If somebody claimed to be the messiah, would anybody beleive him? In this day and age would an entire religions worth of people beleive somebody who claimed to be the son of God? I don't think so. Everybody would say that he was crazy, maybe some would beleive him but the general public would see that as a cult. I think that any so called "miracles" the messiah would perform would be denounced, and there would be plausible explanations for it.

Will the world ever see the son of God? Again or for the first time depending on your beleifs.

I hope that if someone claimed to be the Messiah they'd be rigorously tested.

I also think in the future that theism will take a different path. I believe God will become transcendent and impersonal, and religion may diminish.

quote:Originally posted by Kooper0:

I hope that if someone claimed to be the Messiah they'd be rigorously tested.

I also think in the future that theism will take a different path. I believe God will become transcendent and impersonal, and religion may diminish.

as opposed to now when god is not trancental and impersonal to the point of non-existance?

quote:Originally posted by stormshadowftb:

as opposed to now when god is not trancental and impersonal to the point of non-existance?

I don't know about other religions, but Christianity says God is personal. Whether he can be described as immanent I'm not too sure, since they believe he isn't bound to the laws of this universe but has the power to act in it.

I think God will only be used to explain the start of the universe, nothing more. That could be a long way away though.

quote:Originally posted by stormshadowftb:

as opposed to now when god is not trancental and impersonal to the point of non-existance?

Try going to different parts of the world and saying that.

I hope he uses a tissue this time around.

quote:Originally posted by Kooper0:

I think God will only be used to explain the start of the universe, nothing more. That could be a long way away though.

There are starting to be more and more ways to explain this without god though.

to the OP. MY POINT EXACTLY. The belife in god is accepted, but the belief that one IS god is not. There both delusions fabricated by a poisoned mind.

If some guy came forward with supernatural powers and claimed to be the messiah, he would probably be tranquilized and locked up in an underground lab with the aliens where he would be disected.

Well, considering he's coming in spirit and not in person...I dunno.

There will be no second coming, because there was no first.

quote:Originally posted by Source:

There will be no second coming, because there was no first.

AMEN!!

quote:Originally posted by debaser1:

If somebody claimed to be the messiah, would anybody beleive him? In this day and age would an entire religions worth of people beleive somebody who claimed to be the son of God? I don't think so. Everybody would say that he was crazy, maybe some would beleive him but the general public would see that as a cult. I think that any so called "miracles" the messiah would perform would be denounced, and there would be plausible explanations for it.

Will the world ever see the son of God? Again or for the first time depending on your beleifs.

Anybody who claims to be the Christ or the chosen one or any other claim of being a god is automatically rejected to those who study the scriptures.

The Christian teaching is that the 2nd return of Christ will leave no room for questioning. It will be so evident, swift and violent that there will be no chance to second guess Him. You see, the events that will unfold prior to and immediatly afterward signals the end of time.

In other words, this world will be destroyed.

There is much more to this teaching - prior to the 2nd coming describes plagues, wars, rumors of wars, people departing the sound doctrine for heretical ways of man. Many will turn away from God in the end times - those who remain in faith will likely be killed at the hands of man.

When Christ returns He will call up to Him who are His. It is called the great harvest - and some call it a rapture. Afterwards all life will end and prepare for judgement.

A second earth will be formed and those who He calls as His will live on the new earth with their King for a thousand years.

At that point a final war will wage as God will loosen the restraints of Hell for a short time. This will mark the end of our trials and tests as the final judgement seat will be what is left.

What lies within your hearts and minds and what you have done with the life you were given will be measured against the laws of God. Those who have lived opposed to those laws will have to account for themselves. Sin is a debt to God.

Those who have surrendered their life to Jesus will not pay for their sins as that debt was paid for by Jesus on the cross.

The only thing to do is accept it or reject it. I think that is fair.

quote:Originally posted by Interest:



The Christian teaching is that the 2nd return of Christ will leave no room for questioning. It will be so evident, swift and violent that there will be no chance to second guess Him. You see, the events that will unfold prior to and immediatly afterward signals the end of time.

In other words, this world will be destroyed.

There is much more to this teaching - prior to the 2nd coming describes plagues, wars, rumors of wars, people departing the sound doctrine for heretical ways of man. Many will turn away from God in the end times - those who remain in faith will likely be killed at the hands of man.



Goddamn son, good motherfucking post. Does the bible specify these plagues? What's to say these haven't started? You could categorize modern events into every single one of those categories.

It will be so evident, swift and violent that there will be no chance to second guess Him. -----What does this mean? Is the Son of God himself going to inflict this evident and swift violence? Does the bible specify this? Or the acts of violence themselves?

quote:Originally posted by debaser1:

Goddamn son, good motherfucking post.

Thank you..I think??

quote: Does the bible specify these plagues?



yes. There is way too much information on it to post here though. It's in pages and pages of cryptic symbolism. If you want to know first hand..then read and try to understand the book of Revelation. If you understand what a seven headed dragon means then you might have a chance at understanding it.



quote:

What's to say these haven't started? You could categorize modern events into every single one of those categories.

You are right to question this. The answer is the scripture describes these events as happening like a woman who is soon to deliver or in other words "labor pains". That means that when the time is coming, those things will begin small and infrequent. As the time draws nearer, those things will become more intense and more frequent.

quote:

It will be so evident, swift and violent that there will be no chance to second guess Him. -----What does this mean?

There will be no time for scrutiny as these things will be sudden and with no hesitation and with no question. The Christ will come with great power. There is a "profile" established by the bible that the Messiah must meet. There is no man who walks this earth that can meet the requirement of that "profile".

quote:

Is the Son of God himself going to inflict this evident and swift violence? Yes- but, you must understand that human reasoning can not begin to grasp what this means. The words describe a great war between Satan, the antichrist, the number of man and Christ and his heavenly army. Do I believe this is a literal account of what is to come? Yes, because of the way it is written but, my mind can't comprehend it and parlay that to you here.

quote:

Does the bible specify this? Or the acts of violence themselves?

Yes, it is mostly in the book of Revelation but is also found in other areas of the bible. The book of Matthew begining in chapter 24 is a less cryptic explanation of these events.

I hope to clarify what violence means - by it's definition violent action doesn't necesarrily mean the attacking or murdering of someone - a car can accelerate violently.

I hope that helps...



[This message has been edited by Interest (edited 11-23-2006).]

quote:Originally posted by Interest:

I hope that helps...



Beat me to it, in both posts http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif)