'The Rapture'

[Alien]

I only asked which Christians believed in the rapture, that I believe to mean the so called 'second coming'. I have already stated I believe that scenario to be a load of silly nonsense. If some don't like my thoughts on the topic, no one is forcing them to post on this thread!

OK, so you are asking which Christians here believe that Jesus will return. Glad we got there in the end.

Count me in on that then.

[floo]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

[Alien]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

When he is ready.

[Rhiannon]

I've heard people talk of being 'rapture ready', which reminds me a bit of the crap about being 'beach body ready'. Does being 'rapture ready' involve pubic waxing too?

I think it might be useful for those expecting Jesus to appear in the clouds to carry some embrocation for stiff necks (if the traditional  sense of 'the Rapture' is meant)

Wearing clean underwear would be a bonus, too. Especially if wearing a skirt.

[Leonard James]

Wearing clean underwear would be a bonus, too. Especially if wearing a skirt.

That applies only to Jesus, of course. He's the one you will be staring up at. 

[Shaker]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

When he is ready.

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

[Rhiannon]

Wearing clean underwear would be a bonus, too. Especially if wearing a skirt.

That applies only to Jesus, of course. He's the one you will be staring up at. 

Well, I was thinking of all those people shooting up into the clouds, and the unfortunate view for those left behind...

[floo]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

When he is ready.

Well he isn't in any hurry!

[Leonard James]

Wearing clean underwear would be a bonus, too. Especially if wearing a skirt.

That applies only to Jesus, of course. He's the one you will be staring up at. 

Well, I was thinking of all those people shooting up into the clouds, and the unfortunate view for those left behind...

Yikes! 

[ippy]

Which Christians of this forum believe in that complete nonsense?

It depends on what you mean by 'the rapture', Floo.  There are several Christian takes on the topic.  One was explored in the 'Left Behind' film that Channel 5 showed over the weekend.

If Floo were to get involved in a discussion with you Hope about her version/understanding of rapture, the discussion she would be lending credibility to your generally daft religious/faith based ideas, that up till now, the present time you've not supplied even one piece of verifiable evidence that might support your ideas; make them sound a little more credible.

I know you think you've supplied evidence, the only trouble with that's no one has seen it here on this forum and I could accept your excuse that you have shown it if it was just me that had missed it and although I know you'll find it difficult to believe I do  from time to time very occasionally miss things but nobody has seen this evidence you often refer to. 

ippy   

[floo]

Which Christians of this forum believe in that complete nonsense?

It depends on what you mean by 'the rapture', Floo.  There are several Christian takes on the topic.  One was explored in the 'Left Behind' film that Channel 5 showed over the weekend.

If Floo were to get involved in a discussion with you Hope about her version/understanding of rapture, the discussion she would be lending credibility to your generally daft religious/faith based ideas, that up till now, the present time you've not supplied even one piece of verifiable evidence that might support your ideas; make them sound a little more credible.

I know you think you've supplied evidence, the only trouble with that's no one has seen it here on this forum and I could accept your excuse that you have shown it if it was just me that had missed it and although I know you'll find it difficult to believe I do  from time to time very occasionally miss things but nobody has seen this evidence you often refer to. 

ippy

Exactly. It would be like arguing about whether it is more beneficial to have fairies or unicorns at the bottom of one's garden!

[Hope]

I only asked which Christians believed in the rapture, that I believe to mean the so called 'second coming'.

The Rapture and the 2nd Coming, whilst interconnected, aren't theologically synonymous, Floo.  That's why I asked for the clarification.  As a result, this 'explanation' doesn't actually provide any clarification. 

There is millennialism:

Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "thousand years"), or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state (the "World to Come" of the New Heavens and New Earth). This belief is derived primarily from Revelation 20:1–6. Millennialism is a specific form of millenarianism.

Similarities to millennialism are found in Zoroastrianism. It held that there were successive thousand-year periods, each of which will end in a cataclysm of heresy and destruction, until the final destruction of evil and of the spirit of evil by a triumphant king of peace at the end of the final millennial age (supposed by some to be the year 2000). "Then Saoshyant makes the creatures again pure, and the resurrection and future existence occur" (Zand-i Vohuman Yasht 3:62).

There is amillennialism:

Amillennialism (Greek: a- "no" + millennialism), in Christian eschatology, involves the rejection of the belief that Jesus will have a literal, thousand-year-long, physical reign on the earth. This rejection contrasts with premillennial and some postmillennial interpretations of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation.

And then there are premillennialism and postmillennialism:

Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the earth before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. This return is referred to as the Second Coming.

the doctrine that the Second Coming of Christ will be the culmination of the prophesied millennium of blessedness

(All quotes from wikipedia)

[Hope]

OK, so you are asking which Christians here believe that Jesus will return. Glad we got there in the end.

Count me in on that then.

Likewise

[Hope]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

When - unknown; how - it'll be obvious when it happens

[Hope]

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

It might be that he doesn't feel that humanity are yet ready for his return.  It could be that, in his love, he doesn't want anyone to ' be left behind' to use the phraseology that has been used before, so he is waiting until everyone believes in him.

[Hope]

If Floo were to get involved in a discussion with you Hope about her version/understanding of rapture, ...

By posing the question that she did in her OP, she had already got 'involved  in a discussion about her version/understanding of rapture,' ippy

[jakswan]

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

It might be that he doesn't feel that humanity are yet ready for his return.  It could be that, in his love, he doesn't want anyone to ' be left behind' to use the phraseology that has been used before, so he is waiting until everyone believes in him.

I hope we don't get zombies again, scary stuff.

Matthew 27
The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

[Shaker]

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

It might be that he doesn't feel that humanity are yet ready for his return.  It could be that, in his love, he doesn't want anyone to ' be left behind' to use the phraseology that has been used before, so he is waiting until everyone believes in him.

He'll have a fucking long wait for that, the way things are going.

What a shower of piss-poor madey-uppy excuses. Really. Aren't you people embarrassed to be seen coming out with this stuff?

[Shaker]

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

It might be that he doesn't feel that humanity are yet ready for his return.  It could be that, in his love, he doesn't want anyone to ' be left behind' to use the phraseology that has been used before, so he is waiting until everyone believes in him.

I hope we don't get zombies again, scary stuff.

Matthew 27
The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

I saw that one but I didn't bother with the sequel.

[Hope]

What a shower of piss-poor madey-uppy excuses. Really. Aren't you people embarrassed to be seen coming out with this stuff?

Well, 'you people' seem to want to be allowed to change your minds after your deaths.  Is that any less of a 'piss-poor madey-uppy excuse'?

[BeRational]

And he's still not ready after two thousand years? I've known people like that.

It might be that he doesn't feel that humanity are yet ready for his return.  It could be that, in his love, he doesn't want anyone to ' be left behind' to use the phraseology that has been used before, so he is waiting until everyone believes in him.

How does waiting longer help,as in the intervening time more and more people die not believing, so even if it came to a point where everyone currently alive believed, that number would be tiny compared to those that went before that did not.

[Shaker]

Well, 'you people' seem to want to be allowed to change your minds after your deaths. Is that any less of a 'piss-poor madey-uppy excuse'?

Well given that typically - in fact overwhelmingly, with exceedingly rare exceptions - atheists don't believe in any form of life after death, thus rendering the very concept of being able to change a mind that no longer exists vacuous, I'd say that you have a whole lotta straw there.

[Outrider]

What a shower of piss-poor madey-uppy excuses. Really. Aren't you people embarrassed to be seen coming out with this stuff?

Well, 'you people' seem to want to be allowed to change your minds after your deaths.  Is that any less of a 'piss-poor madey-uppy excuse'?

That's our way - when we have new information we review our understanding, that's not unreasonable.

By contrast, some of the apparent demands of a loving being are, and that logical incongruity serves as part of the evidence that the specific claims of the religious don't add up.

We may well be wrong, but you don't have sufficient evidence to make that case stick.

O.

[jakswan]

What a shower of piss-poor madey-uppy excuses. Really. Aren't you people embarrassed to be seen coming out with this stuff?

Well, 'you people' seem to want to be allowed to change your minds after your deaths.  Is that any less of a 'piss-poor madey-uppy excuse'?

If I'm alive after I'm dead I'll die of shock.

[jeremyp]

And when and how do you think the guy will put in an appearance?

When he is ready.

He's nearly 2,000 years late. When are you going to give it up as a bad job?