Ever get the feeling Jesus has already come and gone and

[Jamastiene]

we are what he left behind?

I have read the Bible. None of us can go to Heaven anyway. We've created Hell on Earth and nobody seems to have noticed. How the fuck would we know the difference if we were in the real Hell, when we seem fine in the one we have created for ourselves here on Earth?

I swear I think the Rapture has already happened and all the good people have left and left us behind to snarl at each other and rip each others' guts out little bit by little bit for eternity; death by fucking piety and the pompous bullshit that's been left behind.

I cut my eye teeth on hellfire and brimstone and now I laugh at it.

Hell cannot hold a candle to the world we are living in.

[parasim]

1. Very interesting question.

Maybe Christ came back before any of us were even born. Huh. Never thought of it that way. Perhaps we're in the middle of that whole 1000-year reign of the anti-Christ or whatever it's supposed to be. I think I'll submit that notion to my fundy friends and family...I'm now quite curious as to what they'd say to that idea...

[notadmblnd]

6. Don't do it, their heads will explode...

Ah, what the hell, go right ahead, but don't expect me to clean up the mess.

[Why Syzygy]

7. It's called

"preterism"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism

And, might actually give them something to think about.

[kestrel91316]

2. Well, it sure would explain a lot, lol.

My only question is, are we in the thousand year reign, or is this world actually HELL??

Maybe it's slowly turning into hell, and that's what the deal with global warming is.........

Sigh.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. It has long been my belief that the Revelations of St. John are a first-hand account, not prophesy

The Apocalypse already occured as predicted, on time and under budget. That would certainly explain a Hell of a lot of recorded history.

[Why Syzygy]

5. I'm in agreement.

It happened before 70AD.

[BlooInBloo]

4. Nope. Not ever.

[zonmoy]

8. He came and went a long time ago considering

that he claimed that he would return within the lifetime of his disciples and unless you believe the legend of the wandering jew or other immortals none of them are still living.

[Silent3]

9. You sound like you're suffering...

...from insufficient imagination.

As many problems as this world has, it's easy for me to imagine far, far worse than this. Even though I'm not religious, I think that anything worthy of being called Hell with a capital H would have to be far more horrific than the world we're living in today.

[MedleyMisty]

10. Do you know anything about life outside of first world countries?

Just wondering.

[Silent3]

11. Yes, I do.

I just don't think the concept of Hell applies to anything less than an absolutely unrelenting onslaught of the worst conditions that humans have ever endured.

As for the typical down-on-humanity "Oh, how could the world be so horrible!", "What has the world come to!" kind of rant one often hears, I have to wonder what the contrary expectations of a better world are and where they come from. Anyone who, for example, thinks the pre-human natural world, or pre-civilized human world, was some sort of paradise has no clue how brutal the natural world is.

Of course I can imagine a far better world than we have now, just as I can imagine a far worse one. In small ways I try make things better. But I have no expectation of better, no shocked disappointment that we haven't done better. In fact, I'm mildly surprised that humanity has done as well as it has done, given the volatile mix of newly-evolved intelligence (intelligence not very evenly distributed among individual humans) and older instinctual behavior, all shaped by the fight for survival in a very brutal natural world.

I certainly don't need to imagine some kind of imposed punishment to explain away how things can be as bad as they can be. I accept that we live in an indifferent and often hostile universe, that our lives are only as good and pleasant as we manage to make them when random events beyond our control don't interfere.

Happy people living long, productive, healthy and peaceful lives is a difficult condition to achieve, something that we need to strive for, not a basic given, departure from which is shocking, departure from which can only be explained by punishment or unexpected calamity.

[beam me up scottie]

12. Good answer.

Outstanding, in fact. :applause:

[raccoon]

13. I suggested to a friend in college that Jesus might have come back in

Medieval Europe and was burned as a witch.

She told me that was discussed in BROTHERS KARAMAZOV.


I don't think he ever came in the first place. I think Jesus was no more real than Robin Hood.

[maxsolomon]

14. "the kingdom of heaven is spread out before you

and you do not see it" - jesus of nazareth, the gospel of thomas

[Occam Bandage]

15. He came again, but he ended up getting aborted. Ironic, that. nt

[jellen]

16. jesus

It's interesting, but I was thinking as hubby and I were riding home from Ash Wednesday service, how nice if Jesus was running around here on earth and we could easily reach him,not having to put up with a maddening crowd or have to rush to get tickets to see him. don't you think?

[SarahJohn]

17. Well, yes

I do believe he's come and gone but left some help behind. You sound like you are in a bad place right now. Hope it gets better.

[Why Syzygy]

18. Hi, SarahJohn

Welcome to DU :hi: