying something else. I'm not actually telling you about the several ways I'm gradually murdering Joan. - Tom Frost
Moderate Christians will never come up with a story that can compare, he said. The Harry Potter books have sold more than 300 million copies. So even if the moderate Christians don't have a better story, the witches do.
very interesting.
Galatians 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Well, Susie, that's because Mainstream Churches never grasped the incredible opportunities for fleecing and chicanery the Book of Revelations puts into the hands of every pork faced, stringy haired, pot bellied, bourbon soaked, public restroom sex act engaging, coke snorting, bible reading small town neer-do-well flim flam man and con artist from Key West to Boise Idaho. The Book of Revelations, it may be of interest to note, was barely included in the first Bible at the Council of Nicea, and frankly- it shouldn't have been in my opinion as it is gibberish.
Geesus. These people are a damn good argument fro repealing the 13th amendment. This is what happens when people who should be serving me soup or be employed as parking garage attendents get a little learnin in them.
Those who believe in the rapture are misguided, but I try to put them on the right path every chance I get by inviting them to my church. There's nothing like handling venomous snakes and drinking strychnine to help one get right with The Lord.
Doesnt this sound exactly like the spew from FR? Propaganda..
There, there. You don't want to create any negative karma for yourself, even though LaHaye no doubt considers the whole idea of karma "New Age" and thus Satanic, just as he does the Harry Potter series of books which outsold his by such a wide margin.
The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government. - Sam Houston
it just blows my mind that this Pastor John Hagee guy from Texas has actually called for pre-emptive nuclear war against Iran. there are a number of christian leaders that advocate openly pre-emptive military action against peaceful nations. blows my mind.
Galatians 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
here's a video of John Hagee
Galatians 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Exxxcellent - turned phrase O the Day.
I don't know why anyone would be surprised that something like the rapture would be invented. This is Protestantism at its very best; every man his own pope with the authority to interpret scripture as he see's fit. And, if every man has the authority to interpret scripture, then no one can be wrong because they are their own authority. I mean this is what Jesus wanted right? No right, no wrong, interpret as you see fit. Cool!
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the "Left Behind" series, said Americans like his books not because of the violence, but because they believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
#2. To: Arete (#0)
#3. To: Mekons4 (#1)
(Edited)
How's God going to do that, Tim, by state? By age? At random?
#4. To: Arete (#0)
#5. To: Red Jones (#4)
Narrator: Reports indicate that within The Tomb, Bonesmen operate on “Skull and Bones Time”, which is 5 minutes ahead of the time in the rest of the world, which is referred to as “Barbarian Time”. Every Thursday and Sunday at 6:30, they gather for dinner in the Firefly Room. Non-alcoholic drinks are served in skull-shaped cups- Skull and Bones is a dry society.
#6. To: Arete (#0)
"Left Behind" books, which have sold more than 43 million copies ...
I've already said too much.
#7. To: Dakmar (#5)
#8. To: Arete (#0)
"The mainstream churches haven't avoided (Revelation) as much as we just didn't think it was that big of a thing, until the fundamentalist churches started making a big production out of it," she said.
#9. To: Arete (#3)
"They are just liberal, socialists, really, and they don't believe the Bible,"
#10. To: Arete (#0)
#11. To: Burkeman1 (#9)
"They are just liberal, socialists, really, and they don't believe the Bible,"
#12. To: Mekons4 (#1)
This guy would look good dragging behind a car doing 110.
#13. To: Sam Houston, Mekons4 (#12)
#14. To: All (#13)
#15. To: Burkeman1 (#8)
puts into the hands of every pork faced, stringy haired, pot bellied, bourbon soaked, public restroom sex act engaging, coke snorting, bible reading small town neer-do-well flim flam man and con artist from Key West to Boise Idaho.
#16. To: Burkman1, all (#0)
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